ESPNTheMag.Com at the NFL Combine, Day II: Junior QBs Throw Us Under The Bus

Mark Sanchez and Matt Stafford don't think we're right about things.

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Mark Sanchez thinks juniors can definitely succeed immediately in the NFL.

We wrote earlier that every team considering drafting juniors Matt Stafford and Mark Sanchez should be concerned about the idea that either would be ready to contribute right away.

We hadn't yet consulted the pair.

Now we have. Let's just say neither agrees with our assessment. Stafford bristled at the thought that he isn't ready to help a team, or at least that he is somehow inferior because of one less year of time on a college campus.

"I'm going to do everything I can to be as ready as possible to play," said Stafford. He said he'd be happy to learn, but "I'm going to make to make it as hard as I can on coaches to keep me off the field."

When we cited the historically dreadful experience of college juniors jumping right into the NFL as starters, Stafford distanced himself with the concept.

"I guess I'd tell (critics) that I've played in 39 games in college, and that's a lot of games, probably more than some seniors have played," said Stafford. He also mentioned that by enrolling early, he'd technically been on campus an extra semester.

Sanchez had similar defenses.

"I've been going against the best players around since my freshman year," said Sanchez. "I started 16 games, played in practice every day with a pro-style offense against a pro-style defense…"

Sanchez then went on to name about a dozen NFL (or soon to be) defensive players that USC has sent into the league over the last few years.

Secondly, we were wrong to call Sanchez a true junior since he did red-shirt one season during the Matt Leinart era.

Asked if he could use Matt Cassel in his argument to teams, Sanchez didn't balk.

"Absolutely. Absolutely. I have more starts than him, that's for sure."

Cassel, famously, didn't start a single game in his career at USC (he threw a total of 33 passes in mop-up duty behind Leinart), but was so effective in his one year of duty for the Patriots in place of the injured Tom Brady that New England tagged him as a franchise quarterback.

We know that Stafford has already had a dinner with the Lions, who own the first pick—he told us he had salmon and asparagus—and Sanchez also had lunch with Detroit. And he has a lot more dates planned. Sanchez says he plans to meet with the Browns, Dolphins, Seahawks, Jets, San Francisco, Kansas City and the Jags.

"It's like speed-dating," said Sanchez. Has he done it before?

"A friend told me about it."

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