I’m pretty sure that throughout his USC career the one thing Sanchez did have more than anything was confidence. In the Rose Bowl against USC it showed as his precision passes and pinpoint accuracy helped his NFL stock sky rocket into a potential top ten player.

When he announced he was leaving Southern California, even at the dislike of his head coach Pete Carroll, he sat at the podium with tons of confidence. Carroll told Sanchez he was making a mistake and that NFL teams needed more time to evaluate him before he went pro.

His young quarterback smiled and claimed he was ready.

Now I think Sanchez is hearing Carroll’s thoughts over and over as nightmares of a Aaron Rodgers type drop through the first round spirals through his head. On Monday he declined on the chance to go to New York for the draft. I have a feeling that his decision has a lot to do with his fear of falling out of the top ten and having to wait in the green room for hours while waiting to be selected.

He has publicly stated through his brother that he has elected to spend the day with friends and family. This may be the complete truth, but I know that if I was in Sanchez’s shoes I’d be worried about taking a free fall.

Nine players are going to New York, including Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman. Most mock drafts have Freeman going in round two, which makes his invite a little surprising. Brian Cushing, Brian Orakpo, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Curry, Jason Smith, Michael Oher, Eugene Monroe, and Michael Crabtree all are also going.

This is where it gets interesting.  The third down and long situation was a metaphor to describe what’s going on in Green Bay right now with the Favre situation reaching its peak.  When commissioner Roger Goodell finally reinstate Favre the Packers will have 24 hours to release, trade, or welcome back the 16 year veteran.

Only one of those is in the Packers plans.

No trade has even been close to shipping Favre somewhere else, ala Joe Montana late in career when he went from San Francisco to Kansas City.  The Jets and Buccaneers seem to be the only interested parties.

If Favre isn’t released then the Packers will be in a very tough situation. He will be eligible to return to Green Bay’s training camp as early as Friday and if he does then this spectacle will turn into a circus.

I don’t like the way Favre handled this. He shouldn’t expect the Packers to just welcome him back after retiring suddenly after the season and not giving one inkling that he would be interested in returning.

Or should be?

Favre is bigger than the Packers themselves and he’s got a legion on fans that will follow him wherever he ends up. He has devoted his entire career to Green Bay and has set so many records that it isn’t even funny at this point.

The problem for the Packers is this. If they stick with Aaron Rodgers and then they open the season 0-3 then the critics will be yelling louder than ever, shouting how they should’ve went with Favre from the beginning. If he’s still on the roster then that’s no problem at all because they can just swap the depth chart around, but if they trade him then Rodgers will be their longterm starter.

For me the toughest thing is believing that the unproven Aaron Rodgers can take Green Bay farther than Brett Favre can. Last year Favre took the Packers to the NFC Championship game, and if Rodgers can’t do that as the starter in Lambeau then Ted Thompson will hear it.