Benching Geno Smith Was Wrong

In April of 2013, the New York Jets selected Geno Smith in the second round. As of October 5th, 2014, it seems as if Smith is no longer the starting quarterback in New York. In the Jets sunday embarrassment against the San Diego Chargers, Michael Vick had come into the game in relief of a healthy Smith. The call was strictly based on Smith’s performance, namely the past three weeks, this week included. Quite frankly, that was the wrong call.

For comparison, here are some key stats from the quarterbacks’ four most recent starts prior to Sunday, as well as their Sunday performance. Note: Stats are not directly indicative, but they can be used as a piece to the puzzle.

Geno Smith: 86/148 completions (58.11%), TD% of 2.70%, INT% of 4.05%, 6.41 yards per attempt

Michael Vick (all four starts from 2013 season): 47/99 completions (47.47%), TD% of 1.01%, INT% of 3.03%,  6.37 yards per attempt

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Not only is Smith the better player on paper, but it shows on film. Coming out of college and through his rookie year, one of Smith’s most notable issues was struggling to assess and handle pressure from pass rushers. The young Jet is still far from being top notch in that regard, but he has certainly made strides in the area since his rookie year. Up front, the Jets have had their struggles, but Smith has done what he can in most situations to compensate for the incompetency by escaping the pocket, even if to throw the ball away and get to the next play.

Likewise, Smith has cleaned up some of his mechanical oddities that surfaced in his rookie year. His footwork is smoother and his throwing motion, including the motion of his entire body, has tightened up and he less often throws like a baseball pitcher. As a result, Jets receivers have seen improved accuracy from the second year quarterback. The difference has not been monumental, but the simple fact that he has shown improvement brings hope.

Aside from minor mechanical improvements and more poise in the face of defenders, Smith is still much of the same player he was last year, and he was not good last year. Granted, as stated before, the small signs of improvement are enlightening. All that being said in defense of Smith, this is less about him and more about the fact that Vick brings nothing useful to the table.

With a young quarterback like Smith, there is still a chance that he can further improve and become a legitimately competitive starter. In the case of Vick, we already know what he is and what he can do, and that is a reckless gunslinger who will habitually miss throws that he should not. Of course, Vick has the added factor of stunning athleticism, but that is not enough to make up for his inability as a passer in a pass-oriented league. There is a slim (and boy, do I mean slim) chance that Vick can improve as a player and he can not currently run the offense better than Smith can.

When Vick started the second half of the San Diego game, three of Vick’s first six drop backs were incomplete deep throws, and two of the other six drop backs resulted in a sack. To be fair, the remaining drop back was a short completion to rookie Jace Amaro. Vick did not get any more efficient until the final drive of the game, but by that point, San Diego was playing passive coverage and Vick was gift-wrapped a handful of short completions.

The central issue here is not Smith’s subpar play, though he has not done much to elevate the talent around him. Instead, it is that Rex Ryan has, once again, made a poor personnel decision. Last year, Ryan insisted on starting Ed Reed for a handful of games, and Reed ran like an old man at that point in his career. Similarly, Ryan has continued to play a natural safety in Antonio Allen at an unnatural cornerback position, as @jets_depressed has noted on multiple occasions. In fairness, Allen was moved back to his rotational safety role against San Diego (he had a rough first game back at safety, but that is not the point), but that was not the case for most of this year.

Personnel foul-ups have been a common theme with Ryan, and he is even continuing to give Chris Johnson a good chunk of the carries, though Chris Ivory is clearly the more talented runner. For whatever reason, Ryan is seen as too sacred to be the issue, and it is much easier to direct all of the blame on a young quarterback.

Smith is not the clear-cut long term answer for the Jets, and he may never be. But there is no beneficial value in starting a middling, reckless passer at quarterback over a young and still developing second year quarterback, especially when said young quarterback was recently your team’s 2nd round (39th overall) pick. Ryan may soon see his poor decision and put Smith back into action, but when a young quarterback is pulled from the middle of a game, in favor of Vick, no less, there is little reason to believe that they will be the starting quarterback again any time soon. Though Smith is being wronged, ‘tis the way of the NFL.