We look back at Geno Smith‘s time with the New York Jets, a tenure that never really had the chance to get off the ground the right way.
The pursuit of a quarterback really is endless, isn’t it, New York Jets fans? Ever since the great Joe Namath left town, the chase has been on with no end in sight. The team has gotten close. Some believe that, had he not become perennially injured, Chad Pennington would have been the guy to finally get the Jets over the hump.
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But they have always been snake-bitten, especially lately. Remember Vinny Testaverde in 1999, when the turf monster ended his season in Week 1? We’ve talked about Pennington. Frankly, there are too many to name.
Everyone knows by now that just one half into his return to a starting role, Geno Smith tore his ACL, landing him on injured reserve and ending his season. It likely ended his Jets’ career as he is a free agent at the end of the season. With that, we look back at his time in New York. Whether you were a fan or not, he may not have been what they hoped, but he never had a real chance to succeed either.
Our story begins at the 2013 draft. The Jets just came off of a 2012 season that dealt with the abject failure known as the Tim Tebow experiment. They were 6-10 and still not sold on the long-term potential of Mark Sanchez. In the second round, they followed the theory of drafting a quarterback each year until you find one. In walks Geno Smith.
Smith was expected to start the season on the bench, but that all changed when Mark Sanchez was left in the third preseason game late behind backup offensive linemen. He injured his shoulder and never started for New York again. Geno started the season after coming from an offense that wasn’t a pro style and to an offense where his best weapon was a disgruntled Santonio Holmes.
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However, the Jets went 8-8 in 2013 and Geno deserves some credit for that. Admittedly, it was the type of year you would expect from a rookie. He only completed 55 percent of his passes and threw for 12 touchdown passes. He did have his moments, though, including leading a game-winning drive against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a stellar performance against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.
But the problem was two-fold and it remained so for his entire tenure in New York. Geno Smith couldn’t take care of the football and he had horrible pocket awareness. That rookie season, he was intercepted 21 times and sacked 43 times. He was sacked at least four times on seven separate occasions. He was a rookie, but he didn’t “get it.” The hope was that he would, but ultimately he never did.
In 2014 the Jets added Eric Decker, but the team only managed four wins, Geno being involved with three of them. After a Week 1 victory, they went on a string of seven straight losses which ended up with Smith losing his job to backup Michael Vick. He returned to the lineup a couple of weeks later and finished the year on a high note. In the final game, Smith played the game of his life, posting a perfect passer rating, throwing for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
He did reduce his interceptions to 13, but there were still a great many instances of bad judgement. He was sacked 28 times, too often guilty of holding the ball too long. The interceptions were due to poor decisions. This simply wasn’t getting better on a consistent basis.
Then came 2015, and we all know where his poor judgement led him. He was Todd Bowles‘ starter, but The Punch cost him his job. 10 wins later, the “Fitzmagic” was alive and well thanks to Ryan Fitzpatrick.
And now we are here in 2016. The Jets had to make a move to Geno, but his judgement still wasn’t any better, as I outlined prior to his ill-fated start. Ultimately, his lack of pocket awareness led to his injury, as he held the football way too long on the play. And thus, we are at the presumptive end of Geno Smith’s career with the Jets.
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A split is exactly what is needed here, for both sides. Geno Smith never rose to the level of a quarterback that the Jets could count on. We know that. But, between lack of weapons and being thrust into the fire, did Geno have a real chance to succeed? It’s hard to argue that he did.
Hopefully for Geno, he will get the chance to improve in new surroundings in 2017 and beyond.