With four quarterbacks deserving a roster spot, the New York Jets should balk at overcrowding its roster and, instead, punch Geno Smith’s ticket out of New York.
With the New York Jets facing crossroads at the quarterback position – with four NFL-worthy QBs on the roster – the team would be best advised to trim the crop to three as it prepares for Todd Bowles’ second season at the helm.As it stands, Ryan Fitzpatrick tops the depth part, followed by 2013 second round selection Geno Smith as the primary backup. Behind Smith are Bryce Petty and rookie Christian Hackenberg.
With Fitzpatrick able to make up to $15 million this season, Smith stands no chance at cracking the starting job – and, as a result, is of no use to the Jets.
Instead, he has staked out the position of ‘vocal backup quarterback,’ dissatisfied with his coaching staff’s decision to start Fitzpatrick.
Smith told ESPN’s Rich Cimini as much:
“Every day I’m pissed off until I get my job back. Until I’m a starting quarterback, I’m pissed off every day. That’s my mentality, that’s my competitive nature. I want to win so badly, deep inside of me. I’m not pissed off at anyone, but I do believe I’m a starting quarterback in this league, and I believe I can do great things.”
Sorry, Geno. You’re not getting your starting job back.
But if you do by the works of a minor miracle, it will either be the result of injury to Fitzpatrick or that of another team’s quarterback going down to injury.
So, if Smith will just be ‘pissed off every day,’ is he really the best backup for the Jets?
The answer is a resounding ‘no.’
Instead, the Jets should continue to play Smith throughout the preseason and showcase his skills, only to hope his trade value rises or a quarterback job opens up – due to unfortunate injury for a starter, which would be coldly fortunate for the Jets.
With Browns’ quarterback Josh McCown drawing some trade interest, and Cleveland reportedly asking for a fourth-round pick in return, the Jets could find some trade bites if they bait their own backup.
The sad truth to the Geno Smith saga is that it went nowhere, or – if it went somewhere – it was to the pastures.
In his 30 combined starts over the 2013 and ’14 campaigns, the West Virginia man never passed for a completion percentage over 60-percent, and his career 27-32 touchdown-interception ratio is pure backup material.
With Smith’s unimpressive ledger, the Jets should not invest any more trust in him under center than in Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenberg if Fitzpatrick gets hurt or miserably underperforms.
SEE ALSO: Why The New York Jets Will Make The Playoffs
As Geno Smith sings to a nonexistent chorus of fantasizers who believe he should start in the NFL (again, that chorus is nonexistent and a mythical fixture of the imagination), he does only harm to an otherwise stable quarterback situation in New York.
Yep, you heard me. Stable. The Jets have a stable quarterback situation, and it is time for Todd Bowles to act like he has it at his disposal.
To demonstrate that commitment, the Jets should give its recent draft prospects the backup chops and move on from a ‘pissed off’ Geno Smith, the poster child of an unforgivable John Idzik era in New York.
