Final Geno Smith Verdict
I often hear this thing about correctly “developing” a quarterback. I hear how the Jets can never get this developing thing right.
I wonder what everybody’s talking about.
I understand witnessing Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith start from day one has skewed the fan’s opinion on allowing a rookie signal-caller start from the get-go. Both have been thrown into the fire, and both have failed in the long run.
Let’s not confuse matters though, as this isn’t Major League Baseball or the National Hockey League.
The NFL has no farm teams. They, much like the NBA, use the college game as their feeder program. Very rarely does a player get drafted with the express objective to develop over a long period of time.
Jets fans will reference Aaron Rodgers. Why? Are you telling me that Rodgers wasn’t ready to start day one?
Of course he was.
The Green Bay Packers were just smarter than everybody else and took him because he slid in the first round. They took him, knowing what talent they had staring right at them. The only reason he didn’t start day one was because a certain guy named Favre was there.
When was the last time a QB was chosen as a project and sat for a few years only to turn out to be an all-time great?
It doesn’t happen. It’s more myth than ritual. More a thing of the past than a trend of the present.
Either the young QB has it, or he doesn’t. Either he shows flashes of greatness from day one, or he doesn’t.
In Geno’s case, he simply doesn’t have it.
A QB rating of 72.3 in 31 appearances doesn’t show that he has it, regardless of the talent around him. His offensive line was solid, and running game decent. Eric Decker was there for a season, as was Chris Ivory.
I firmly believe if the Jets had any faith in Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick would know this and fear this. If it were the case, Fitz would’ve caved and signed on the dotted line by now.
Fitz, however, knows the Jets have nowhere to turn. He was in the locker room all season long. He knows Petty isn’t anywhere near NFL ready (and might not ever be) and that the Jets have no faith in Smith.
The bottom line is this: Until Geno no longer sports the green and white – regardless of whether Fitz comes back – he’ll be the most polarizing figure among Jets fandom.
