Another Year, Another Competition Tilted in Geno Smith's Favor

[flgreen]

Jets QB preview: Another year, another competition tilted in Geno Smith's favor
6/26/2015
Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer

Breaking down the New York Jets' roster, unit by unit, in preparation for training camp:

Position: Quarterback

Projected starter: Geno Smith

Projected reserves: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bryce Petty

Notable on the bubble: Jake Heaps


Geno Smith, who threw 13 TD passes last season, will enter training camp as the starting QB. Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports
Player to watch: It's now or never for Smith. The Jets have been tremendously patient with their inconsistent quarterback -- some might argue too patient -- but they believe he has enough arm talent to warrant another chance to become the team's long-term answer. Their hope is that a new voice (Chan Gailey) and a new system will bring out the best in him. Gailey's offense involves short drop-backs and quick reads. In theory, that should help Smith deliver the ball quickly and to open receivers. We'll see.

Top storyline: The competition -- or is it a non-competition? The coaching staff sent mixed messages throughout the offseason, raising questions about whether Gailey and coach Todd Bowles are on the same page. Here's the deal: Smith will go into camp as the No. 1, working with the first team for a majority of the practice reps. It's his job to lose and Fitzpatrick's job to take, according to Bowles. Realistically, it's hard for a backup to take the job when he's getting only a handful of first-team reps per day. Barring an injury or an utter meltdown in the preseason, Smith will be the Week 1 starter. Personally, I think Bowles is making a mistake by not having a truly open competition. For the second straight year, it's tilted in Smith's favor.

Training camp will be a success if ...: The preseason is wrapping up and Bowles isn't getting grilled about his plans for Week 1. That would mean a clear-cut starter, presumably Smith. If there's uncertainty, it could spark a quarterback controversy. Then again, the Jets should be used to them by now.

Wild card: Petty. Everybody loves the new guy, right? Fitzpatrick is new, too, but it's hard to get excited about a guy with his sixth team. Petty is an unknown and, after decades of mostly mediocre quarterback play, the fan base is intrigued by mystery men. Who can blame them? You can bet fans will be screaming for Petty if he lights up a preseason game and Smith struggles. Relax, folks, this will take time. Talent evaluators are all over the map on Petty, a fourth-round pick. The Jets love the kid, but I heard there were teams that had him with a seventh-round grade. He has enough arm talent, but this will be like Quarterbacking 101 as he attempts to learn a pro-style offense after years in Baylor's up-tempo spread.

By the numbers: The last time the Jets had a top-10 passing offense was 2000. That year, they finished sixth with Vinny Testaverde as the quarterback, Al Groh the coach.

 

[sg3]

Another year

And another situation in which Dick Semen comes up clueless

 

[flgreen]

Actually I thought the article was pretty accurate.

 

[sg3]

My fault

I stopped reading Dick before he left the News

Actually met the jerk on flights to Indy and Nasville......arrogant sums him up

 

[flgreen]

My fault

I stopped reading Dick before he left the News

Actually met the jerk on flights to Indy and Nasville......arrogant sums him up

LOL

No doubt about that. Actually Cimini has toned his rhetoric down since he has been with ESPN, still snarky, but writes some decent articles.

IMO I think it is more on the NYDN editorial staff. The biggest jerk Jets beat writer is now Mehta. When he first came on the scene he was all right. Now that he is the NYDN lead Jets beat writer the guy has become incredible bad.

Makes Cimini look like a homer.

 

[jetfrantik]

As it should be.

 

[flgreen]

As it should be.

If you mean by that that they should hand the job to a guy that doesn't win it in camp, can't buy into that.

If Smith comes in and plays better then Fitz, he should get the job. If he doesn't, he should be on the bench

 

[sg3]

OK

I broke down and read the article and I fully agree that IF training camp and the preseason is in any way or by any means tilted in favor of Smith,.then, YES, I agree, a huge mistake by Bowles

Personally, I don't think this is happening since Bowles is the one who stepped in and corrected Gailey's ridiculous statement that implied that Smith had already won something

I think Maccagnan demonstrated how the Jets really feel about Smith when he traded for Fitzpatrick almost immediately after he was named GM and then drafted Bryce Petty in April.

I think the real Geno will show up in the next two months and that guy will be pine riding in September

 

[flgreen]

OK

I broke down and read the article and I fully agree that IF training camp and the preseason is in any way or by any means tilted in favor of Smith,.then, YES, I agree, a huge mistake by Bowles

Personally, I don't think this is happening since Bowles is the one who stepped in and corrected Gailey's ridiculous statement that implied that Smith had already won something

I think Maccagnan demonstrated how the Jets really feel about Smith when he traded for Fitzpatrick almost immediately after he was named GM and then drafted Bryce Petty in April.

I think the real Geno will show up in the next two months and that guy will be pine riding in September

I hope your right that the best QB in camp is the opening day starter in a totally fair QB competition. If it's Smith, I'm good with that.

I don't think that is the way it's going to go. What Bowles did say is that Smith will be the starter when camp opens, and get the majority of the reps with the 1's. It is really hard to unseat an incumbent starting QB went your not getting reps with the 1's.

In past season's Smith has played reasonably well in camp when nobody is hitting him. It's when the bullets start flying for real that Smith panics, stats running in the wrong direction, taking sacks in the red zone and knocking the team out of field goal range, or throwing jump balls up for the D.

Think it's planned he will be the opening day starter if he doesn't self destruct in camp. In the past he hass waited until the games count to do that.

 

[ucrenegade]

cimini is a idiot trying to stir up crap where there is none..........facts fitz may not be 100 percent

fact given the qb's he worked with and had success any coach would be stupid to not let a 24 year old 2nd round pick have first shot at the job with gailey as oc.

fact petty everyone knows is to green to start from day 1 no matter how he plays in tc and pre-season

the simple fact is they are giving smith a chance to play himself out of the job. They are giving geno a 50-50 shot either way they win because they were smart enough to bring in a competent 2nd string who is good enough to take the job.

 

[sg3]

cimini is a idiot trying to stir up crap where there is none..........facts fitz may not be 100 percent

fact given the qb's he worked with and had success any coach would be stupid to not let a 24 year old 2nd round pick have first shot at the job with gailey as oc.

fact petty everyone knows is to green to start from day 1 no matter how he plays in tc and pre-season

the simple fact is they are giving smith a chance to play himself out of the job. They are giving geno a 50-50 shot either way they win because they were smart enough to bring in a competent 2nd string who is good enough to take the job.

Agree

And if there is a guy who has proven he can play himself out of a starting job, we got that guy

The age thing is always mentioned

Reminds me of the 1962 Mets who brought up a young catcher named Gregg Goosen.

When the ol perfessor was asked about him, he said "We got this young feller catching named Goosen and, I think in a few seasons, he'll be older"

Not BETTER, just OLDER

Geno to the tee

 

[jetgreen13]

OK

I broke down and read the article and I fully agree that IF training camp and the preseason is in any way or by any means tilted in favor of Smith,.then, YES, I agree, a huge mistake by Bowles

Personally, I don't think this is happening since Bowles is the one who stepped in and corrected Gailey's ridiculous statement that implied that Smith had already won something

I think Maccagnan demonstrated how the Jets really feel about Smith when he traded for Fitzpatrick almost immediately after he was named GM and then drafted Bryce Petty in April.

I think the real Geno will show up in the next two months and that guy will be pine riding in September

when the lights are low (7 on 7's/pre season) smith looks competent because he's not without talent.. so from that standpoint i understand why the new regime is giving him a chance to keep his job..

but [MENTION=9]flgreen[/MENTION] hit the nail on the head.. when the lights get bright the kid panics & I don't believe you can coach a QB out of that first instinct..

 

[johnnysd]

OK

I broke down and read the article and I fully agree that IF training camp and the preseason is in any way or by any means tilted in favor of Smith,.then, YES, I agree, a huge mistake by Bowles

Personally, I don't think this is happening since Bowles is the one who stepped in and corrected Gailey's ridiculous statement that implied that Smith had already won something

I think Maccagnan demonstrated how the Jets really feel about Smith when he traded for Fitzpatrick almost immediately after he was named GM and then drafted Bryce Petty in April.

I think the real Geno will show up in the next two months and that guy will be pine riding in September

Bowles did not really move away from Chan's statement just said if Geno is terrible there is an opportunity for another to start.

I think the odds of Geno not starting this year are very very close to zero. Gailey has said the offense is designed around the guy.

 

[sg3]

Gailey said Smith was the starter for now and hopefully the start of the season. The reason he gave was that Fitzpatrick was still not 100 percent in May. The media jackals interpretation of that was there would be no competition.

Bowles corrected that misinformation quickly and stated all the QBs would compete for the job with Smith up first for May and the beginning of TC

In other words, the best QB will start

 

[flgreen]

Gailey said Smith was the starter for now and hopefully the start of the season. The reason he gave was that Fitzpatrick was still not 100 percent in May. The media jackals interpretation of that was there would be no competition.

Bowles corrected that misinformation quickly and stated all the QBs would compete for the job with Smith up first for May and the beginning of TC

In other words, the best QB will start

Not really what he said


Chan Gailey: Jets won't have QB competition, Geno Smith is the starter

BY SETH WALDER NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 3:28 PM A A A


The Jets won't have a quarterback competition heading into training camp, according to Chan Gailey.
Yet again, Geno Smith is being handed the job of starting quarterback.


Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey revealed Wednesday that the Jets won’t have a competition at quarterback heading into training camp, and that Smith is the starter. Though coach Todd Bowles had said Smith would get the first-team work heading into training camp, most assumed Smith would compete with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job.


“Right now, Geno’s the starter,” Gailey said. “That’s the way we expect it to be.”




So, there won’t be a competition?

“Not going in,” Gailey said.

Why not?

“Why not? Because Geno’s the starter.”

Gailey was asked if there was any way Smith could lose the starting job, outside of injury.

“Just like anybody else in the NFL,” Gailey said. “If you don’t play well over a period of time you could. Not in preseason. Not in practices.”

So will he be the starter Week 1 against Cleveland?

“Don’t make me say yes. But probably,” Gailey answered.

The coordinator went on to say that having a competition at quarterback “wasn’t a thought” and that they had essentially decided that Smith would be their starter prior to trading for Fitzpatrick.


That’s a pretty surprising notion considering how poorly Smith has played during his career as a Jet. In his 30 games played as a pro, Smith has thrown 34 interceptions and has a cumulative passer rating of 71.5.


Gailey, who said he watched film of Smith from last season but not his rookie year, said he believes the quarterback has a lot of potential.


“I think you see an awful lot of talent there,” Gailey said. “And if we can get him where he puts all that together, I don’t know how good he can be. To be honest, I don’t know how good he can be, but he can be pretty good though.”


@SethWalderNYDN

 

[NickSINYC]

LOL

No doubt about that. Actually Cimini has toned his rhetoric down since he has been with ESPN, still snarky, but writes some decent articles.

IMO I think it is more on the NYDN editorial staff. The biggest jerk Jets beat writer is now Mehta. When he first came on the scene he was all right. Now that he is the NYDN lead Jets beat writer the guy has become incredible bad.

Makes Cimini look like a homer.

I agree about the NYDN and it's editors. Good writers arrive and soon become Jets bashers under their watch.

 

[sg3]

Heading into training camp



In other words, right now

As I said

 

[flgreen]

Heading into training camp



In other words, right now

As I said

He also said

"The coordinator went on to say that having a competition at quarterback “wasn’t a thought” and that they had essentially decided that Smith would be their starter prior to trading for Fitzpatrick. "

 

[sg3]

My only point is, when asked, the head coach corrected any interpretation of the coordinator's comment that would mean the competition was over

 

[Bronx]

If the head Coach thought Geno was the worst QB ever, like some posters here, he would not be listed # 1 on the depth chart. Bottom line. Geno may or may not be the starter this year. But the coaches obviously don't share that sentiment