Ryan Fitzpatrick Should Start at QB For the New York Jets
BY ANDREW BINDELGLASS JUNE 15, 2015
New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick throws during voluntary minicamp at the NFL football team's training facility, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
The dawn of the 2015 NFL Season brings with it an all too unfamiliar feeling for Jets fans: hope. Due to poor drafting and a lack of urgency on the front office, the general consensus has been that the Jets entered into the last two seasons hopelessly outgunned. Injuries and lack of depth forced players who, frankly, had little business being on an NFL field, into starting roles.
Now however, things have changed. Under first-year General Manager Mike Maccagnan, the Jets have had an extremely aggressive offseason: adding a top-tier receiver, signing 2 of the top defensive backs in the league, and bolstering an already stacked defensive line, among other notable moves. The 2015 New York Jets are already light-years better than last year’s iteration, and are primed to win now.
One of the more overlooked acquisitions of this offseason was the signing of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the 32-year old Harvard graduate who was 6-6 in 12 games at the helm of the Houston Texans last year before missing the end of his season with a broken leg. But Fitzpatrick has the potential to be the key to the first Jets playoff run since 2010.
The largest question mark remaining for the 2015 Jets is once again at quarterback. Geno Smith showed some improvement in his 14 starts last season, but still managed to win only 3 games and threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns (His numbers are also somewhat inflated by his 358 yard, 3 touchdown game in a meaningless Week 17 win in Miami). At his best, he was a gunslinger who could make all the throws. At his worst, he was a lost child, unsure of what to do and often making poor throws that resulted in turnovers.
Geno is still young, and still has the potential to become a solid NFL quarterback. But this Jets team is too good to stake the path of this season on potential. Ryan Fitzpatrick, on the other hand, is a known commodity. He’s proven to be a smart player who, if given time and talent around him, can have success. He also has a rapport with new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey: For the three years Gailey coached Fitzpatrick in Buffalo, he threw for 10,232 yards and 71 touchdowns. Over his career he has completed 60% of his passes, and thrown for 123 touchdowns to 101 interceptions. And, after seasons with St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Tennessee, and Houston, this Jets team has far and away the best supporting cast Fitzpatrick has gotten to play with.
What the Jets can and should do is lean heavily on their running game, the talented triumvirate of Chris Ivory, Stephen Ridley, and Zac Stacy (as well as Bilal Powell), and trust that in passing situations, Fitzpatrick can deliver the ball to the bevy of playmakers (Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, Jace Amaro) the Jets possess at the skill positions. Their defense has the talent to stifle any offense in the NFL, so Fitzpatrick and the offense will not need to produce a ton of points to win games. Ball possession, a punishing running game, and a smart game manager at QB will translate into a lot of wins for this team.
If this sounds familiar, it’s what a lot of people were saying about the Jets offense under Mark Sanchez in 2010. That year, backed by the 3rd best defense and 4th best ground attack in the NFL, Sanchez completed 55% of his passes, with 17 TDs and 13 INTs. Those numbers are far from earth shattering, but Sanchez played smart, managed the game well, and made throws when he had to. Behind that effort, Gang Green soared to an 11-5 record and two playoff wins before coming up just short in the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh.
This 2015 team is arguably more talented than that team was. They’re much better defensively up front and in the secondary, have a better receiving corps, and a comparable backfield. A cerebral game manager like Fitzpatrick is tailor-made to guide this team to the playoffs.
The Jets are in a position where they have a good enough team that they do not need a superstar at quarterback to be successful. They can win games behind their dominant defense complimented by an offense that can possess the ball for long stretches and manage the game. That formula worked for the Jets under Rex Ryan in 2009 and 2010, and this year’s team has more talent than either of those squads. The smooth, steady Fitzpatrick is far and away the better choice to quarterback this team than the occasionally brilliant but often bewildering Geno Smith. If Todd Bowles wants to enjoy the same success in his first year that other Jets coaches have had (Rex Ryan, Eric Mangini, and Herm Edwards all made the playoffs in their first year at the helm of Gang Green), Ryan Fitzpatrick needs to be the Jets’ starter come Opening Day.
