There's no doubt watching Geno Smith QB in the last two seasons has been extremely frustrating. If you go back and read some of the posts I made here, I am on the record saying that Geno didn’t pass the eye test but now that I had some time to think about next year, I do not think I am ready to give up just yet. I have hopes for him heading into next year because he will be under the tutelage of Chan Gailey. A man that has gotten career years out of Kordell Stewart, Jay Fiedler, Tyler Thigpen and Ryan Fitzpatrick, why wouldn’t he be able to do the same with Geno?
The first thing that Geno has on his side is his age. He is still only 24 years old. Since his rookie year he has been thrown into the fire and this blame could be placed onto no other than the Rex Ryan/John Idzik regime. I always laugh at how adamant [MENTION=82]sg3[/MENTION] is with his WRECKS talk every five minutes but I think when it comes to QBs that nickname is warranted and well deserved. I love Rex Ryan by the way but he was a flawed head coach.
Coming out of college, everyone knew that Smith was not supposed to start right away. For that matter, the Jets were not even looking to suit him up but have him as the third string/emergency QB for 2013. The extreme couponer himself, Idzik, found David Garrard in the garbage somewhere and brought him in to compete with Geno and Mark Sanchez. Unfortunately, Garrard was unable to make the comeback and retired before the 2013 preseason. This left Geno to compete against Sanchez for the starting nod. As expected, he was losing the QB battle but then, against the Giants, Rex got cute and put Sanchez in with second and third stringers. We all remember what happened next, Sanchez hurt his shoulder and was deemed out for the year.
Geno was forced into the starting line up as an unpolished rookie (who didn’t know how to play under center) with a receiving core of Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley, Santonio Holmes and David Nelson. Hill was invisible, Holmes was oft-injured and barely had a presence on the field and Nelson came onto the team mid-year. The only bright spot on our receiving core was Kerley. He impressed many of us but after looking at his stats he was ranked 86th in receiving yards. Truth be told, Kerley is nothing more than a third wide receiver, if that.
In 2014, the Jets tried to address the WR issue by acquiring Decker but the team still lacked a second wide receiver until Idzik realized his mistake (not drafting an impact WR in the draft or signing DeSean Jackson when he was available in the offseason) and traded for Percy Harvin. Smith finally had another decent weapon to throw the ball to. Many would argue that Harvin is not a true WR but he did in fact help Smith. With Harvin plugged in at the second WR slot, Geno threw the ball at a 60% clip vs. 57% prior to the trade. Not that big of a difference but it helped open up the field a bit.
Geno is very streaky. When things are going well they go very well and when they are not, they go real bad. In the final four games of the season, Geno threw for a 65% completion rate, 6 TDs and Two Interceptions. Overall in 2014, compared to 2013, Geno threw for more TDs and threw less interceptions despite playing in less games. To quote one of our posters [MENTION=79]Little John Flowers[/MENTION] (his post inspired this):
Little John is right, Geno is good when not under pressure, unfortunately, according to PFF he was under pressure 40% of his dropbacks -- the third highest in the league last season. (Disclaimer: I think I am reading these stats correctly. I feel like PFF's stats could be presented better. I am not a numbers guy)
Continuing on that point, take a look at the stats below from PFF. When Geno is not under pressure, he has a QB rating of 89.8. I do wish his TD:INT was a bit better but at least he is throwing the ball like a QB here and moving the chains.
View attachment 314
Based off the table above, it's clear that if Geno doesn't have to think as much and process the defense, he can have some success (don't see this as a knock, he is young). So now this is where I think Gailey and the Spread Offense would work wonders. Geno is pretty mobile for a QB and has used his legs as a weapon before. I believe Gailey will more than likely use Geno's mobility to his advantage roll him out often, whether it's in the pistol formation or out of shotgun. This will essentially take away half of the field, so he isn't forced to think as much. This is where it will be up to Geno to improve and make the right decision, if it's there, throw it. If not, make the smart play and either run it for a gain or throw the ball away.
In my opinion, Geno's strength is in the short and intermediate passing game. He excelled doing that in college and with the right weapons, I can see him exceling in the pros. If we sign Spiller and utilized our other weapons in the short passing game (Amaro, maybe Harvin), I can see the streaky Geno getting in a rhythm and succeeding.
There is no denying Smith is a hard worker. Everything I read about him shows me that he wants to succeed. Now he just needs to put it all together on the field. Only QB I want from this years crop of prospects is Winston. If Winston doesn’t fall in our lap, I am prepared to battle with Geno at least for one more year. I would still bring on a veteran, whether it's Locker, Fitzpatrick or Hoyer to try to give Geno a run for his money. But the point is, I think we are heading in the right direction with the Gailey Hire and do not think it is the end of the world if we stick with Smith and develop the rest of the team albeit WR, OLB, CB, S, OL, etc.
Am I on crack?:stoned-smiley:
The first thing that Geno has on his side is his age. He is still only 24 years old. Since his rookie year he has been thrown into the fire and this blame could be placed onto no other than the Rex Ryan/John Idzik regime. I always laugh at how adamant [MENTION=82]sg3[/MENTION] is with his WRECKS talk every five minutes but I think when it comes to QBs that nickname is warranted and well deserved. I love Rex Ryan by the way but he was a flawed head coach.
Coming out of college, everyone knew that Smith was not supposed to start right away. For that matter, the Jets were not even looking to suit him up but have him as the third string/emergency QB for 2013. The extreme couponer himself, Idzik, found David Garrard in the garbage somewhere and brought him in to compete with Geno and Mark Sanchez. Unfortunately, Garrard was unable to make the comeback and retired before the 2013 preseason. This left Geno to compete against Sanchez for the starting nod. As expected, he was losing the QB battle but then, against the Giants, Rex got cute and put Sanchez in with second and third stringers. We all remember what happened next, Sanchez hurt his shoulder and was deemed out for the year.
Geno was forced into the starting line up as an unpolished rookie (who didn’t know how to play under center) with a receiving core of Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley, Santonio Holmes and David Nelson. Hill was invisible, Holmes was oft-injured and barely had a presence on the field and Nelson came onto the team mid-year. The only bright spot on our receiving core was Kerley. He impressed many of us but after looking at his stats he was ranked 86th in receiving yards. Truth be told, Kerley is nothing more than a third wide receiver, if that.
In 2014, the Jets tried to address the WR issue by acquiring Decker but the team still lacked a second wide receiver until Idzik realized his mistake (not drafting an impact WR in the draft or signing DeSean Jackson when he was available in the offseason) and traded for Percy Harvin. Smith finally had another decent weapon to throw the ball to. Many would argue that Harvin is not a true WR but he did in fact help Smith. With Harvin plugged in at the second WR slot, Geno threw the ball at a 60% clip vs. 57% prior to the trade. Not that big of a difference but it helped open up the field a bit.
Geno is very streaky. When things are going well they go very well and when they are not, they go real bad. In the final four games of the season, Geno threw for a 65% completion rate, 6 TDs and Two Interceptions. Overall in 2014, compared to 2013, Geno threw for more TDs and threw less interceptions despite playing in less games. To quote one of our posters [MENTION=79]Little John Flowers[/MENTION] (his post inspired this):
Little John is right, Geno is good when not under pressure, unfortunately, according to PFF he was under pressure 40% of his dropbacks -- the third highest in the league last season. (Disclaimer: I think I am reading these stats correctly. I feel like PFF's stats could be presented better. I am not a numbers guy)
Continuing on that point, take a look at the stats below from PFF. When Geno is not under pressure, he has a QB rating of 89.8. I do wish his TD:INT was a bit better but at least he is throwing the ball like a QB here and moving the chains.
View attachment 314
Based off the table above, it's clear that if Geno doesn't have to think as much and process the defense, he can have some success (don't see this as a knock, he is young). So now this is where I think Gailey and the Spread Offense would work wonders. Geno is pretty mobile for a QB and has used his legs as a weapon before. I believe Gailey will more than likely use Geno's mobility to his advantage roll him out often, whether it's in the pistol formation or out of shotgun. This will essentially take away half of the field, so he isn't forced to think as much. This is where it will be up to Geno to improve and make the right decision, if it's there, throw it. If not, make the smart play and either run it for a gain or throw the ball away.
In my opinion, Geno's strength is in the short and intermediate passing game. He excelled doing that in college and with the right weapons, I can see him exceling in the pros. If we sign Spiller and utilized our other weapons in the short passing game (Amaro, maybe Harvin), I can see the streaky Geno getting in a rhythm and succeeding.
There is no denying Smith is a hard worker. Everything I read about him shows me that he wants to succeed. Now he just needs to put it all together on the field. Only QB I want from this years crop of prospects is Winston. If Winston doesn’t fall in our lap, I am prepared to battle with Geno at least for one more year. I would still bring on a veteran, whether it's Locker, Fitzpatrick or Hoyer to try to give Geno a run for his money. But the point is, I think we are heading in the right direction with the Gailey Hire and do not think it is the end of the world if we stick with Smith and develop the rest of the team albeit WR, OLB, CB, S, OL, etc.
Am I on crack?:stoned-smiley:
