Geno improving his footwork is no small task. It's called "fundamental" because it's at the very core of what he's doing. He needs to change the way he's always done things and make that second nature. It's very difficult to accomplish. It seems people are just assuming he's going to flip a switch and BOOM - we have a QB. I look at this as similar to changing a QB's throwing motion. It's a huge change. A lot of guys never get over that hump. Some do.
How important is footwork really?? I'm not trying to be facetious or anything it's an honest question I have. It obviously matters some for a QB to have good footwork, but is it really something that makes or breaks a guy? Personally I don't think so. I think maybe it can make a difference for a guy who is already quite good, to put him in an elite category or something, but if I'm evaluating whether a QB is good overall or not - I'm likely not going to stress out about his footwork. Or in the case of Geno Smith - his footwork is terrible and may always be, but it's just one of the many things that's broken about him. He can still be a good QB with not so good footwork. Or he could work really hard to develop his footwork and still be terrible... Pennington had precision by the book footwork, he was just a decent starting QB. Sanchez had some good footwork and he was terrible. There are plenty of guys out there that have had good careers with poor to nasty footwork: Favre, Romo, Roethelisberger, even russell wilson's isn't all that great. I also think draft scouts focus on footwork or "fundamentals" way too much in evaluating draft picks. The Jets knew when they drafted Smith that he was lacking in a lot of the fundamentals. That doesn't mean he can't be successful. They should try to build around his strengths though and not make him something he is not.
It's not the be all end all so of course you could have good footwork and still suck. If your footwork isn't right it throws off the timing of your reads, and can cause inconsistency in accuracy. With a timing and precision based offense those are obviously very big problems. His bad footwork from under center is also much, much worse than Favre or Romo. I think Wilson has pretty good footwork from what I've seen. As for Roethlisberger - he's a bit of an enigma and the Steelers offense isn't nearly as timing based as ours.
footwork is huge for a qb. its not so much that they need to have perfect footwork, but think of it like a boxer. the throwing motion starts from the feet and ends at the top of the release. its not rocket science and it doesnt need to be perfect, but it needs consistency. the reason footwork is soimportant in boxing is the same reason it is important for a qb. if your feet get crossed up you cant slip, cant deliver a good punch, and probably cant get in position to block either. as a qb moves around the pocket, he needs to have his feet always ready to throw the ball in order to be accurate. he needs to have hisfootwork consistent for his drops so he knows where his receivers are when he is ready to throw. there are a lot of reasons why a qb needs to have good footwork. its possible to be good without having the footwork, but those guys usually rely on a lot ofother factors to get the job done and it isnt always pretty. ben is definitely an enigma; but the steelers dont need him to have good footwork, they need him to extend plays and find the open receivers. but his footwork is not so bad that you would say it holds him back. right now, geno smith just cant run a portion of the playbook because of his footwork issues. now im not going to say that he cant learn it or anything, and he has shown the ability to be a good qb so he really just needs to get it to a serviceable level and we are set. but he needs to be able to be consistent with his timing and limit those headscratching throws.
The footwork is a big concern for me, and it's likely why Geno took only 68 out of 428 passing snaps from under center. I understand there is an adjustment period, but this takes babysteps to a whole different level. I'm actually shocked at how successful the running game was in light of this, and wonder if the Oline got a raw deal in terms of evaluation because of it.
Throwing Geno into the fire was an unfair thing for Geno, but also unfair to anyone on the offense and probably for the entire team. The Jets made a mistake in doing it and they will probably pay for it for a few or more years unless he takes a quantum leap in his improvement at the position in the WCO. Will Winters ever have a chance to prove himself if Geno's slow progress continues to hinder the OL and offense in general? This is why a lot of people would prefer Vick to start the season. He knows the offense, has played well under center, and has better mobility when the pocket collapses. The Jets didn't have a choice other than to start Geno in 2013, unless they wanted to start Simms, who has a stronger arm, better head for the under center game, but wasn't a guy that Idzik had brought in. Geno was a victim of a bad situation and the Jets forced themselves to start the victim. They don't have to start the worst option this year, even though the talking heads want you to believe that he's been crowned starting QB already. I want to believe that Geno will make great strides, but belief comes from proof, faith comes from hope.
Everybody that didn't make a snap judgment on him is rooting for him. I am rooting for him. Fanaticism is fun, but humility and focus from a player mean nothing without execution. Idzik has at least two more years. Geno doesn't. Geno needs to show something immediately this year. Immediately. And if he doesn't, Vick comes in and wins the job, it's a fair expectation that Vick will get hurt. So, when Geno comes in after that hypothetical scenario, he has got to be ready, or the Jets are finding a new QB. That's it. He's gone. The only other scenario is that stupid fans support a stupid team.
My one disagreement with this is that Geno is not gone under any circumstances. He's just an appropriately priced backup for a couple of years if he can't take and hold the starting job. If Geno isn't starting at the end of the year for any reason other than injury the odds are good the Jets are drafting a QB 1 or 2 next year.
true, theres zero chance he isn't on roster next year. In fact its likely he'll be in contention for the starting job in 2015 even if he is just mediocre. He can be a backup in this offense, the trouble is figuring out wether or not he brings enough positive play on a consistent basis to be a starter. a new rookie might not be the best choice to start in 2015, especially if they're anywhere as raw as Smith is/was. and then theres that competition thing... it would make sense to have a battle between the new guy and Smith. otherwise, yeah he's a backup for some other free agent QB, he's getting paid like one for two more years and he's shown he can lead a team to a win here or there so why not? lets hope it doesn't come to that, though.
I can't recall a poster here who has said they are sure Smith will not make it, or can already be called a bust. Anyone speaking in such categorical terms imo would not be allowing for the possibility of enough positive development that surely exists. Sure you sometimes see NFL players who have the opportunity to improve, and essentially do not. The key words in that paragraph, though, are "enough" and "essentially", by which I mean in any young NFL player's career, merely some development will not be enough to keep them in the league. They have to show significant development if they are starting from a point that is unacceptable over the longer term. And that is where my doubts about Smith come in. Imo too many here gave Smith too much credit for substantial improvement over the last four games of the season. Now I would be a fool not to agree he showed some improvement. But it was from such a low, poor baseline, and his supporters here imo overstated what improvement we did in fact see. For example, I was troubled by the way his ypa actually declined from his season average over those games. I think the CS handled him differently in those games. It takes some getting used to as a Jet fan considering the recent past, but we actually now have an above average CS on the offensive side of the ball. Yes, Smith gets some of the credit, too. But the playcalling, the offense's approach, minimized his negatives and led to a real decline in turnovers. But... I am concerned that opposing DC's will in the future counter even those positives. Meanwhile I still see problems with the fundamentals, with seeing the pass defense, with timing and how a conservative game plan invites a different attack by the opponent's D. And overall I fear that the magnitude of his problems is going to be too much to overcome by the metric we should have here, which is whether he can develop to the level of being an average NFL Qb. I don't think he will, but he might. I just doubt it. The real concern is he will develop enough to keep his job and not reach that level, which is more or less what the team let Sanchez do. I really don't want to go through that again.
I think so. How many times did we see 8 people in the box. They would try and stop the run and make Geno make mistakes. Theres a reason Olines in front of great QBs look better. Other than Winters I thought our O line played well last year.
