I had to do it. There will be QBs that will be as good PRO QBs as Mariota, no worries. I want this team winning games, I want greatness so at least we got that same goal.
So there is hope for Mariota yet. We just need to find footage of him in the victory formation or under center in high school.
In the show Shark Tank, sometimes the billionaire sharks invest in the entrepreneur as oppose to his/her business or idea. I view Mariota in the same vein, I am a believer in Mariota the person. I'm banking on his character, intelligence and work ethic to master whatever skill he lacks or hasn't been exposed to currently. Even if he wasn't the elite athlete he is, he'd still be an impressive prospect due the intangibles he brings.
Who gives a crap about that now? Just check that crystal ball for the Power Ball numbers for Saturday for me, all right?
Yes, because he did not bother to mention he fact that for all of his first year and the first part of his second, Geno had rotten offensive support. Decker was hurt, Kerley was a zero and Harvin was not here yet. Instead he defends their D, which was mediocre, Sounded a lot like Rex doing it, too. Now Geno was no good. Don't get me wrong. But it sounded like Lee was polishing Teacher's apple a bit, there. Unnecessary.
I know the overall subject here, that being the relation of Ryan's CS to how Smith's performance killed two seasons, is now a history lesson. Even Idzik is gone, so his actual role in choosing to play Smith is also not a going forward concern for the Jets. But in terms of the article itself, whatever else one thinks of hte things said, it is most significant as an example of cover your ass. My guess is Ryan and Lee know that the big question facing them in Buffalo is why the last two seasons, but also why the CS did not do better given the problems with Smith. So on one hand Lee states the obvious, well obvious to everyone but Smith defenders, that it was Smith who was the player primarily, and quite significantly, responsible for killing those seasons. And then in what strikes me as an attempt to be clever he refers to Smith's play after the team's playoff chances had been killed as a hopeful sign, without mentioning the same thing, more or less, occurred in 13. I can't help thinking Lee and Ryan hope that the Jets keep Smith. The fish and Patsies do, too. But beyond that, what did Lee NOT say? He didn't say why if Smith was so bad they did not give Vick more support and a real chance to be the starter. As mentioned he did not refer to the end of the 13 season. So why did Smith fail so miserably in 14? Even if one accepted (as ftr I did not) that it "made sense" to start Smith at the beginning of 14, why did they stick with him so long? You listen to Lee, and it's as if the Jets could only choose either to ride with Smith or forfeit the games. No other options were even alluded to. In short, rather weak statements from Lee. I'm glad he's gone. Someday we may find out whether it was really Idzik or Ryan and his CS that was behind having Smith be inked in as the starter in 14. It is mostly a matter of history, although I suppose there is some relevance to how we will see Ryan and his CS manage the Qb situation for a division opponent.
That's one of the reasons why they're both gone, as Woodrow intimated a couple of times. And it wasn't just with Geno, or last year. There were several times when there were guys playing, starting, whatever...and it was a mystery why, and who the hell was behind the decision! I believe Woody might have had a hand in that too going back to the Tanny days. Just another reason why that thing had to be cleaned out...100%
This is the Brady Quinn argument. The guy has to have everything if he's going to be a very good to great NFL QB. The smarts and the intangibles are a bonus but he has to have the goods to go along with that. Ryan Fitzpatrick is extremely intelligent, has a very strong work ethic, has a good arm and is a good leader on the field. He's still not a very good NFL QB because he doesn't have great vision of the field coupled with a quick release. He doesn't have the power arm that would make the average vision and release not matter. You have to have just about everything or be playing in a system that is both good and completely tailored to your strengths and weaknesses. Mariota doesn't pass that test convincingly. We'll see how things look in a couple of months after the combine. I could see his stock going either direction at this point.
LOL…what a surprise the Anecdotal King with a couple of Anecdotes. I would somewhat agree with this point of view if Mariota was all intangibles and nothing else, but that is simply not the case. If you stripped him of all of his intangibles, we are still talking about a prospect that has: -Great size -arm talent -athleticism -a quick release -good mechanics -great feet (yes MM may not have taken drops from center but has great feet in the pocket; learning 3-7 step drops will not be a problem) -pocket awareness -poise -throws well on the move -keeps his eyes down field when under pressure -can go through progressions -a good decision maker -durable There's probably more that I am missing but my point is Quinn and bum ass Fitzpatrick did not bring all that to the table on top of the aforementioned intangibles. I am willing to take a guy on with all those positives (intangibles included) and bank on he will improve on the negatives (i.e., throwing in tight windows, ball placement, fumbles, handling more complex reads…etc.). Luck, Manning and Elway aside, no prospect is perfect.
But playing Smith made sense under the "rebuilding" premise. We were told they were rebuilding and that's what rebuilding teams do. They play young players and even play them despite their struggles. This whole thing reeks of finger pointing and deflecting of blame. This was the problem with Rex and Idzik. Both guys were on different time tables. Rex needed to win now to keep his job, while Idzik was in rebuild mode. That dynamic will never work. At least they've finally gotten it right. On another note I love Rex's passive aggressive ways of conveying his issues/problems without none of it ever coming out of his mouth. Using his leaks etc.
Playing Smith might have made sense even if Vick and him were even in camp. I would say it even made some sense, although I did not agree, to play him the first few games. But they held onto Smith far after it was clear that he had not entered 14 on the same level he finished in 13. That did not make sense, even under a rebuilding scenario. I was among those who thought that Smith's performance down the stretch in 13 was not evidence enough to overcome what he showed before then. I was right. If Idzik thought otherwise, it says here that was wishful thinking on his part. As it turned out, and that was a huge reason he got fired. As it played out and not merely because it was hindsight, I would guess if Idzik was here right now and willing to be honest, he would say at some point the sticking with Smith approach became a bad one, and I mean well before the first quarter of the first Buffalo game. At some point I am going to be less and less interested in this debate, since both those guys were fired.
If we were in win now mode then yeah sticking with Smith was a bad move. But we weren't in win now mode. We were in grooming and developing mode. If everybody was on the same page the entire regime could've survived a 4-12 season. But Rex was in win now mode, Idzik was in rebuild mode and Woody was just clueless. Playing Smith was the right move simply because he was the best QB on the roster and we needed to develop and evaluate him further.
Beat me to it. 1985 for some reason thinks Smith was a reasonable prospect to get significantly better. It's been clear enough to me Smith is signficantly less than that since about the ninth game of the 13 season.
He had the physical tools/talent to warrant giving him another look in '14. He did improve this season although that's an unpopular opinion. He just wasn't where everyone hoped he'd be this season. He'll probably given a chance to start this year but now he has to earn it.
