Jets Dyer: Naming Smith The Jets’ Starting QB In May Was Bowles’ First Mistake Head Coach Stresses Competition But Then Gives Player Who Needs It Most A Pass?May 21, 2015 3:13 PM Share on email2 View Comments Todd Bowles is introduced as head coach of the New York Jets on January 21, 2015. (Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images) Related Tags: Chan Gailey, Geno Smith, Kristian Dyer, New York Jets, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Todd Bowles FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it It is a dangerous time to be New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles, this after the team on Wednesdayannounced via offensive coordinator Chan Gailey that Geno Smith was set to be the starting quarterback to begin the season. What isn’t so scary is that Smith, a very mediocre quarterback, will be starting. He is a young quarterback and has shown flashes — albeit limited — of being a solid quarterback. The scary part is that Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan are making the same short-sighted mistakes the previous regime made. If Smith had beaten out Ryan Fitzpatrick during training camp, winning the starting job over an established 11-year NFL veteran, then there couldn’t be any true complaints. Simply, it would be Smith being the best man and the quarterback who would give the Jets the best chance to win. But this announcement, two months before training camp even starts, is not just bad timing but simply bad logic. It’s the type of thinking that got the last two general managers around here fired. Neither Mark Sanchez nor Smith had a true, open quarterback competition during the previous six years, meaning that the Jets have anointed quarterbacks based on draft pick status or favoritism. That the team hasn’t made the playoffs in four years is born from that philosophy. What Sanchez and Smith both needed was competition under center to make them better, to sharpen their skills. If they lost the job, well then they lost it to someone who would give the Jets a better shot at winning. Problem is neither quarterback was given the chance to lose the job. Both were handed their jobs despite resumes that suggested otherwise. Neither has a competition to challenge them and now Sanchez is a backup quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles. The early returns on Smith after two years? Not terribly promising, although admittedly it is still early. What is concerning here is that Bowles came into the job preaching competition. Now with Wednesday’s news that Smith is the starter, Bowles has broken one of his core talking points. Especially puzzling here is the timing of the situation. Two months before training camp kicks off is not the time to name a starter, especially when that starter is a young quarterback with nothing but a lackluster first two years to show for his efforts. Fitzpatrick may not be the answer under center for the Jets, but Bowles and his coaching staff are saying that it isn’t even necessary to compete for the most important position on the field. Instead, just hand it to Smith now. Gailey even went so far as to say that Smith can’t lose the job based off of training camp or preseason. Talk about a bad message to send to the rest of the team. Equally puzzling is that Fitzpatrick still isn’t a full-go in organized team activities. The injury that ended his season in 2014 still hasn’t been put to bed and he can only participate in 7-on-7 drills and the like. So the Jets are declaring Smith the starter without even getting the chance to see if the veteran Fitzpatrick is any better. It is a short-sighted and discouraging decision by Bowles and Maccagnan, who had done so much good during free agency and the draft. But handing the starting job to an unproven quarterback without so much as a competition sends the wrong message to the locker room. It says that certain jobs are safe and that there are favorites on the roster, that no matter what you do in training camp or preseason that your job is safe if you’re “one of our guys.” Fitzpatrick may ultimately prove to be inferior to Smith, but he should be given the chance by the Jets to showcase himself when he is fully healthy later this summer. There’s no reason why the Jets have to elevate Smith to being a starter right now at this moment in time in late May. All it does is tie their hands if Fitzpatrick plays better than Smith in training camp. The Jets have nothing to lose from an open competition and, in fact, everything to gain. Instead, they’ve anointed a subpar quarterback with major question marks to be their starter. If Smith won the job outright, then no one could complain. But the Jets won’t even let it get that far. No competition at all. Smith hasn’t won anything. He’s been handed the job instead. Perhaps the Jets are just content with mediocrity and Bowles’ assertions about competition were just bogus. If that’s the case, get ready for a fifth year without the playoffs. Follow Kristian on Twitter at @KristianRDyer
As Chan Gailey took to the podium Wednesday to speak to the media for the first time as the New York Jets offensive coordinator, he nonchalantly dropped the bomb that Geno Smith, not Ryan Fitzpatrick, was New York's No. 1 quarterback. No competition. No battle. Geno is and will be No. 1, all else on the roster will fight for the spots behind him. Gailey gave little backing for why, or how, he came to the Geno decision. But it didn't matter. Being named the unquestioned stater was likely all Smith had been longing to hear for the last three years. Ever since being selected in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, the Jets 'quarterback of the future' has consistently been just that. As a rookie, he was thrown into a quarterback battle with former first-round pick Mark Sanchez. Smith never actually won the competition, but was named the starter after Sanchez suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. As a rookie, Smith left much to be desired. He completed only 55.8 percent of his passes and threw just 12 touchdowns, but was intercepted a staggering 21 times. His quarterback rating? A measly 66.5. Following Smith's rookie season, the Jets signed quarterback Michael Vick to bring "competition" to the quarterback position. The ensuing training camp included a competition that wasn't a competition, along with Smith never technically being named the starter. It was an open competition, but Smith got all the first-team reps. The only thing New York didn't do was name him the starter. Now, entering year three, Smith has what he's never had before: A vote of confidence from the team. He is the starting quarterback. His coaches have said it, his teammates know it. There's no looking over his shoulder, no worrying that one bad move and he's headed to the bench. And is getting a pat on the back from your bosses such a bad thing? While Smith is far, far from perfect, what he has done is shown flashes that he can play in the NFL. Sure, there's plenty of times he's caused thousands of hands to be thrown in the air with each bone-headed, head-scratching, mental mistake made. But then there's also been fists thrown in the air in celebration, too. There will be a deep bomb down the seam, a perfectly placed ball on a comeback. There will be maneuverability in the pocket, elusiveness on quarterback runs. Sure, Smith has had games where he's thrown three interceptions in one quarter (Buffalo), but also games where he's thrown for 358 yards and three touchdowns (Miami). He has the potential, he just needs to reach it. While New York's last coaching regime never failed to fire up fans, their handling of players left much to be desired. For every flaw held by Rex Ryan and his staff, new coach Todd Bowles and his crew have done their part in showing it's a new era. That includes their approach with Smith, which includes naming him, for the first time in his career, the unquestioned starter. "Right now, Geno's the starter," Gailey said. And why? "Because Geno's the starter." Connor Hughes is the New York Jets beat writer for About.com Sports and The Journal Inquirer. He can be reached on twitter: @Connor_J_Hughes, or via email: Connor_J_Hughes@yahoo.com http://nyjets.about.com/od/Featured...y-right-in-naming-Geno-Smith-Jets-starter.htm
anyone getting into a tizzy over this is playing right into the medias hands, who are making a story out of a non-story. this isn't an announcement... the team never said there would be an open competition (in which case this would be an announcement). they never said squat on it. last year geno was our starter...they've said nothing otherwise, so this is non-news...they didn't name him the starter....he was already the starter. the media has created a sense there would be a QB competition, the Jets themselves have never said any such thing. they may have said there will be 'competition' but they say that across the entire depth chart. They never said there would be an open QB competition, which is entirely different a statement. There is nothing to announce here. don't play the media's game.
I meant other coaching staffs here. Why is it a pattern that Sanchez should get gifted the job in his rookie year, that Geno should more or less be gifted the job in his rookie year and now again Geno's gifted the job the third straight time there could have been a real QB contreversy? It's about minimizing distractions...they don't want the back pages, the talk radio nonsense and the watch as to who's outplaying who. All that is multiplied tenfold in NY.
Geno will be the starter but is on a very very short leash.. Fitz is here to hold over until until Bryce Petty is ready to go.. which shouldnt be until next year.
So what I am reading into here is that Geno gets unconditional backing from the coaching staff for the first time in three years. No media and press distractions. OK. I can see this coaching staff saying after our 1-3 start not to "give up on Smith so fast he was great for one game". Who knows? Its just one big surprise after another. I can see where this sh*ts flowing
Don't take a May press conference that much to heart. They are going in by showing confidence in geno. Idk if I'd say they're going all in. If he doesn't take a step forward he'll be benched Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
how did that all work out? if a guy can't handle the pressure of a qb competition in the preseason what's he going to do when the big bright lights are on?
On why it will not be an open competition… (Geno has) done enough good, quality things (while) he’s been here and he’s done enough quality things that he deserves the opportunity to be the guy. We told Fitz (Fitzpatrick) coming in that’s the way it was going to be. We didn’t try to pull the wool over somebody’s eyes. That’s exactly how we told (it to) him. This is a quote from Gailey and right there I would have question his mental capacity. I know he has access to Geno's games and it wasn't good outide of 2 games at the end of the last two seasons.
To be fair Gailey has had relative success with some shitty QB's, Fitzpatrick being one of them. the press conference is available on the jets site btw.
The Jets Blog Podcast had some really good input into this whole situation and they echoed a lot of what I've thought. http://thejetsblog.com/audio/podcast/tjb-podcast-training-camp-battles-geno-not-included/ If you don't follow the show, you should; it's far and away some of the best Jets content you'll find. An interesting point they brought up is that Chan Gailey was rumored to want Geno coming out of WVU in 2013 because of how well he fit his offense, but he was fired after the 2012 season and didn't make it to the draft. They suggest that Geno wasn't a negative aspect of taking the Jets job but rather a luring point that brought him out of retirement. If he came here because he's liked Geno all the way then the situation makes a little more sense to me.
We all wanted a competition but we didn't get one. No reason to bitch and moan about it, what's done is done. If you people who hate Geno so much want him to play so badly that Fitz does take the job from him this offseason then so be it. That will be ridiculously annoying and would definitely not be good for our 2015 season but whatever people seem more concerned with their dislike of a certain player than the teams success anyway. Makes more sense to start talking about how Fitz can help mentor him and Petty rather than bitch about it but whatever.
The bad media is driven by bad play and decisions. Why are we always in the shitty headlines? The praises were there during the draft so it doesn't seem they have an agenda against our FO. Instead we make a dumb azz statement about the "great" Geno. WHY WHY WHY??? The sad truth in regards to Geno is it hit the nail on the head. Feeding Geno's ego isn't going to help him only hard work and competition will help. And now there seems to be little if any competition. Our fans didn't create this situation, the FO did (coaches). You pro Geno and management guys are OK with the decision (fine) but many of us are seeing the past mistakes being reincarnated. I keep saying WTF WTF WTF!!! If this was the plan why piss off many of our fans by declaring it before training camp?
Their words, not mine; and it's just a suggestion. If he liked the fit in 2013 and all of a sudden there's a vacancy to coach him, I'm sure it would have some appeal to him.
