I remain skeptical that any any choice of O is going ot solve Smith's problems. For example it's not as if opponents have no idea how to defend against simple passing attacks. Choosing and sticking with one will merely alert next week's opponent how they can best defend Smith. There;s a cost to choosing an O that is designed to mask your mediocre Qb's deficiencies. The back and forth here about what Smith is and is not showing in camp is only interesting up to a point. We won't know anything concrete until the regular season commences.
The last thing this or any team needs like you said is to lock into a system that is predictable to the opposing team. Installing a dumbed down 2 read system because your QB has a $1mm arm and 2 cent head isn't cutting it in the NFL no matter how much physical talent the QB has nor how good some plays look if those plays account for 3% of all plays. Consistently good play from the QB from quarter 1 through quarter 4 of every game is what this team needs to be successful. This year cannot be "Project" Geno year it has to be "QB" Geno year or he goes to the scrap heap, this is a win now team with a very small window for success give the ages of key players (D'Brick, Mangold, Marshall, Revis, Cro etc.). There weren't many options to bring in to supplant Geno this year so their best hope is the light finally comes on and he starts the year how he's finished it the last few years. Just as important to me is that with Geno and Fitz ahead of him it gives Petty time to learn the system, learn from his mistakes and the others mistake, learn how they overcome those mistakes etc. Petty has had an up and down camp so far, from what I've read more down than up but that's where I want my rookie QB to make his mistakes, in TC, not being thrown into the fire of being the starter.
Yawn inducing. This will be my 31st year of being a Jets fan; I'm not going to pretend they are behaving competently just because it makes you feel better. Is the team going to be better than last year? It better be - they actually spent the cap money Idzik purposefully sat on last year. Spending $30 million, alone, doesn't impress me. Building a Super Bowl contender built to last for 5 or 6 years impresses me. We don't have a QB (again). This is obvious to anyone with a pulse. Sorry if reality gives you a tummy ache.
He very well might have been the best QB available this offseason. That's not the point. The problem is that the people currently running the team acquired Fitzpatrick believing that he's not close to being as good as Geno. How do we know this? They immediately announced Geno was the opening day starter and Fitzpatrick would not be allowed to compete for the starting job. There are only two possible scenarios and both make the GM/HC look bad: 1. Fitzpatrick is talented enough to compete with Geno for the starting job, but the front office and coaching staff refuse to let him do so, or 2. Fitzpatrick is not talented enough to compete with Geno for the starting job, which means the GM was not smart enough or incapable of acquiring a QB in the offseason capable of competing with the worst starting QB in the league. Either scenario is bad.
You're welcome to say what encouraging words you want about him being a good kid but him not being cut out to be an NFL quarterback doesn't make him a bad kid. Missing the meeting, cursing at fans, the piss poor sideline attitude and essentially giving up vs. The Bills and chucking the ball up 3 straight times displays that he's not NFL QB material. I hope he plays like one but I don't necessarily think it all points to a positive attitude. Just because he isn't a criminal doesn't make give him the tough skin to ball in this league and more importantly deal with all the extra curricular that comes with being THE guy on one of 32 pro teams. It's one of the only positions in sports (if not the only position, maybe goalie in hockey) that can make a team as much as it can break a team every single time they play.
I agree this is a win now team that is a poor fit for having a 3rd year Qb who is a project. But more to the point is your first paragraph. It is probably due in part to off season optimism, but this notion that the Jets can succeed with a dumbed down offense designed to minimize Smith's problems is very common around here. I think those who believe in this notion overlook the cost of having a too predictable offense. There are 31 Defensive Coordinators in the league who do not work for the Jets, and no matter the personnel on the team, if they think they know what their next week's opponent's game plan and basic offense ar going to to be, that makes the job a lot easier for them. And being among those 31 they are paid to beat opponents with predictable offenses. They earned those jobs, and keep those jobs, by succeeding at that task. Why this is lost on some is beyond me. Back to win now - to be clear I have to think Mac and Bowles think, and most likely rightly so, that they have at least two years no matter how bad they do to keep their jobs. And in that connection it is realistic to say win now means 16, not just 15. But if Smith cannot perform, and Fitzpatrick doesn't do appreciably better, relying on Petty next year is going to be a bit much, I think. Instead I think the Jets will have to look hard and long at some other option for Qb. In fact that is a pretty easy prediction to make, for me, anyway.
The likelihood that Fitzpatrick was brought in primarily to help Geno learn Gailey's system genuinely hasn't occurred to you, has it?
I don't give a shit about you being a Jets fan for 31 yrs. You know nothing about building a football team. Any uneducated comment you make has nothing to do with my feelings on this team. This team is better than last year, and we got better coaches and scouts. Look at the other acquisitions this FO has made. Progress has been made. The QB position, of course is in question, but again progress has been made so let's see what occurs this year. Matt Moore would've TOTALLY been the answer for the Jets at the QB position? That's hilarious. You want long term success, yet you are asking for Matt Moore, a guy who hasn't amounted to shit to be our QB. If you had a good idea in terms of bringing a QB here, this post wouldn't be here, but you have failed on numerous attempts. Quit bitchin about Idzik, the guy ain't here. Sick of seeing fans that want to see the QB fail just because they don't like the guy.
I get these points, but I do think there were not a lot of options out there this off season. I might have considered going out side the box and do something like trade for some starting Qb, but maybe they did try and had no takers. You are right to be concerned about how they handled announcing that Smith was the starter despite having signed Fitz, though. That along with the Harris contract are the two reasons I am not so sure Woody hired a crack pair in Mac and Bowles. I didn't say they are on crack, either. Somewhere in the middle.
The team is better, no doubt. But Smith is positioned to single handedly prevent it from going anywhere. I get the argument that Smith might have a higher ceiling than we have seen. Maybe higher than Matt Moore's. Maybe. Right now, though, if i had to choose one or the other to win a game, I'd pick Moore. Yes, that is not "long term success" as an objective. But I have yet to see any evidence of long term success in Smith, either.
W/ the state of the offensive line, I think the best guy under center right now is someone who is mobile and can throw decently on the run. Unfortunately (or fortunately), that will be Geno for the moment. Jets have to see what they have in Geno, so far he's earned the right to be the starting QB wk 1. Fitz has been mediocre in TC; while Geno has done a better job. Putting in a stop-gap like Matt Moore is only delaying the inevitable of finding the right QB for this team going forward. We have our potential stop-gap and that is Fitzpatrick. This is Geno's last chance to really prove something, rather see what he has then say what IF, if he actually gets it.
Smith has earned the starting job???? When did that happen? I could not disagree with you more. The right Qb going forward is almost certainly not on the team now. Unless of course Petty becomes that.
So far he has earned the right to start WK1, he has shown improvement and has played better than Fitzpatrick. It's mind-blowing I know. The right QB more than likely isn't on this roster, but Geno has opened eyes and has shown maturity. Even as a Geno Smith "hater", I see that. I hope you do as well soon.
I have read opinions, but the stats do not show that he has played better than Fitzpatrick. Showing maturity is a very low bar.
