Assuming Josh McCown starts in Cleveland and Brian Hoyer in Houston, Ryan Fitzpatrick of the New York Jets entered training camp, according to Spotrac, as the third highest-paid backup quarterback in the NFL. There's a good reason the Jets gave Fitzpatrick a two-year, $7.25 million deal this offseason, reuniting the veteran with his former coach in Buffalo, Chan Gailey. And while it isn't because they anticipated the presumed starter, Geno Smith, would miss time due to a broken jaw after being sucker-punched by a teammate, per Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith, the reality is the organization has always realized there was a chance Smith would need relief in 2015. Can't blame 'em. Among the 29 quarterbacks who have started at least 16 games since Smith entered the league as a second-round pick in 2013, the West Virginia product ranks dead last with a passer rating of 71.5. He's thrown 34 interceptions in just 30 career games and was benched for a short time midway through last season. NFL's lowest-rated passers since the start of 2013 Quarterback Rating Geno Smith 71.5 Derek Carr 76.6 Chad Henne 77.0 Brian Hoyer 77.6 Eli Manning 81.3 Min. 16 starts (Pro-Football-Reference.com) At that point, a lot of folks were already prepared to wonder if Smith's career as a starter in New York was all but over. Despite the fact Smith was having a strong training camp prior to breaking his jaw—he went eight consecutive practices without an interception to kick off training camp, per ESPN.com's Rich Cimini—few would have confidently bet that the unreliable pivot would have held that starting job for 16 games this season. Outside of the quarterback position, the Jets are built to win now. They've got a defense that ranked sixth in football last season, and they've added weapons on both sides of the ball. Plus, there's a new energy at Florham Park with a fresh regime calling the shots. The Jets needed insurance under center. They needed somebody who could push Smith and potentially even serve as an upgrade in the event of poor play, injuries or unexpected haymakers to the jaw. Fitzpatrick is practically the face of the quarterback insurance industry. He's quietly provided it over the last 10 years to the St. Louis Rams, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans. He started at least a few games for all five of those teams, amassing 89 total starts since 2005. The 32-year-old has started more games than Matthew Stafford (77) and nearly as many as Aaron Rodgers (103). He has a higher career completion percentage than Stafford, Eli Manning, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck and a higher yards-per-attempt average than Alex Smith and Sam Bradford. He's not a Hall of Famer, an All-Pro or even a Pro Bowler, but he's one of those borderline starting-caliber quarterbacks who at his age has mastered being a stopgap. In 12 starts with Houston last season, the Harvard product posted the best passer rating, completion percentage, yards-per-attempt average and touchdown-to-interception ratio of his 10-year career. And what's most encouraging is that he finished extremely strong. Before a leg injury ended his season abruptly in Week 15, Fitzpatrick had thrown nine touchdown passes and just one interception in his last four starts, three of them victories. Between Week 6 and Week 14, just prior to that season-ending injury, only three quarterbacks posted higher ratings than Fitzpatrick. NFL's top-rated passers, Weeks 6-14, 2014 Quarterback Rating 1. Aaron Rodgers 121.3 2. Tony Romo 117.3 3. Tom Brady 108.0 4. Ryan Fitzpatrick 107.0 5. Ben Roethlisberger 104.6 Min. 80 attempts (Pro-Football-Reference.com) "According to our data, Fitzpatrick is the better QB," wrote Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Focus, "and not only did he show he had something left in the tank, but he had a good run with Gailey in Buffalo and will have a top-level target to throw to in Brandon Marshall." No wonder Jets head coach Todd Bowles has said Fitzpatrick could in fact keep the starting job. “I’m confident in Ryan,” Bowles said Tuesday, per Michael David Smith. “Ryan’s had a good camp. Geno was having a good camp, too, so it’s hard to replace a guy when both guys are doing well. But Ryan’s been a pro, he’s been here before, he has a lot of games under his belt, he knows the system, he knows how to throw the ball, he understands the game.” Nobody wants to lose a job because of injury, but the Jets can't afford to play favorites with Smith merely because he possesses more upside than his senior peer. This team not only can survive the loss of Smith, but it might capable of thriving with Fitzpatrick. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-of-filling-in-for-geno-smith-as-jets-starter
Fitz doesn't have the velocity that Geno does, which might limit some of his throws, but he gets rid of the ball quicker. Hopefully that will limit the sacks and fumbles that Geno likes to give us. They both like to throw INTs. Overall I think it's gonna be a push.
89 starts with 5 teams and not one, in this qb driven league of haves and have nots, wanted to keep him. What else can you say?
Hey wait, if Geno sits out until Week 12 can we get the "solid last 4 games" without the 12 bad ones? Or are we not allowed to skip them? Kidding aside, here's an article comparing what Fitz had in 2014 w/ the Texans to what he has this year. I posted it a while back but now he's starting: http://thejetsblog.com/nyjets/geno-vs-fitzy-a-tale-of-two-quarterbacks/
Fitzmagic is No worse than Geno ,they are both shit ,anyone who was holding any hope for the season with smith at QB is on some form of drugs Another season has bit the dust ,The QB issue needs to be sorted for some reason this has been going on for years ...
Yes it needs to be sorted but the new regime has already made strides to fix it. Drafting Petty was a great move. It's gonna take time
I think he can hold the fort and do a solid job. But the question is if he's serviceable but not lighting the world on fire do they keep him in or do they go to Smith?
No. I could stop there but I will elaborate. First off what makes you think Geno will light it up? Serviceable is what they are looking for from the QB position this year. Secondly if they are out of the playoff picture you most likely give your rookie some reps so no the only way Geno plays again this year if Fitz totally sucks or he gets injured when we are still in the hunt.
If geno comes back and the offense is stagnant or we are out of the playoff picture he will play. The plan this year was to find out once and for all what geno is. Thats been delayed but not totally scrapped
There's a difference we know what Fitz is. He's a backup Qb/spot starter/hold the fort guy. Him playing serviceable for a few games are fine, but he's not the long term answer. We need to know once and for all what we have in Smith. Geno has more upside so if say Geno plays serviceable this year, that could be a good sign and he could potentially improve upon that. Petty should not see the field outside of mop up duty at the end of the game.
Being a QB in this league is more than just play on the field you have to be the leader of the team. His actions letting this escalate shows he is not. His teammates response to what happened is even more telling the kind of leader Geno is. Geno is not the long term answer and Bowles comments seem to support that. The question then becomes if Fitz is that bad do you play Petty? We already know that Fitz will not be that bad he will be Fitz and play like an average to just below average NFL starter. If the Jets think Petty is the future Fitz will most likely be the starter here for the next year year and half and Geno will be released. If Petty is not the guy we will draft another QB and Fitz will be the penciled in starter going into camp. The only way I see Geno being on this team next year if Fitz gets hurt and Geno comes in lights it up and leads us to the playoffs.
Meh. depends on why the O might be stagnant. Whoever the Qb was going to be there were some concerns here. To cite a small example how are they going to handle TE and Amaro being apparently not set up to be the standard TE? How many two back sets can they use effectively? The OL? Especially Giamomini, and how well Carpenter fits in? RG? Will Kerley contine to fade or be rejuvenated? Who is the 4th Wideout? No matter who the Qb was going to be, there were a lot of questions about the O this season, despite the Marshall upgrade and the promise Carpenter has shown so far. As far as seeing what Smith can do, that is a very different question from one where camp and all of pre-season is used to set him up going into the regular season. Coming back from injury, weight loss, lack of practice... Not good.
For the Geno Smith supporters please tell me one other team in the league that the players would be reacting like they did with Geno. Johnny football maybe other than that though? Revis basically said he had it coming but for political correctness could not come right out and say it.
You do not know how they are viewing Smith. Last I checked Smith was the starter and if his backup is playing at a ho hum level it's not unfathomable that they could make a change, but that's obviously at the discretion of Bowles. Petty is not ready haven't we not learned our lesson?
Just listen to the comments not that hard to discern. Petty only plays if the season is over to get reps. Smith only plays if Fitz gets hurt and that is if we do not sign anyone else. Hold out hope but take the blinders off Smith time as a Jet is most likely over after this season. This is the Jets and you never know but the odds are slim Smith ever see's the field again in a Jets uniform.
