So now we finally know what we should have known all along: Brad Smith is no good in space without the ball but he is very good when he has it at the start of the play. This makes sense given that he was a QB for 7 years, counting high school, before the Jets drafted him. He has been a weak receiver for the Jets for four seasons now but when the Jets decided to put the ball in his hands at the start of the play, both as a kick returner and as a wildcat QB he is clearly a very dynamic player. It's a bit frustrating because that role will be great for us this year but it really has no place in the depth chart moving forward. You don't remove a franchise QB so the wildcat can get used for a few plays every game. I'm thinking maybe the Jets need to make Smith the backup QB next season and either use O'Connell as the clipboard holder or go get another guy. Then the question becomes: can you afford to have the backup QB returning kicks and playing on special teams in a defensive role?
Ainge over O'Connell as our backup...but there can be room for a great player like Brad in his role with an elite QB like Sanchez hopefully will be. The coaching staff just needs to be smart when to use it.
You just made my point. Both Vick and White are on their respective rosters as QB's. Brown is a runningback who goes into the shotgun in the wildcat just like Leon Washington does here. We don't have Brad Smith on the roster as a QB at this point we have him as a WR/KR where he clearly is weak at WR. What Philadelphia has is the opposite conundrum to the one we have: can they afford to have both Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick (newly added this year) both on the roster as QB's? Their answer may be to trade Donovan McNabb, play Kolb as the new QB and have Vick as the backup. That would resolve a lot of issues for them.
Smith is also a tremendous blocker on running and screen plays. He's a special teams ace. He's great in the wildcat. He gets his spot as a WR.
Fair enough about my post which was in response to your assertion that you don't remove a franchise QB to run wildcat. It happens often enough to be considered relevant. Furthermore, I disagree with your think that it is a wasted roster spot. Smith more than justifies his roster spot on this team with special teams alone. Wright would get cut before he would. The fact that he can also be a role-player in our offense is a huge bonus, and ostensibly guarantees his place on this team for years to come.
Our WR corps is weak and I think you can lay part of that on the decision to maintain Smith as a WR. I think you're right that the Jets would have to cut Wright at this point if they wanted to maintain Smith's roster spot next season and bring in another WR to strengthen the corps.
There is no way he is justified as a #3 receiver; I agree. He does more than enough to stick around, though.
I just wonder if he wouldn't be an excellent backup QB for us if he was given the whole offense to learn as well as the wildcat suite. He did what he did in college because he has real talent. I'd be much, much more comfortable with him in the game than Clemens at this point. Nowhere near as comfortable as with Sanchez but a backup QB is what it is.
Uhh... what conundrum? Brad Smith is a useful player and will remain a Jet as long as he remains one.
Brad Smith isn't a bad #4 WR at all, and most teams do carry 5 WR. The thing is, we have Keller, who's basically a WR, and we NEVER go 4 WR anyway, s what's the point in having a great #3? I think we should take a flyer on a shifty slot WR type in the 4th or 5th round, but the point is, we're not going to be the Pats who give it to Welker a dozen times a game, so we don't need much more than that.
We've had room for him for 4 years, why would we all of a sudden have a problem here? He's good at STs and a multidimensional playermaker for our offense.. he hasn't done anything to prove he can be a solid backup QB and he can't be 3rd string b/c we need him for gadget plays.
Watching Sanchez play the last few weeks I think we could do a lot worse than go find a quick slot receiver for him in passing situations. He seems to be getting the lanes down at this point and is delivering balls on the short routes very precisely.
Smith is a superb athlete and a very good football player. I would prefer that he not be backup qb but utilized the way he has been the past few weeks.
I think that was tried during the Mangini era, and failed. Something about his ability to read pro defenses fast enough as a QB...
We have a problem at the moment because the WR corps outside of Cotchery (and Keller as a virtual WR) is weak and holding us back.
Seriously? He's thrown like 4 passes total in his career and I think botched a couple laterals. I know he's talented and think he's capable of being a good passer, and if we continue to run the wildcat I'd love to see him throw the ball, but right now it's definitely a development area.
