Let's say that Matt Simms starts the rest of the way this season. What does he have to do for you to buy into him as a possible starter next year?
Ok, so this is an easy one to answer. Simms needs to look like he can handle the job. That means not making many mistakes. It means completing some passes when the Jets really need a completion. It means not wilting under pressure when everything is going to hell in a handbasket around him. Geno was 2 for 3 for the first 7 games or so. Anybody expecting Simms to come in and win some games with this crew has green blinders on. Look at who is on the field around him. Everybody on that offense is having trouble this year and I include D'Brick and Mangold in that category. They're just having trouble from a much higher starting point than most of the guys.
Br4d, good point you're bringing up here. If our "good" players on offense are having trouble is the common thread Morningwheg? Or is it just that Brick and Mangold are getting up there in years / injuries and overwhelmed with having to compensate for the guys around them.
I think the answer is that the Jets had a huge accumulated talent debt on the offensive side of the ball going into this year. They hadn't drafted a good playmaker since Jerrico Cotchery in 2004 and Cotch was long gone. They'd traded for mid to late-prime play makers several times in the form of Thomas Jones, Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes but all of those guys were gone or going. They'd signed a couple of late-prime free agents in LaDainian Tomlinson and Plaxico Burress but both of those guys had aged out. They really had nobody on that side of the ball to step up and make plays for them. The offensive line, once a great strength of the team, had declined significantly with the loss of Damien Woody and then Brandon Moore. The good vets there are late-prime also and apparently losing a bit. So you get into this season and it all comes crashing down because the Jets have no cap space to sign good replacements, and they're in rebuilding mode anyway, making late-prime additions that might help the team look a lot less attractive. It's a mess but it is a mess of long-standing, just like 2005 was. And just like 2006 the Jets have a bundle of draft picks next year to try to fix things. The Jets prospects in 2007 and on would have looked a lot better if they brought somebody as good as Sheldon Richardson onboard in 2005 instead of trading for a one-dimensional JAG TE and picking a K in the second round.
We need to see growth. We need to see Simms getting a bit better each week with 1st team reps. Most importantly, we need to see Simms avoid the bone crushing, jaw dropping mistakes that have killed the Jets for the last 2+ years. And the Jets need some lucky breaks like we got in the first half of the season. Simms needs to play decent and, with those breaks, come out a winner of the next four games. Super long shot? Of course, but that's the life of a back up QB. But even that won't be enough. Simms needs to get (undeserved?) credit for winning our last 4 games plus win the WC game. He needs at least one PO win to pencil him in as our 2014 starting QB. But even all this won't stop Idzik from bringing in other options to compete. Heck, the Jets could even win the SB. But it would be b/c Simms played half way decent and we got a TON of lucky breaks (see 2009). I really don't think there's anything Simms can do this late in the season to 'cement' his name at the top of the roster.
Simms will likley ride the pine this week.Why is everyone so sure hes starting?Remember Mclroy vs Cardnials?Who started following week?Mark Sanchez.BTW why is David Garrard on this roster?
If Simms were to start for the next 4 games, the least that I'd like to see is for him to move the chains, for God's sake. Geno hasn't even been able to do that! If he can do this with the miserable crew we've got, that's telling you something. By starting him in consecutive games (I'm not talking about inserting him when we're 17 points behind in the fourth quarter), we get to see the real Simms from start to finish.... 60 minutes worth of management, sound mental decisions, ball security, toughness, ability to improvise on the fly, etc. Inserting any QB when you're behind (and with little time left) tells you nothing. You're putting him into a situation wreaking with overconfidence on the other side of the ball. They're taking chances and "playing with house money" at that point, daring you to throw into coverage to get something going. I want to see Simms when we're not desperate. I think this kid can contribute but we don't know that for sure until we see him for 60 minutes X 4.
Garrard is an adequate backup but what is gained by putting him in? Is he going to take us to the playoffs this year? Highly doubtful. Is he our next franchize QB? Probably not. We need to groom from within and stop with the Brett Favre bandaids. We thought we had that in Geno but his progress seems remarkably stunted right now. By finally starting to move the chains yesterday (he killed Geno in that department, in the short time he was on the field, in both yards and TOP), I think Simms has EARNED the right to at least be given a chance. And I'm not talking about 15 minutes in the 4th quarter when we're 17 points behind.
There is nothing Matt Simms can do that would convince me we're safe going into 2014 with him as the bonified starter. That said if he lights it up from here on out, I'm all for signing a reliable veteran and letting him compete for the starting job. But no way do we go into 2014 with only Matt Simms and Geno Smith at QB.
So, basically what everybody has said in the thread is correct. Matt Simms can't win the starters job next year down the stretch barring a complete miracle. But he certainly can buy a real ticket to the competition in training camp and that's what he should be looking to do. The Jets are at rock bottom on offense right now. Anybody under 28 who can improve the status quo is going to get themselves invited back for a look-see next year. That means Simms, David Nelson, Greg Salas, Zach Sudfeld, all players who are on the marginal end of an NFL roster, have an opportunity to make the Jets look at them really hard. It's not about winning games, because barring a miracle the Jets aren't going to do that much at this point. It's about giving full effort and showing some competence in the process. Nobody should be looking to save the season on every play. They should all be looking at getting just a little bit better on each play until they've reached the point that they belong.
I suspect that Geno Smith is going to be starting next week and Matt Simms will not have an opportunity to showcase himself good or bad.
i believe rich gannon, at some point during the telecast, offered that the 2014 NYJ starting QB was not on the current roster. cant argue with that right now.
He's beaten down. I think there's a very good chance that Simms gets a start. McElroy got a start last year when Sanchez was in hopeless mode. I suspect Rex will give Geno at least a full game on the bench to get some perspective.
You give Simms a full game to see what he can do. However, he is not the long term answer at QB. The QB position will be addressed in the draft and/or via FA. It's as simple as that. These next 4 games are merely just to get through the season. Geno will be here next year and Simms will be fighting for a roster spot for next season too.
The thing to remember about the Smith - Simms equation at this point is that Rex isn't going to lose the locker room and whatever Simms gives you in terms of energy is likely to be better than a dispirited Geno Smith at this point. The Jets might go back to Geno a game or two down the road but he's in a major funk right now and it's not clear what could happen on the field that would snap him out of that.
I heard that as well. No argument here and unless I miss my guess, our franchise qb might well still be in college on draft day '14. Call me crazy, but those two gift penalties that resulted in wins just may have bounced us out of the Bridgewater sweepstakes. Even when we're lucky, we're not lucky.. SOJ :grin:
I think getting into the Jake Matthews sweepstakes is where we want to be unless we want to see QB after QB get creamed each week. The problem is that the Rams also have the Redskin's pick so we would have to finish below both teams to land Matthews.
There's going to be another competition at QB in the Jets off-season this year and I suspect it's going to have a couple of names we haven't heard yet. I don't think the Jets are going to go into camp with everything up in the air again. Marty Mornhinweg's offense requires major prep time, like most WCO's, and I'm guessing that the starter in the first pre-season game in camp is going to be the starter in the regular season as well. Neither Geno Smith not Matt Simms would be hurt by sitting and watching for a season at this point.
I'd just hate to draft a QB in the first round and be in this same exact spot next year week 13. Stuck wondering if our offense sucks because of the QB or because of the lack of weapons/protection around him. We KNOW we are weak on the OL/TE/WR positions and if we fail to address one of those needs with a TOP pick it could haunt us in the long run.
