As an old-skool, Jet-Junkie since '67; watching the Jets win SB3 as a kid w. my pops (RIP), I've seen this scenario many times over. I've learned not to fall victim to all the "hype" but remain positive & hope for the best. I yearn for 1 more SB champeenship b-4 I die....I, along with others here can offer our own analytical approach/opinions on the pros/cons on whether our picks will yield success or not but unfortunately I'm of the mindset that nothing less than the V Lombardi award would suffice. Patience be d@mned I want it NOW!!! Apologies....just venting as I have had to endure the constant harrassment fr my coworkers majority being Gi-aints fans.....!
And that would mean that the future remains cloudy and the Jets are back on tne QB carousel in the years to come, searching for a long term answer with no real hope of contending.
Geno or Vick: Woody: "Who would sell more tickets"? Idzik: "Who's the future of our franchise?" Rex: "Who will win more games for me NOW and help save my job?" Fans: "I'm a dog lover" To me, at this point in their careers Vick is the much better QB and he gives us the best chance to win THIS year. Saying "Well, Vick is better but he might get hurt, so start someone else and besides I like dogs" is rubbish. Think for a second if it were 38yr old Peyton Manning sitting 'behind' Geno. Would you still say "Keep Geno's development going....there's nothing Geno can learn from the bench watching Peyton Manning play". I'd bet your house in the end Vick will get the nod and Geno will 'learn from the best from the bench'. This is a win now league.
If one of our QBs takes over and plays at an average or a slightly average level, we will make the playoffs one way or another. We need to make the playoffs this year.
I think there is some merit to your point, and this was the main reason I had qualms about the Vick signing. But what your point leaves out is where the team is now. Right now, Smith has not earned the right to have the starting job free of competition. The Jets with Vick could contend for a playoff spot this year. It is not required of them to instead make it a rebuilding year during which Smith gets the luxury of starting all year, with the hope he develops. Beyond that I have seen enough of him to say that while I do not think Smith is clearly not going to make it, I think it unlikely that he will. More likely than not that he won't, in other words. I take it you in effect are fairly certain he will make it. That's the difference between us. In a perfect world I suppose the Jets would already have an accurate forecast of where Smith will be in the next two seasons, and beyond that. Based on that they could have used this off season accordingly. But since the Jets are somewhere in the middle on Smith, they picked up Vick as a short term way of addressing the Qb situation. In so doing they did make it more difficult to assess Smith's viability going forward. But not impossible, imo, and something had to give since they are not in that perfect world of complete foresight.
We're kind of a stuck between a rock and a hard place if we find out Geno is not the future. Alex Smith and Andy Dalton are your best NFL free agents in 2015. Luckily, the 2015 class is loaded at QB but we'll likely be outside looking in for guys like Mariotta, Hundley and Winston.
Michael Vick isn't that good. If he was a good veteran QB we'd be in a different situation but what he is at this point is an acceptable veteran QB. He's nowhere near as good as Vinny was when Vinny came in the door, and nobody knew if Vinny had much left at that point. Factor in that Vick has made his living with his legs as much as with his arms and that he's 5-11 in his last 16 starts and that he's 34 and it's just a clear second option at this point. If he legitimately beats out Geno it's going to be because Geno's not ready, which in turn will likely mean Geno will never be ready and the Jets will be in the hunt for a QB again next year. I really hope Geno is ready to go because I want to see some real upside at QB this year. We've been looking at dreck at the position since mid-2011 and that's going to be three years at mid-season. Time for that to end.
I started following the Jets, the same year, 67. It seems like almost every year, I think the Jets will win between 6 and 10 games, depending. Do you believe, like I do, that our Jets have been cursed since losing to KC in the 69 season playoffs, 13-6. I still remember 1st and goal at the one and not getting the TD.
