Picture this: Your team is led by a 24-year old quarterback who you drafted in the second round two years ago following a stellar college career at a strong Big 12 program. Said QB just finished his second NFL season with the best game of his pro career, one in which he led his crew to a 13-point win over a key rival by completing 20-of-25 passes for 358 yards with 3 TDs and 0 interceptions. His passer rating for the game was a perfect 158.3.
Given all that, wouldn’t you feel pretty confident that you were going into next season with the right guy at the most important position on the field?
Well, not if your name is Woody Johnson and the QB in question is Geno Smith. Smith played the game of his life in Sunday’s 37-24 win over the Dolphins (not counting the—get this—656-yard, 8-TD game he had against Baylor his senior year at West Virginia), despite a fumble early in the second quarter that was quickly followed by a Miami TD. Still, it would be nearly as big a surprise to see him under center for the Jets in the 2015 season opener as it would for Rex Ryan to be roaming the sidelines for Gang Green or John Idzik to still be running the team.
Whoever Johnson ends up hiring as his new coach and GM will surely look to improve the QB position, as Smith’s play before the last game of the ugly 2014 campaign hardly inspired anyone’s confidence. Against Miami, the second-year pro showed that there’s indeed a place for him in the NFL. But that place likely won’t be in New York, at least not for the long term.
If it was Smith’s last game as the Jets’ signal caller, he certainly ended on a high note, as did Ryan and dare I say Idzik. For all his many gaffes during his brief run at Gang Green’s helm, the win over the Fins provided a (microscopic) bit of vindication for the GM. Along with Smith’s star turn, 2013 first round pick Sheldon Richardson finished an All Pro-caliber season by leading a defensive front that constantly pressured Miami QB Ryan Tannehill and racked up 7 sacks. Meanwhile, free agent pickup Eric Decker had the best game of his career Sunday, and that’s saying something when the receiver spent the past few years catching passes from Peyton Manning. Lastly, Chris Owusu did a fantastic impression of fellow midseason addition Percy Harvin against Miami, making big plays as a receiver, runner and returner.
Unlike Smith and Ryan, Idzik will almost surely never get another chance at a job like the one he has now—unless Donald Sterling eventually becomes an NFL owner—and that’s probably for the best. But, at least for one day, it looked like Johnson made the right choice when he hired him two years ago.
