BigBlocker, To begin with, you completely misunderstood my comment regarding most Jets fans, so I am sorry that you took offense. Certainly none was intended. Most Jets fans agree with you and imo are too harsh in their criticism. While considering what the majority of Jets fans think can shed some light on a topic, by no means do I consider that to be the end all and be-all for forming decisions, so I didn't even remotely suggest that here, nor did I even intimate that you or anyone else shouldn't be free to express your opinions. I'm the last person to try to squelch people from expressing their opinions. I may disagree with them strongly, but unless I think I am being disrespected and/or personally attacked, I never make my posts personal. IMO the list of FA QBs is what it is. Is it possible that some other QB could be released between now and the beginning of FA? Certainly, but we have no way of knowing that. If it does, then we can revisit this discussion at that time. All we can discuss now is what's possible today. Unless the Jets trade for a better veteran QB, the only veteran QBs available for the Jets to bring in are those who are presently FAs. You left out the part about having perhaps a 40-50% roster turnover as well as a FA QB. That's as important a factor as bringing in a FA QB in making the playoffs. I'm not a gambling man, but if I were, I'd bet that not one of the teams who brought in a FA QB and went to the playoffs was their FA QB as bad as those who are presently FAs and they didn't turn over a huge percentage of their roster. I didn't claim that you said that a C or OT was more important than a QB. You made the point that you didn't think the Jets should waste the last years of Mangold's and Brick's careers. I was just making the point that I don't think they should be a consideration since they aren't going to be here long term, and it's more important to consider the QB position. They aren't the future. More than likely, but the time the team is ready to make a serious, legitimate run at a SB, neither will be on the team, or at least won't be a starter. Is a QB more important than say Wilkerson and Richardson? In most cases, no, but I'd say that Aaron Rodgers is, and even though they're older, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady are. Is a Russell Wilson? No, not imo. The thing is, at least in the cases of Mangold and Brick, we aren't talking about two young up and coming stars. We're talking about two older players who are on the downside of their careers, especially in the case of Brick. His play has fallen off precipitously over the last couple of years. He may not even be the starter or on the team in 2015. Yes, I said that if Geno didn't develop in 2014 that the Jets would need to start looking for their next QB of the future. That is a definite possibility. IMO that is why it is so important that they find that out now, not wait for 2015 or 2016 only to discover that he isn't the guy. I'd say that if he hasn't fixed or made a LOT of progress on his fundamentals by the time TC starts, that they will already have their answer. To begin with I think the notion that Smith needs to be pushed or needs competition is ridiculous. Based on everything I've heard and seen, he's a hard worker and wants to be the best he can. If the Jets had a quality starting QB when Geno was drafted last year and Geno had sit on the bench all of last year, I'd have no problems with his sitting again if they didn't feel he was ready, or he lost an open competition. That's not the case, however. More than likely, the Jets will have to bring in a journeyman/JAG QB to compete or serve as Geno's backup. Most of those guys are older and will just be a stopgap. In that scenario, I don't think anything can be gained for either the Jets or Geno by his sitting, unless that Vet plays lights out and Geno stinks the joint up in OTAs and TC. Players can learn by just practicing and observing, but when they're ready and capable of playing, they develop faster and teams get a better idea of what those players are capable of when those players learn by playing. Now if Geno still isn't comfortable taking snaps from under center or is still struggling with his footwork, I think he should sit until he is comfortable, regardless of who the Jets have to start at QB. I don't think it would help him, his confidence or the team if he's out there struggling again due to basic fundamentals. If his fundamentals are fixed, however, I think there is far more upside to starting Geno than a journeyman QB. If you disagree, fine. We'll just have to agree to disagree. Again, you're wanting to base your argument on what might happen in the future, and we just can't do that. All we can do is discuss the facts as they presently seem to be. If the facts change, then again, we can always continue the discussion in light of the new facts. Nowhere have I suggested that the Jets shouldn't do any and everything they can to upgrade the QB position. Of course I think that they should find the best QB in FA they can and sign him. I'm not in favor of trading draft picks for a QB however. They have too many holes, and with those holes, it's not going to make that much difference who the QB is. I'm in favor of the Jets signing the best FA QB they can and then drafting a QB somewhere in the 4th-5th rounds if there's one that they're really high on that falls to them. I'm not suggesting in any way that they should put all of their eggs in Geno's basket. They can't just hope that he will develop. They need to do everything they can to help him develop, but at the same time have contingency plans and have insurance in case he doesn't develop. Geno may be working his butt off this offseason to improve and still not have it. If so, so be it. He may feel entitled and not work hard. I doubt that is the case, but if so, it's a huge mistake on his part. Regardless, the Jets should be monitoring his progress to help inform their decisions on who to sign and whether or not to draft a QB, and how high or low they look for a QB in the draft. I have no problems with having the QBs compete in camp. If Geno is still struggling with fundamentals and can't take snaps from under center and/or is still struggling with his footwork, then imo it doesn't really matter how hard he did or didn't work. In that scenario, by all means the vet FA, Simms or the rookie QB (if they draft one and he's ready), should start. In fact, if Geno doesn't have his fundamentals down pat and solid, I don't think he should even be allowed to compete for the starting job. I think the basic fundamentals are the bottom line and a necessary component for any player to succeed. If he can't get them down, then I don't think he'll ever be very good. If there's an open competition and one of the other QBs is head and shoulders better than Geno, then by all means that guy should be the starter. All I'm saying is that if everything is relatively equal, and there's no clear winner in the competition, or even if Geno is just slightly behind the winner and the winner is an older FA QB, then I think it's in the Jets' best interests to start Geno. If the winner of the competition is Simms or a rookie, then so be it. The only caveat to this is that I think the competition needs to be over by halfway into TC so that the winner can get the majority of the snaps going forward so that he can develop timing and chemistry with the receivers. It doesn't matter who the winner is, he's gonna need a lot of snaps to get in sync with the offense. A vet FA would probably need less than Geno, Simms or a rookie, but still should get most of the snaps to prepare for the season.
I think we have actually made some progress here. You have implicitly taken into account that the Jets can have a competition in camp and pre-season, and seem to be accepting that they should have the best one they can. That's really all I have been saying. I never said I thought Smith is sure to fail or anything like it. I just do not think he has shown he deserves to be given the job with no competition. I did not say to be clear that I thought he needed competition. All I said was it is far from clear to me that competition would hurt his progress. We can disagree about how much is lost wasting years with older but still core players. I actually think the Jets could be a playoff team this year with key younger players upgrading their game, such as Milliner, Winters and Davis, some upgrades at safety, wideout and TE, shoring up the right side of the OL, and most important steady play at Qb. Without the latter, a possible playoff season could be wasted. And I do think after another two seasons it is more likely than not that of Harris, Ferguson and Mangold, odds are that two of the three will be well over the hill, possibly all of them. That becomes a medium term problem for the Jets.
