It’s Geno’s week to unseat Sanchez By STEVE SERBY Last Updated: 4:43 AM, August 19, 2013 Posted: 1:50 AM, August 19, 2013 Jets Blog headshot Steve Serby This is now Geno Smith’s week, Geno Smith’s game Saturday night against the Giants, Geno Smith’s time to show he can be the leader the Jets so desperately need. Geno Smith’s chance to give a franchise that would sell its soul to Joe Namath for the hope he can one day be its franchise quarterback. It’s only one week, and it won’t even be a complete game, but if Smith’s ankle holds up, and he can somehow show up as The Natural, magically make Stephen Hill, Clyde Gates, Jeremy Kerley and Jeff Cumberland better, throw footballs that stick to Hill’s fingers, avoid Pick Sixes and red zone picks, get the ball out of his hands before the half expires so Rex Ryan can send in the field goal unit, he should be the one under center staring down Darrelle Revis on Sept. 8. MARK SANCHEZ - Was once known as the Sanchise. MARK SANCHEZ Was once known as the Sanchise. This should be his job to win now. For plenty of reasons, not the least of which is this one: If Mark Sanchez, the fifth-year incumbent, cannot stop making rookie mistakes, the rookie deserves the keys to the kingdom if he is the one who isn’t making the rookie mistakes. It’s only one week, and it won’t be longer than three quarters, but if Smith shows the moment is not too big for him, if he shows he has command of the huddle and mastered Marty Mornhinweg’s offense, then that should be enough to win Ryan’s trust and the starting job that comes with it. This isn’t about expecting Smith to be this year’s version of Andrew Luck, or Robert Griffin III, or Russell Wilson, nor should it be. But the mere fact this quarterback competition has been extended to the third preseason game ought to tell you all you need to know about how some of the Jets decision makers would like this to end. It’s a good thing for general manager John Idzik, who drafted Smith in the second round, who signed a hobbled David Garrard to challenge Sanchez, whose moves suggest a worst-case inheritance of an $8.25 million albatross, that Sanchez has to date resisted hiring pitbull A -Rod lawyer Joseph Tacopina to seek truth, justice and bark at the Jet Way. This is an NFL now where coaches, both established and novices, are no longer reluctant to throw pup quarterbacks to the wolves. Joe Philbin, as the rookie coach of the Dolphins, picked rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill over Matt Moore a year ago. Doug Marrone, the rookie coach of the Bills, appeared ready to annoint rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel over Kevin Kolb, at least until Manuel suffered a knee injury that required surgery yesterday. Ryan himself was a rookie coach when he went with a rookie quarterback we used to call the Sanchise seemingly an eternity ago. Sanchez, to be fair, is functioning under his third offensive coordinator in three years, with a glaring dearth of playmakers around him. Logic would dictate he can’t help but improve under Mornhinweg’s direction. But the days of fantasizing over his upside are over. The days of fantasizing over Smith’s upside have only just begun. It is virtually impossible to rally around a quarterback who continues to make the very mistakes that contributed greatly to the recent Jets demise. It might have been a measure of Ryan’s loyalty or the fact that he doesn’t yet trust Smith enough when he took the blame for Sanchez’s end-of-the-half brainlock. It is inexcusable for any quarterback to start a red zone play with six seconds left and trudge off to the locker room with no more time and no more points. Smith’s Wednesday practice was “brutal?” Well, what was that? Smith draws the short straw here, a Giants defense looking to reestablish itself at home instead of the Jaguars defense, but at least he won’t have to worry about Jason Pierre-Paul trying to hunt him down. It’s a tall order for a rookie. If he comes up big, give him the job, and let’s get on with this rebuilding program.
Well, he's not wrong. If Geno is going to be the starter week 1 he's going to have to win that job this week. They can't go into the last pre-season game still undecided on who is going to start week one. It's possible they may even play whoever they pick as the starter with some other starters for a quarter or so in the week 4 game but at that point you begin to just risk injury for nothing.
Aren't there 3 preseason games left? Hopefully Geno gets the start I wanna see him against the starting defense to see how he responds because I still don't think he's close to being ready yet
The Jets must think he's at least close to being ready or they would have ended the competition already.
I want Geno to have such a great performance that Rex has to go with Geno. These last 2 weeks have reminded me why the Jets need to move on.
If Geno can't beat out Hairband, then what? Do we go in a different direction in '14 by drafting a "blue-chip" Qb out of the qb heavy 2014 draft? We already know what Hairband can and can't do. We don't yet about Geno. That has to be the biggest question for the Jets in 2013.
The way things have been going the last couple weeks, Sanchez has the spot locked. Unless Geno flips it around and has an amazing week then plays awesome against the Giants starters, the job will be Sanchez' until he shows otherwise.
I dont think so. If the organization still has faith in Geno, you give him the keys, and try and draft some weapons. Everyone has to realize that this supposed great QB class, is really only topped by one elite prospect (Teddy). After Teddy, you have much of the same type of prospects that were in this past years draft. I think its also extremely important to remember that things do change, and some of these "great" prospects will have their stock fall off. Just look at Barkley, Bray, Landry Jones, even Logan Thomas. Those were some of the QBs that were being talked about as 1st round locks a year ago. I think Geno is on par or better than just about every QB prospect in next years class outside of Teddy at this point. Unless he goes in there and absolutely sucks (which in turn puts us in position to draft TB), then I doubt we go QB in next years draft.
Geno MUST START against the Giants. The Jets can't keep playing with the unknown. All these Jets fans want Geno to start over Sanchez. We need to see if that is a real possibility or not. Starting Sanchez helps no one this week. Enough talk. Let's see what Geno has.
Because Rex is still the HC, Geno could have a marvelous night and Mark will still be the starter. I only hope that Geno doesn't let this deter him, Sanchez will be gone next year along with Rex.
Idzik is going to have the final say in the decision. They are not coming out and saying it, but it is obvious who is pulling the strings.
So I guess opinions are no longer allowed on this forum?? Geno's been hurt. He hasn't been able to compete. Sanchez had a decent performance on Saturday. Geno has to have a great week and great game 3 to get the job.
It's just a tough situation all around. The Jets currently have no QB and they're hoping that their second round rookie can step up and play well enough to take the job. So far he looks like a second round rookie QB, flashing potential and raw ability all over the place but also seeming hesitant with his decision making and taking too much time thinking back there. In other words, the NFL game has not slowed down for Geno yet. He's still playing the game in his head instead of just letting it flow naturally. That we're still in a competition here just highlights how messed up the other primary contender's head is at this point, because he looks like a raw rookie also a lot of the time. If the Jets had this situation with a high first round pick they'd probably decide to sit him at the start of the season. They couldn't afford to blow the pick if he wasn't ready to go right away. They'd have made an investment in the guy that they had to honor to the fullest extent possible. Having a high first round QB bust on you is just devastating for the franchise, as we're discovering right now. So they'd grit their teeth and let Geno sit, knowing that he was the primary focus to develop and that whatever had to be done to make that happen was going to get done. With Geno the situation is different. He realistically has a fairly short window to outright win the Jets starting QB job. Not in the pre-season, in the 2013 regular season. If the Jets like what they see out of Geno this year, including a significant amount of game exposure, they're going to go one way in the draft next year. If they don't like what they see or don't get a chance to see much they could very well go another direction. It might be different in another draft year but 2014 looks like the year of the QB in the NFL draft. There are several very highly regarded prospects at this point and at least one outright freak of nature who might be available. 2014 is the year to go get your QB if you don't have one. So the Jets need to figure out if they have a QB in Geno Smith. They need to do this early enough to really know if he's the guy. Given that the Jets investment level in Geno is not very high and that he's going to be excellent QB depth if they are forced to draft a guy up high next year they almost have to just let him roll under Marty Mornhinweg's tutelage and hope that he catches the flow well enough to make their decision next year an easy one. If he has a mediocre to bad start, which is basically a coin-flip, at least he will be getting the experience he needs to compete well down the road. This is not completely fair to Geno given what we know about the NY and national media attention the team gets and given that he'll be under a huge amount of pressure almost immediately. However giving him the opportunity to take the QB job and run with it is compensation for that fact. Sometimes you just have to gut a tough decision out and roll the dice. This is not 2009 with Rex talking Super Bowl. This is not a guy with one full season starting in a national program with a very strong supporting cast. This is not a mutant offensive system that few people comprehend fully. Geno has more preparation by far than Mark Sanchez had. He has more experience dealing with adversity during games and seasons. He has really good coaching to help him past the rough patches. Even if he doesn't fully meet the challenges put in front of him he has a role on the team moving forward into 2014. It's a very tough call but I think the other guy is making it an easy one. Gotta move forward. When you're not moving forward bad things happen. There's nothing the Jets will learn this year about the offense that will not be more valuable if the young guy is on the field.
:lol: :lol: :lol: Did you see Sanchez last season? Same old Sanchez, leading us to 5 scoring drives in 3 quarters. This offense is miles ahead of where they were at this time last preseason. I'm not saying Sanchez is the man or anything, but he's winning the competition unless Geno has a major resurgence. This is your typical hater fan right here. I'd bet the only play he saw last game was the pick.
