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Geno Smith addressed the media on Thursday.
He, for the most part, said all the right things, but one thing he said I don’t entirely understand
“I believe the Jets are getting a better player than I was in Seattle. I know that for a fact, in fact,” Smith said.
Now, if he said, “I believe the Jets are getting a better player than I was the first time I was here,” that would be easy to buy. There is no doubt about that.
But the Seattle thing is hard to totally understand.
His last year in Seattle, in 2024, he went 10-7 as a starter.
In 2025, with the Las Vegas Raiders, he went 2-13 as a starter.
Don’t understand the logic of his argument.
Now, the Jets would love for him to be that guy from 2024 Seattle, going 10-7, completing 70 percent of his passes, and throwing 21 touchdowns.
The Jets haven’t won double-digit games since 2015, when they went 10-6.
In fact, since that season, they haven’t had a winning season.
So if Geno led them to a 10-7 season, there would be a conga line celebrating at 1 Jets Drive.
But I’m sorry, as we sit here right now, I can’t subscribe to the fact that he will be better than he was in Seattle.
It’s somewhat hard to make that argument after his season in Las Vegas last year.
So what are the Jets getting in Smith?
What the Jets are getting is a QB who is better than their main starter from last year, and not as good as their starter from two years ago. His skill set is somewhere in the middle.
Smith should benefit from having a better offensive line with the Jets than in Las Vegas.
The Jets’ line, one of the strengths of the team last year, and there weren’t many, should help Smith play better than he did last year.
The Jets return four of five starters, losing guards Alijah Vera-Tucker and John Simpson in free agency, who were two candidates to start at left guard.
But in an ironic twist, the new left guard was Smith’s left guard last year in Las Vegas, Dylan Parham, a free agent signed early this week. So while they will have a new starter at left guard, he actually enters the scene with a better feel for blocking for Smith than the four incumbents. Parham can actually help the four returning starters, providing them insight into blocking for Geno, his tendencies in the pocket, and so forth.
Smith is a serviceable QB when he has a good line and running game, which the Jets should have with their talented O-Line and Breece Hall at running back, spelled by powerback Braelon Allen (who should never be used on kick return ever again) and Isaiah Davis, who consistently does good things when given a chance.
Smith is also at his best when a strong defense keeps the score down, so he doesn’t have to win shootouts every week. Last year, the Jets’ defense was so bad that no matter who they had at QB, they were constantly put behind the eight-ball with big deficits. On paper, the Jets’ defense looks a lot better right now and should get even better in the draft.
But the argument that they are getting a QB better than he was in Seattle, it hard to sell right now.
But they would certainly take the QB he was his last three years in Seattle, where he went 9-8, 8-7, and 10-7.
The Jets would certainly sign up for one of those records, considering the records they have provided their fans over the last decade.
March 13, 2026
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