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I think it’s beyond irrational for people to keep saying, “If Mark Sanchez can’t go, of course Geno Smith should start against Tampa Bay.” Why?
That is so dumb, I don’t even know where to start.
Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.
Three picks and a safety in less than a full game against the Giants last week, and people are saying, “of course if Sanchez can’t go, Geno Smith should start?”
Both Mark Sanchez and Greg McElroy looked better than Smith all summer.
Smith isn’t ready.
You would think Marty Mornhinweg would know better after hitching his wagon in Detroit to Joey Harrington and getting fired.
Geno Smith, right now, is a quarterback with average field vision and coverage recognition. You saw that last week against an average Giants defense that lost two key cover guys – Jaron Hosley and Steve Brown – early in the game.
Geno constantly forces throws and isn’t good at working through his progressions.
And remember, at the combine, he struggled on the drawing up plays for coaches and scouts on the white board during team interviews.
I don’t think he can handle NFL defensive complexities right now.
In time, I think he can turn into something, but right now he’s a major project.
If the Jets’ brass thinks he’s the answer against Tampa Bay, you have to wonder if they are trying to will their project into being a success, instead of dealing with the current reality.
If Sanchez can’t play, and Rex Ryan’s hate for Greg McElroy is too deep-seated for him to be the starter, than you have to consider Smith, Matt Simms and Graham Harrell.
Now, we have to take Simms work in the fourth preseason game, and late in the Giants-Jets game, with a grain of salt. His work was against second and third string DB’s, many of whom won’t make those respective teams.
Harrell was a backup to Aaron Rogers the last three years in Green Bay. That team runs one of the best West Coast offenses around. Harrell got great training from Rogers, Mike McCarthy and Tom Clements.
As one coach in Green Bay put it, “He knows where to go with the ball.”
In the NFL, that is huge.
Having a rocket arm is meaningless, if you can’t read defenses and know where to go with the ball.
I asked Harrell leaving the stadium tonight, what his comfort level is like with the Jets offense, and he responded, “Being from a West Coast system is helpful – the Green Bay system is very similar (to the Jets).”
With Smith’s shortcomings right now, Harrell has to be in the conversation.
I don’t know what the Jets are going to decide, but this idea that it’s fait accompli they go with Geno, if Sanchez can’t play, is a foolish mindset.
Idzik should learn from his assistant GM Rod Graves, who started guys like John Skelton and Ryan Lindley in Arizona, and got fired – don’t mess around with this position.
Think this through.
Pick the guy who gives you the best chance to win.
And anyone who is saying Geno is an automatic if Mark can go, I don’t believe is thinking clearly.
Just like Rex wasn’t when he put Sanchez in the game in the fourth quarter against the Giants.
If Rex hadn’t done that, all of this would be a moot point, because Sanchez would be the starter.
August 30, 2013
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