West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith was finally drafted to the New York Jets with pick No. 39.
I will continue to support Smith and I wish him the best, but this was a terrible, terrible pick.
The situation the Jets are in makes them one of the worst teams for Smith to be drafted to. The head coach is likely not going to be there two years from now, which can be devastating for a young quarterback trying to learn a new system.
I like to look at what happened to Jason Campbell, who was the quarterback for the Washington Redskins for a number of years. He was a promising young quarterback out of the Auburn Tigers, and came to the Redskins and had to deal with staff turnover and a new head coach nearly every season he was there. He never was able to learn what he needed to learn, and now suffers his fate as a backup NFL quarterback.
I really hope Smith gets a chance to lead this team immediately. If he falls to the backup position behind Mark Sanchez, who knows how long he will rot there before he gets a chance to start.
As far as the Jets as an organization go, this pick was not what they needed. This sounds to me like another one of coach Rex Ryan’s loud, showy moves to draw attention to himself. Everybody knows there were players out there that fit the Jets better than Smith.
With this pick, the Jets have likely screwed themselves and the career of Geno Smith by trying to make a statement. I hope I’m wrong, but I simply don’t see Smith’s career taking off in New York.
Mike is a Big 12 Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeAtkinsonRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
