The Future Looks Bleak for New York Jets QB Geno Smith

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on October 27, 2014

If you haven’t watched the first quarter highlights from yesterday’s bout between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills yet, please be advised, the images you’ll see are disturbing.

Much of this was thanks to Jets quarterback Geno Smith. In the middle of his second year in the NFL, Smith is hardly inspiring confidence with the fan base. However, he entered yesterday’s game coming off a moderately impressive showing against the New England Patriots last week. Surely putting forth a turnover-free effort against one of the best teams in the league was a sign of Smith turning the corner, right?

Words cannot describe how wrong this assertion proved to be.

Smith was a walking disaster yesterday against the Bills. His opening drive was a three-and-out, and this was the most success he would see. The next three possessions ended with absolutely miserable interceptions, as Smith forced throws and missed targets something awful. However, to be fair, Buffalo safety Aaron Williams was wide open on Smith’s last interception, and the Jets quarterback hit him in stride.

This, mercifully, was the end of Smith’s day, as he was replaced by veteran Michael Vick. Smith ended the day with two completions for five yards and three picks, resulting in a quarterback rating straight out of the movie Animal House: 0.0.

New York is now 1-7, losers of every game since their Week 1 victory. Smith, selected in last year’s draft as a potential franchise quarterback, has been yanked early in two of the Jets’ games this year. The team hasn’t decided who will start this week against the Kansas City Chiefs, but regardless of whose name is called, things aren’t looking good for Smith and his future in the NFL.

Now, as we all know, Smith didn’t exactly come into the league with the prowess of someone like Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning. He had his fair share of question marks surrounding him as he entered last year’s draft, which would explain his slip into the second round. Sure, he may have been the biggest name at quarterback, but this was merely due to an unexciting list of available players at this position in 2013.

At the same time, did anyone predict he would be this bad? In a season and a half, Smith has only had five games in which he didn’t throw an interception. It seems every time he appears to show potential progress, he comes tumbling back down to earth in miserable fashion. Sure, less than two years of evidence is typically not enough to fully evaluate a quarterback. And yet, has Smith done anything to imply the best years are still ahead?

His future is made even bleaker by the status of New York coach Rex Ryan. The Jets have gone to bat for Ryan multiple times despite poor play on the field and the team not seeing the postseason since 2010, but you have to believe patience has worn thin. No one can vouch for how badly the Jets look this year, and Ryan is likely on borrowed time.

This is bad news for Smith, as Ryan seems to be the one person who believes in the struggling quarterback. In fact, after yesterday’s atrocity, Ryan seemed to have plenty of hope and optimism for Smith.

“I think this young man is eventually going to be a really good quarterback in this league,” Ryan said. “Time will tell.”

While this is all well and good, what happens if Ryan is indeed fired? Will whoever comes in as a replacement have the same belief that there’s a quality quarterback somewhere within Smith? Will a new voice somehow successfully attempt to convince the offensive players in the locker room that they can still rely on Smith as their guy for the future?

Good luck with that. Perhaps the bigger question is would the Jets really hamstring their own coaching search by making it a stipulation that any and all candidates must be willing to try and make it work with Smith?

Making things even cloudier for Smith is next year’s draft. With prime prospects like Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston expected to declare eligibility, it’ll be hard for the Jets not to consider drafting a quarterback with their all-but-guaranteed early pick. Find me one fan of this team who would look at a draft board with those names available and say, “Pass. We’ve already got our franchise quarterback.”

So, what do the Jets do with Smith? Sure, they can still keep tossing him out there this year with the hopes he can go through a miraculous turnaround. However, the fans are beyond restless right now, and it certainly seems like their opinions of Smith are set in stone. If he continues to trend poorly, New York’s season would somehow get even worse than it is already.

You could say they could try and orchestrate a trade either now or in the offseason. At the same time, exactly what could the team get in return? Is there a franchise out there so quarterback-starved they’d be willing to roll the dice with Smith?

It’s all speculative at this point, but what isn’t is the league-wide opinion on Smith. This season was meant to finally figure out if the former West Virginia Mountaineer could be the franchise quarterback for New York, and it sure looks like the team has their answer.

The Jets are in a bit of a pickle here. Their record certainly implies the season is pretty much finished, and popular opinion won’t do anything to dissuade this notion. While Vick did provide a little bit of a spark yesterday, he contributed three turnovers of his own in mop-up duty. However, though Vick will be no savior in the Big Apple, it’s tough to look any worse than Smith has.

Despite the struggles Smith has gone through during his time in the league, the Jets have tried their hardest to stand behind him. However, you have to wonder if yesterday’s performance was the final blow. For Smith, his concerns shouldn’t be focused on how much longer he’ll be with New York. Instead, it might be time to start worrying about how much longer he’ll be in the league.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook