Are you familiar with the saying, "If you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one?" Well, the New York Jets have three quarterbacks, and they're hoping to have four. Do with that what you will.
The Jets have spent the entire offseason dancing around Ryan Fitzpatrick, each hoping the other side will blink in their standstill negotiations. Fitzpatrick put up far better numbers last season than he had over the rest of his career and reportedly wants to be paid in accordance with those numbers, while the Jets want to pay him like last season was an outlier for a joureyman QB that had never previously been more than a below-average starter. And so Fitz has sat on the open market while the Jets spent the offseason with Geno Smith and Bryce Petty as the only quarterbacks on the roster.
Then last week's draft came around, and the Jets added former Penn State passer Christian Hackenberg to the mix. They used their second-round pick on Hackenberg, something teams don't normally do unless that at least view the player as a potential starter. The last second-round pick the Jets spent on a quarterback was on Smith, who wound up starting during his first season as a result of an injury to Mark Sanchez.
Smith started for the team in 2013 and 2014, and entered last offseason as the probable starter yet again, but a punch to the jaw from IK Enemkpali thrust Fitzpatrick into the lineup. He never relinquished the spot, even after Smith returned to the field.
The Jets have spent the entire offseason expressin their wish to bring Fitzpatrick back into the fold, even while refusing to meet his contract demands. Everyone from the coach to the owner to several players has stated they want him back. Add that to the fact that the Jets have drafted a quarterback each of the last two years and it doesn't seem like the have all that much confidence in the idea of "Geno Smith, starting quarterback."
But general manager Mike Maccagnan went on The Michael Kay Show on Monday and stated that he's "excited" to see what Geno can do if he's the starter this season.
“Going forward, you always have contingency plans,” Maccagnan said, per Newsday. “In the NFL, it’s kind of like playing chess. At some point in time, you get down to where you run out of moves. We’re not at that stage yet.
“Right now, Geno has been a starter for us, and actually played quite well prior to getting hurt last year, and was doing a good job in the offseason. So we’re kind of excited to see what Geno can do, coming back. And we feel good about that.”
Smith was the Jets' starter for 29 games across the 2013 and 2014 seasons -- we have a general idea of what he can do. He completed 57.5 percent of his passes at 6.9 yards per attempt while throwing 25 touchdowns against 34 interceptions. New York went 11-18 in those games. That performance is likely what led the Jets to select a QB in the middle rounds of the 2015 draft, hoping to develop him into a potential starter. (The wisdom of that particular strategy notwithstanding.)
It also likely factored into the decision to take another QB in the second round just three years after selecting Smith there. So even if Maccagnan is publicly expressed confidence in his ability to be the starter, his actions tell another story. He's spent a bunch of his draft capital on quarterbacks during his two seasons as GM. That's not something you do if you're that confident in the ability of a 25-year old quarterback.
Then again, Maccagnan doesn't seem all that eager to have Hackenberg start right away, either. “With any player coming into the league, it is definitely a maturation process and it doesn’t matter, again, what position you play,” Maccagnan said. “I think quarterback is probably one of the harder positions to transition into the NFL. I know there’s always a desire to have them go out there and play right away. The reality is, though, that it’s going to be determined by how he does.
“And I think, my personal opinion is, we’ll see where he’s at and how he is in terms of assimilating into our offense and our system . . . Some quarterbacks come in and play right away and some do well and some struggle and they go through growing pains.”
