New York Jets 2015 Training Camp: Position battles to watch

The New York Jets are getting ready to bring their roster together and begin training camp on July 29th. The team will hold open public practices in three local settings. Practices will be held at MetLife Stadium, the Jets’ training facility and a return to Hofstra University. As always, admission to those open practices will be free.

With a slow news cycle heading into camp and myself tiring of writing player profiles, I thought we’d take a peek at some of the competitions that will be ongoing this summer. The Jets’ roster has some great depth at many positions, which promises to make for some hard fought battles. Let’s take a quick look at the quarterback situation of the Jets.

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The story here has been highly debated among Jet fans over the last several months. Now it’s almost time to see this competition play out on the practice field.

Todd Bowles and Chan Gailey have both said there will be a QB competition this summer, but have also stated that it is Geno Smith‘s job to lose. It’s an interesting way to approach the situation, but in camp we’ll all get to see how this one evolves.

Smith returns to the Jets for a third season. Thrown to the wolves in his rookie season, when it was apparent he wasn’t ready to play, was unfortunate for the young signal caller. He struggled mightily while occasionally flashing talent, impatient fans began to call him a second-round bust. Last year was no better, his struggles with turnovers continued and the cries of bust rose louder as the season progressed. In all fairness to Smith, neither year did he have a sufficient offensive line or even a lot of weapons to succeed with.

This is the year for Smith, if he wants to have much of a future with the Jets. Third years tend to be big years for young quarterbacks as the Jets are surely hoping that will be the case for Smith this year. With a new coaching staff in place to teach him and a more familiar offensive scheme for him to deal with, Smith will get his shot to prove his critics wrong.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is apparently the back up quarterback this season, unless he can somehow displaces Smith this summer. Fitzpatrick is an eleven-year veteran, who has been average over his career. Fitzpatrick has talent, but the fact is he’s never done much in his career to give anyone great confidence in him as a starter.

Fitzpatrick is familiar with Gailey’s offensive schemes however, he’s played under him in the past before joining the Jets. Much has been made about the Gailey/Fitzatrick familiarity in the media, but Fitzpatrick will need to still need to win this competition on the field this summer if he expects to start. He will get his shot this summer to do exactly that.

May 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) throws a pass during organized team activities at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The other competition at QB is for the third string job. It’s not a very exciting one, but I’d be amiss not to mention it at all. The Jets have Bryce Petty competing against Jake Heaps. It’s hardly a competition, as Petty wins the job hands down. Petty was drafted by the Jets this year as a project QB and few see any chance at all that Heaps provides any sort of serious challenge. Heaps just doesn’t hold that talent to compete. Petty wins the third string QB job without question in most pundits opinions.

My take on this competition is simple, best man wins, regardless. I, like many Jet fans, want to see this team win some football games this year, and they will. How many likely pivots on who starts at QB. I like Smith and would love to see him step up this season and put an end to this competition early in camp. I’m not overly confident he will though. Reports out of OTA’s and mini camp had him struggling once again. In the end I have no favorite, the best QB needs to be handed the football to start the season.

Another key position to watch at training camp is the competition along the offensive line. It might just very well be more important to the Jets’ success this year as the QB position will be. Last season was not pretty along the Jets’ offensive line, it was marred with penalties and missed assignments. Additions were made this off season, but the positions along the line are anything but set going into training camp. Competitions promise to be fierce along the line.

Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson return for the Jets to once again anchor the Jets up front. The early signs of years in the trenches are beginning to show on the duo, but they remain competent starters in the NFL. A return to earlier form would be a welcome development for the Jets.

Dec 7, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Seattle Seahawks guard James Carpenter (77) walks off the field after a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The Seahawks defeated the Eagles 24-14. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets signed former Seattle Seahawk James Carpenter in free agency, presumably to start at left guard this season. The 6’5″/320 pounder is a former first-round pick of the Seahawks in the 2011 NFL Draft. He’s struggled with knee injuries in the NFL and missed three regular season games plus the Seahawks’ three playoff games last season with an ankle injury.

Willie Colon returns in what surprised more then a few Jet fans this off season. Colon has been disappointing for the past two seasons, the years have slowed him and the penalties mounted as he tried to compensate. How the Jets choose to use Colon is a bit unclear to me, I doubt the new coaching staff can consider him a serious contender to start.

Overall, it will be nice to see these key positional battles for the Jets unfold this summer. What are your thoughts on these positional battles to watch? Please leave your comments below and Let’s Talk Jet Football!!

Next: New York Jets: 5 reasons why they have issues at quarterback

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