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New York Jets: Geno Smith should never start again

ByLuis Tirado Jr.|

When it comes to the New York Jets, everything is falling right into place. Their off-season acquisitions are doing great from Darrelle Revis to Brandon Marshall as the Jets’ defense looks to be one of the top playing in the NFL today. The Jets’ offense is actually producing touchdowns and capitalizing on the turnovers created by all the great takeaways on defense. Thanks to a new leadership regime and culture, you can clearly see the players are executing, having fun all while really believing in what the Jets are trying to accomplish this season.

Now, comes to the big elephant in the room as to what to do when quarterback Geno Smith is ready and able to resume football activities. Head coach Todd Bowles has said that if the Jets are on a winning streak, which they currently are, they won’t make any changes at the most important position on the team and rightfully so.

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At the same token, fans believe that this could have been the year Smith would have finally delivered a monster season and proved that he could be a viable starting quarterback.

It is in my opinion that Smith is nowhere near the caliber of athlete to be a starting quarterback. He’s too turnover prone, makes erratic decisions and has never been the kind of leader the Jets need to actually field a competitive and respectable team.

Don’t get me wrong, I see his potential but after watching him these past few years, I can honestly say he’s probably one of the worst quarterbacks I’ve ever seen as a starter. He doesn’t play with poise and makes some of the most bone-headed passing decisions I’ve ever seen on a football field. He’s just not the kind of leader than comes with the position.

As a leader, one needs to know when to step up or in this case, step out when issues arise with confrontations involving other players. The entire summer ordeal between Smith and IK Enemkpali was an embarrassment to himself and the franchise since it never had to escalate to what it got to.

Smith, if he was serious about his career and position as a starting quarterback for the Jets, should have used better judgement. Maybe if he did, he wouldn’t have been sidelined with a broken jaw injury because he couldn’t pay a $600 debt to Enemkpali when he said he would have.

Everything boils down to respect and how leaders handle themselves and every single obstacle that comes their way. Why didn’t Smith pay him back when he said he would at the beginning of training camp? Why didn’t he walk away when things got really heated? Why couldn’t he handle everything like any other person would have in this situation by taking care of his debt and focusing on football?

Jul 30, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets free safety Durell Eskridge (35) takes a handoff from quarterback Geno Smith (7) during first day of training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Needless to say, Smith failed in handling everything and to be quite honest, I’m surprised he wasn’t cut from the team for his involvement in letting it escalate to what it did. As a starting quarterback, you are held to certain expectations and standards both on the field and off it.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is clearly the quarterback the Jets need to win as you can tell he’s handling everything in stride and has everyone on offense clicking on all cylinders. He’s not perfect but one better believe he brings a much better dimension on offense than anything we’ve seen Smith do in his entire tenure with the Jets.

Smith has shown bits and pieces of being able to get the job done but the line he crossed by getting himself involved with such a silly altercation over money when it could have easily been avoided is no doubt going to be remembered all season long by those that run the team. I’ll leave you all with one thing that I’m sure most of you saw last night when the Jets beat the Indianapolis Colts.

Remember when Smith was shown on camera? Did you notice how he was by himself? He wasn’t near offensive coordinator Chan Gailey or even Bowles. He wasn’t holding a Microsoft Surface tablet or even communicating with his teammates when they fought a great battle against the Colts.

To me, it screams that either he is in the doghouse of the Jets or just doesn’t seem to care about things because he’s not under center. Since he has no one to thank but himself for being sidelined, one would think he’d be cheering the team on or at the very least be a part of the play-calling or critiquing the Jets’ offense at the end of drives.

Dec 21, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) drops back to pass against the New England Patriots in the first quarter during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Something tells me that Smith’s tenure on the Jets might very well come to an end sooner than many think. If Fitzpatrick can channel that inner magic and continue everything he brings to the table, the Jets would be absolutely insane to make any kind of quarterback change to see if Smith can ever be a starting option again.

I honestly believe that he not only won’t be a starter anytime soon this season for the Jets, but his days as a member of the team are numbered.

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