Alarming Geno Smith trend suggests the Jets' offensive line hasn't been that bad

Through the first few weeks of the season, Geno Smith's quarterback play for the New York Jets was a breath of fresh air, especially after what they got out of Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, and Brady Cook in 2025.

Unfortunately, after arguably the greatest game of quarterbacking in Jets history against the Detroit Lions in Week 3, Smith has started to regress, and New York's offense is suffering the consequences.

In games against the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns, Smith has completed an average of 55% of his passes for 150.5 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The lack of turnovers is nice, but the veteran quarterback is being ultra-conservative, and it may be hurting the Jets' offense.

What's becoming clear is that Smith is holding onto the football for far too long, and it's making the offensive line's struggles seem worse than they actually are.

Geno Smith needs to make quicker decisions with the football

In Week 5 against the Browns, Smith was pressured on 37.% of his dropbacks, which seems bad, but it was even worse against the Lions and Bears when the 36-year-old was pressured on 43.2% and 50% of his dropbacks, respectively.

While it may be easy for fans to point to the offensive line, The Jet Press' Justin Fried highlighted that it may be on Smith more so than his pass blockers.

"For the record, Geno Smith has the 9th highest (slowest) time to throw over the last 3 weeks. So yes he is indeed holding the ball for a very long time. Not only that, his 29.2% pressure-to-sack% is the highest in the NFL over that span. He’s holding the ball for a long time and doesn’t have the escapability to avoid sacks."

It's something the Jets are going to need to address if they're going to keep stacking wins, and hopefully, Smith is able to find a way to get the ball out of his hands quicker when he drops back to throw.

New York Jets injuries may be impacting Geno Smith's time-to-throw

What may not be helping Smith over the last few weeks is his lack of options to throw to. Adonai Mitchell, Omar Cooper Jr., and Breece Hall have all been absent and are some of the best safety valves the Jets' offense has to offer.

Mitchell was one of Smith's favorite targets over the first two games of the season, receiving 15 targets, including 12 in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers.

While Braelon Allen has filled in nicely as the lead running back with Hall out, Allen is not the receiving threat his counterpart is, and that has certainly taken away an important safety blanket in the Jets' offense.

Hopefully, as the Jets continue to get healthier, the offensive operation can get back to a more consistent level that allows things to move quicker, specifically when Smith is looking to let it rip.

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