Ex-Jets offensive lineman reveals why Geno Smith struggled early on in New York

What went wrong for Geno?

Charlie Baduini

New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Geno Smith, the 39th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, is coming home. The New York Jets traded for their former quarterback with the Las Vegas Raiders, swapping Day 3 picks for the rights to the journeyman veteran.

Jets fans and Smith are hoping his second stint with the team is more successful than the first. In his first four seasons in New York, Smith was 12-18 as a starter, threw for 5,962 yards, completed 57.9% of his passes, and threw 28 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.

There were several factors that contributed to his early struggles, but chief among them was his maturity. Smith was never supposed to be thrown to the wolves in Week 1 of his rookie season. It was still supposed to be Mark Sanchez's team, but a head-scratching preseason injury (a game he had no business being in that late) changed that.

Instead, Smith was trotted out in 2013 as the full-time starter, and it went just about as you'd expect for a 23-year-old rookie.

Willie Colon reveals what went wrong with Geno Smith's early Jets tenure

Former Jets offensive lineman Willie Colon, and a teammate of Smith's, revealed on WFAN what the problems were in 2013 and 2014 that led to the young quarterback's early struggles.

"I think people forget Geno wasn’t supposed to start. But nevertheless, man, there wasn’t a lot to kind of help Geno Smith develop, right? There wasn’t a quarterback consultant, right? It was just Geno coming out of West Virginia being a gunslinger saying, ‘Hey, I’m here to save New York.’ And New York chewed him up and spit him up."
Willie Colon

Colon added that Smith did have "some character flaws" early in his career, and it's difficult to deny that.

Everyone remembers the IK Enemkpali incident, where Smith allegedly owed him some money for a plane ticket. The confrontation led to a broken jaw, which cost Smith the starting job in 2015, allowing Ryan Fitzpatrick to step in and lead the Jets to a 10-6 record.

By the time 2016 rolled around, and Fitzpatrick had turned back into a pumpkin, Smith was ready for one last shot at the starting gig in the final year of his rookie contract.

Unfortunately, Smith would end up tearing his ACL in a game against the Baltimore Ravens, where he was actually playing well, completing four of eight passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.

From there, the veteran bounced around from team to team, spending time with the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Chargers before finally getting another starting shot with the Seattle Seahawks.

Smith's experience around the league has certainly made him a better quarterback, and the Jets are hoping his second stint in New York will lead to more wins and success than his first go-around.

Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini covers the New York Jets as a site expert for The Jet Press and FanSided. He is a sports journalist based in Northern New Jersey with a wide variety of sports reporting experience in print and broadcast journalism. Baduini’s byline can also be seen on Heavy and The Sporting News, where he covers several teams across the NFL and NBA. His work has been featured in Heavy, Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and Yardbarker. He also serves as a seasonal intern for ESPN, working as a production assistant for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony every year since 2022. Baduini has been a Jets fan for as long as he can remember, with his family's fandom dating back to the 1960s when his grandfather, Louis, became a season ticket holder. His family has since held on to the tickets to this day. He is an avid fan of the New York Knicks and New York Mets.