The New York Jets are moving on from Geno Smith. Whether that is a long-term move or not remains to be seen. The second-year pro is still suffering from rookie mistakes and the Jets have seen enough for the time being. After Smith managed to turn the ball over multiple times in the span of about 10 minutes, he was benched for Michael Vick who will now be the starter for Week 9. Is all of this just a sign the Jets will draft another quarterback come 2015?
Rex Ryan announced that Vick would be starting in Week 9 in order for Smith to take a step back and work on some things. According to the New York Post, the Jets are all-but saying they are ready to move on from Smith and Vick will simply be the stop gap option until they figure out a plan. Ryan is trying to play this situation out as quietly as possible, but all signs point to Smith sitting for an extended period of time.
"Geno [can] take a step back for the first time in his career and maybe get a different perspective of it," Ryan said, via the New York Post. "This is not looking long-term, this is about the immediate. My focus is just on that ... that's why this decision was made. Of course you hope a young quarterback could be that guy. He had a poor game, that's no doubt. Have there been guys that have taken a step back and taken a leap forward? There have been guys like that. Hopefully, that's what happens to Geno."
Smith admits that he was surprised the Jets benched him during Week 8. The quarterback threw three first quarter interceptions against the Buffalo Bills when the Jets decided they had seen enough. Vick did not do enough to get the win and Jane McManus of ESPN reports Smith was shocked New York did not try to keep him in the game. The move to bench Smith has been a long-time coming and the eventual replacing of him appears to not be far off.
Right now, the Jets are looking like they could be in position for a very high draft pick. Could the team make a move for a quarterback? This year's draft class is expected to be stacked at the position. Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Bo Wallace and Blake Simms will all be available in the upcoming draft and are all expected to do well at the next level. The Jets could simply admit defeat on the Smith experiment and try their hand at another rookie option.
