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Jets Notes: QB Job Should Be Open


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Jets notes: QB job should be 'open'
June, 1, 2014
JUN 1
5:00
AM ET
By Rich Cimini | ESPNNewYork.com
 
 
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Thoughts and observations on the New York Jets

 

1. Another QB question to ponder: With everyone engaged in a semantic debate on whether the Jets' quarterback competition is open or closed (let's call it semi-closed), let me pose this question: Why not make it a truly open competition and bill it as such? 


Yes, Geno Smith showed promise at the end of last season, but he doesn't have enough pelts on the wall to be granted front-runner status. True, Michael Vick arrived in town with baggage (age, durability and turnover concerns), but his body of work warrants a 50-50 shot at the starting job. Not only would an open competition eliminate confusion, but it would create a "best-man-wins" scenario.

 

The Jets are traveling down a slippery slope by tilting it in Smith's favor, because there's a good possibility Vick will outplay him in the preseason. Then what? Everybody knows the expression, "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." It applies to the Jets' quarterback situation. In their case, you can't have your competition and have a predetermined favorite, especially when the other guy might be better. You're just asking for trouble. 

 

[+] Enlargenfl_a_vick_m_200x300.jpg
AP Photo/Julio CortezMichael Vick has proven to have the respect of his Jets teammates during offseason workouts.

2. Low-budget signings: The Jets didn't exactly break the bank with their undrafted free agents. Teams were allocated to spend up to $80,362 in signing bonuses, but the Jets doled out only $4,000, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Defensive end Anthony Grady($2,500) and fullback Chad Young ($1,500) were the only UDFAs to receive a signing bonus; the other five got zilch. The size of the bonus often indicates the quality of the player. When multiple teams are bidding, top UDFAs have been known to land more than $10,000. Two years ago, nose tackle Damon Harrisonreceived a $7,000 bonus from the Jets. Because of their unusually large draft class (12), the Jets placed less emphasis on the UDFA market. Basically, it was an afterthought. 


3. Rex tweaks Tim: Ryan took a veiled shot at Tim Tebow the other day. Trying to defend Eric Deckeragainst the perception that he's a Peyton Manningcreation, Ryan reminded us that Decker caught touchdown passes from Tebow in 2011. "I think that's pretty impressive," Ryan said, thinking it was eight scoring catches (it was actually four). The inference was clear: If Decker scored with the scatter-armed Tebow, he can score with anyone. Ryan neglected to mention that Decker had no receptions and two drops in five targets when he and Tebow faced the Jets in that same season. 


4. Where's the depth?: Right guard Willie Colon (arthroscopic knee surgery) is expected to return before training camp, so there's no reason for the Jets to panic, but the injury casts a harsh light on their offensive line depth. Their nine backups have played a combined total of 14 regular-season snaps -- all by center/guard Caleb Schlauderaff. That's a bit troubling, no? Considering Colon's durability issues (four surgeries in the last four years), the front office should sign some veteran insurance. Never thought I'd say this, but ... where'sVladimir Ducasse when you need him? 


4a. New kind of surgery: Loved this tweet from one of my followers, @MisterRoberts, who refers to Colon's surgery as a "Colon-oscopy." Brilliant. 


5. From enemies to comrades: Four months ago, Decker and Breno Giacomini played on opposite sides of one of the most lopsided Super Bowls in history. Giacomini's Seattle Seahawks embarrassed Decker's Broncos, 43-8. Now they're teammates. I asked Giacomini if they've talked about the game. A little trash talking, perhaps? He said there was a brief lunch-room conversation. Giacomini said he asked Decker about the first play of the game, the errant shotgun snap that resulted in a safety. Decker chalked it up to the noise generated by the pro-Seattle crowd at MetLife Stadium. And that was the end of the conversation. Touchy subject, obviously. 


"I didn't want to say anything else to him," Giacomini said. "That's behind us, we're teammates now. Hopefully, we can reach it again -- together -- and win another one." 


6. The Fridge, Part II?: You have to love Sheldon Richardson's candor and sense of humor. Asked if he hopes to continue in his role as a goal-line running back, Richardson said, "It was a fun experience. Hopefully, they call my number again." He quickly added, "Hopefully not, because it means the offense is doing what they're supposed to do." 


There's some truth in his humor; this was a problem area last season. Richardson (two) and Geno Smith (six) combined for eight of the 12 rushing touchdowns. For all his power,Chris Ivory scored only one touchdown on six attempts on goal-to-go runs from the 5-yard line or closer, per ESPN Stats. That's not Chris Johnson's forte, either. He received only one such carry last season (a 3-yard touchdown). Be ready, Sheldon. 

 

7. Respect for elders: Ryan has been around football for his entire life, which means he has seen and heard just about everything. One day recently, though, he heard something from the offensive huddle that struck him as unusual. Vick told one of the young fullbacks to run a certain pass route and the player (Ryan wouldn't identify him) responded with, "Yes, sir." They have only two fullbacks, so it was either Tommy Bohanon or Chad Young. Said Ryan: "I don’t know if I’ve heard that in a long time with a teammate talking to another teammate. [Vick] certainly has that kind of respect in the locker room." 


8. Pinocchio Island: Did anyone check to see if Darrelle Revis' nose was growing when he spoke glowingly the other day about Bill Belichick and the Patriot Way? Once upon a time, Revis called Belichick a "jerk." Yes, free agency makes for strange bedfellows. 


9. Broadway Joe to Hollywood Joe: A movie on the life of Joe Namath is in the early stages of development. James Mangold, who directed the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," already is on board as the director, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Here's hoping they get Ann-Margret to play herself. 


10. The Mo, the better: Kudos to Muhammad Wilkerson, who will present five student-athletes from New Jersey and Long Island with $1,000 college scholarships. Wilkerson, giving back to his local roots, grew up in Linden, N.J. He's making the donations through his T.E.A.M 96 Foundation. 


11. Futbol and football: Portugal's national soccer team, led by global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, will train at the Jets' facility from Tuesday through June 9 in preparation for the World Cup. The team's stay in the area will be capped by a June 10 exhibition against Ireland at MetLife Stadium. Paulo Bento, the Portugal coach, already has visited the Jets' facility in Florham, N.J., declaring "the pitches are very good." With the World Cup approaching, I wonder if Bento still has open competition for each starting job.

 

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I hope they mean that Geno show progress and turns out to be a a decent quarterback.  I honestly don't know if I have another 'quarterback hope' in me.  

Geno will stay in until the franchise thinks they have a better chance of making the playoffs with Vick.  At least I think they will.

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I love how his article has like 10 links, all to ESPN.  He gives a guy a shout out on Twitter and he can't even link to his account.  Like heaven forbid something he\ESPN does results in this fan, who made a joke that Cimini liked, getting followers.

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oh for ****s sake

 

the 2014 version of mike vick is a back up and everybody knows it.  his role is to be able to win games if geno gets hurt, and to teach him and mentor him, and to be more of a threat than brunnell and garrard were

 

if vick beats smith out as the week 1 starter, this team is ****ed

 

what a douche

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You have to wonder how long it will take people to grasp the concept:  Vick is projected to be one year insurance in case Geno turns out not to be the QB of the future.  Because Vick is too old to be that.

 

What do you mean "people"? As far as I can tell this is just Cimini's $.02, which more often than not is meant to juxtapose what people are accepting in order to incite reaction.

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Kevin Kolb doesn't make the Jets better.

 

 

When Vick arrived in Philly the first time he was a backup and all the fans were making all sorts of BS about how he'd never play, and how he's a monster for fighting dogs etc.

 

I went to a preseason game (jets actually) with Eagles fans and saw Vick play. It was obvious who was the best QB in the building at the time. I told the fans I went with: "This is your next starting QB, and he's gonna have the job for years." 

 

Eagles fans didn't want to believe was he was better than Kolb. Because Kolb was "the future." 

 

 Now, Jets fans don't want to believe he's better than Smith. because Smith is "the future" 

 

Yes we hope Geno Smith is the next Peyton Manning. When that delusion inevitably crashes and burns, we will all be happy to have Vick.

 

He's 34 by the way not 54. There's still plenty of time for a Vinny T late career surge.

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When Vick arrived in Philly the first time he was a backup and all the fans were making all sorts of BS about how he'd never play, and how he's a monster for fighting dogs etc.

 

I went to a preseason game (jets actually) with Eagles fans and saw Vick play. It was obvious who was the best QB in the building at the time. I told the fans I went with: "This is your next starting QB, and he's gonna have the job for years." 

 

Eagles fans didn't want to believe was he was better than Kolb. Because Kolb was "the future." 

 

 Now, Jets fans don't want to believe he's better than Smith. because Smith is "the future" 

 

Yes we hope Geno Smith is the next Peyton Manning. When that delusion inevitably crashes and burns, we will all be happy to have Vick.

 

He's 34 by the way not 54. There's still plenty of time for a Vinny T late career surge.

Vick was initially signed to back up McNabb, not Kolb.

Also Kolb was a never gonna be. Geno may or may not be that, but he had plenty stacked against him as a rookie, beginning with not being ready in the first place.

Beating out Kolb is only analogous if Geno is just as bad as Kolb this year.

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Geno's combine > Kolb's combine

Geno's Pinstripe Bowl was terrible;a QB rating of 25.1 with 2 safeties and a fumble.

Matt's point is simple; Geno Smith is not and will never be an NFL QB.Vick is here because while Idzik is not pleased he whiffed on the 2nd round last year, he wants a servicable pro here for when it goes bad. If you want to throw a parade because Smith started turning the ball over less, knock yourself out.

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whether you want Geno or Mike, it's not ideal for a professional football team to give lip service to competition and then rig the QB job. Let it be a competition. Why is that such a controversial idea? If Geno can't beat Vick then he shouldn't play. If Boyd is better than both than HE should play.

 

The idea of the future is not relevant. You can't build a future around a player who can only win a rigged compeition. 

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whether you want Geno or Mike, it's not ideal for a professional football team to give lip service to competition and then rig the QB job. Let it be a competition. Why is that such a controversial idea? If Geno can't beat Vick then he shouldn't play. If Boyd is better than both than HE should play.

 

The idea of the future is not relevant. You can't build a future around a player who can only win a rigged compeition. 

 

the jets rigged it ?

 

explain

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whether you want Geno or Mike, it's not ideal for a professional football team to give lip service to competition and then rig the QB job. Let it be a competition. Why is that such a controversial idea? If Geno can't beat Vick then he shouldn't play. If Boyd is better than both than HE should play.

 

The idea of the future is not relevant. You can't build a future around a player who can only win a rigged compeition. 

 

Because QB is not like other positions. The entire offense changes - or can change, anyway - when you swap QBs.  Therefore you want to go with your 1 guy whenever possible. If it's close, even if Vick's edging him out, it's in the team's interest to go with Smith.

 

First off, he's going to be getting better not worse (or that's the idea). So if he's nearly as good now, then by mid-season or the end of the season he should be as good or (ideally) better. Then you get to reap those rewards in the playoffs this year or Smith starts out better still in 2015.  Go with Vick, and Smith doesn't get the in-game experience he so sorely needs. 

 

Second of all, he's got much more of a future than Vick (if it's close).

 

Third, it's not like Vick is so great himself, and even if he's playing well the odds of him starting and finishing a season are pretty bad.  After 1 season, Geno Smith already has as many 16-start seasons in his career as Vick.  And putting aside Vick's obvious talent, he ends up with as many turnovers as touchdowns (2010 being the lone exception in the past decade-plus). So for all his talent and excitement, he's really not a very good QB.

 

All this goes out the window if Vick blows him out of the water (which may very well happen).  But if it's close it's in the team's interest to go with the guy with the upside to get much better as he gains experience.

 

It's not the same as having an open competition at corner or TE or LB.

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Vick came to the Jets because he knew that he was unlikely to land a starting job. If you are looking for a chance to vulture into a starting role you want to back up Geno Smith, not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. All the QB's stand a chance to get hurt but Geno is more likely to tank. So it's smart. It'll be interesting to see how long the leash is. I liked what I saw at the end of last year. I think Geno has a good chance to be good but needs time to develop.

 

As for competition, nah. It's Geno's job unless he stinks with some consistency.  And with Vick as a backup, I feel a degree of security that as a Jet fan I can't remember having.

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whether you want Geno or Mike, it's not ideal for a professional football team to give lip service to competition and then rig the QB job. Let it be a competition. Why is that such a controversial idea? If Geno can't beat Vick then he shouldn't play. If Boyd is better than both than HE should play.

The idea of the future is not relevant. You can't build a future around a player who can only win a rigged compeition.

Maybe they think it is more valuable to get Geno as many reps as possible than to hold another QB competition where your second year QB, who it is in the best interest of the franchise to see improve, gets at most 50% of the traing camp snaps?

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Maybe they think it is more valuable to get Geno as many reps as possible than to hold another QB competition where your second year QB, who it is in the best interest of the franchise to see improve, gets at most 50% of the traing camp snaps?

 

Don't be ridiculous, the future isn't relevant.  Haven't you heard?

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You have to wonder how long it will take people to grasp the concept:  Vick is projected to be one year insurance in case Geno turns out not to be the QB of the future.  Because Vick is too old to be that.

too old? What 34 year old qb has legs like Vick? He is faster than Eugene who is what 23-24? Vick is faster than 3/4 of the qbs in this entire league still.   He is a tremendous athlete.  Vick will be able to play for many years - into his 40's if he wants to. He is that gifted.  

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When Vick arrived in Philly the first time he was a backup and all the fans were making all sorts of BS about how he'd never play, and how he's a monster for fighting dogs etc.

 

I went to a preseason game (jets actually) with Eagles fans and saw Vick play. It was obvious who was the best QB in the building at the time. I told the fans I went with: "This is your next starting QB, and he's gonna have the job for years." 

 

Eagles fans didn't want to believe was he was better than Kolb. Because Kolb was "the future." 

 

 Now, Jets fans don't want to believe he's better than Smith. because Smith is "the future" 

 

Yes we hope Geno Smith is the next Peyton Manning. When that delusion inevitably crashes and burns, we will all be happy to have Vick.

 

He's 34 by the way not 54. There's still plenty of time for a Vinny T late career surge.

Man you sure know how to make enemies. Don't you know this is EugeneNation.com and NOT JetsNation.com  

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too old? What 34 year old qb has legs like Vick? He is faster than Eugene who is what 23-24? Vick is faster than 3/4 of the qbs in this entire league still.   He is a tremendous athlete.  Vick will be able to play for many years - into his 40's if he wants to. He is that gifted.

Vick may be a gifted athlete, but he's not a good QB. Geno started to cut down on the turnovers in his rookie year, Vick hasn't been able to do that in eleven seasons. He's a career 56% passer. He's had one 16 game season in his career, and hasn't lasted more than 13 games since he got out of jail. Geno suffered an 8.8 sack percentage as a rookie last year behind what some call a suspect OL, The all-speedy Vick has a career 8.7 number. It was 15.7 in his rookie year, and 9.7 last season with the Eagles. He has 91 fumbles in 128 career games, and hasn't shown any sign of slowing down in that regard. He's a negative play waiting to happen.

There's still potential upside with Geno. If he's as bad as you think he is, the Jets will turn to Vick this year and be back in the QB market next year. Because if Geno isn't the answer at QB, the Jets don't have the answer at QB on the roster.

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