The New York Jets are at it again, at least they might be according to ESPN New York. Rich Cimini, in his camp preview of the New York Jets, mentioned that the Jets may be thinking about using Geno Smith in the way Tebow was originally meant to be used by the team.
"The coaches are toying with the idea of turning Smith into what Tebow was supposed to be last season — a change-of-pace quarterback (assuming he doesn't win the starting job). Smith would have a package of plays, mainly read-option runs that could exploit his speed. The upside: It would give him some game experience, albeit in a gadget role, and add a wrinkle to the offense. The downside: He wasn't very productive when West Virginia called designed runs, which wasn't often. Smith, who considers himself a pocket passer, gives the impression he wouldn't be thrilled in that role."
Geno Smith is now being put into the worst of scenarios. Instead of playing immediately, sitting his first season on the bench or replacing an ineffective Mark Sanchez, he may be forced to play a form of quarterback he's never played before. The way to develop a young player is not to force them into a new position, it's to build off of what they already do well. That's a truth that hasn't fazed the Jets at all.
Head coach Rex Ryan hinted that Smith may be forced into running read-option plays over a month ago.
"They didn't really run a whole lot of zone reads and different things (at West Virginia)," Ryan said in a press conference. "But (Smith) has the skill set to where there's no reason he shouldn't be able to do that. … Running for first downs and touchdowns, I think that's how the league is probably going to progress with these things."
The Jets' overarching problem is that they've never been an innovative team under Rex Ryan. In his early days with the team, the Jets' defense put them into two consecutive AFC championship games. Since then, the Jets have, insanely, put Mark Sanchez out on the field with no change in production. He goes out, loses the game, rinse and repeat. Trying the read-option is just another way the Jets are trying to win using someone else's gameplan. Instead of turning Geno Smith into Tim Tebow 2.0, they should be thinking about how Geno Smith could run the full offense, because we've got some news for the Jets. Mark Sanchez is not the answer.
