Once again the New York Jets have a quarterback battle headlining their offseason. The team has yet to find any stability at the position despite drafting Geno Smith two years ago. The carousel continues as Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bryce Petty hop along to prove they can be the next-best player under center for the Jets. However, could Smith's chemistry with the wide receivers be what sets him apart in 2015?
According to ESPNNewYork.com, Smith and the newly acquired Brandon Marshall have been getting in plenty of work together to start the season. Smith has been down in Florida training with Marshall as the two look to build a solid rapport with one another in order to be successful in 2015. Marshall likes what he sees from the quarterback so far.
"Twenty-four hours a day, we're getting after it," Marshall said, via ESPN radio. "Go home, walk through plays. It's cool because he's a guy, he can make all the throws. He's super-duper smart. There are some things he just doesn't know yet."
The practices with the wide receivers could give Smith the leg up in the quarterback race. Right now Fitzpatrick has been limited in what he can do on the field because he is still healing from a broken leg suffered last season with the Houston Texans. Fitzpatrick told the media that he is confident he will be healthy come training camp, but he likely will not get any work in before that.
The early returns on Petty have been a mixed bag. The rookie quarterback was inconsistent at mini-camp, looking more like a project player rather than a Week 1 starter. The New York Post reported that Petty missed throws, struggled with reads and looked a bit shakey outside of the pocket. Head coach Todd Bowles told the media that he has full confidence in Petty and his ability to develop over upcoming season.
"He's not changing sports and coming in raw," Bowles said, via Newsday.com. "He has to take snaps under center, he has to learn what to do -- no different than most of the other quarterbacks that are coming out. That doesn't mean they're bad quarterbacks, that just means they have a learning process. If you know Bryce, he's a very engaging guy. He's very smart, he's very football-smart, so repeating plays in the huddle shouldn't be a problem."
Entering training camp, Smith will likely be the No. 1 guy on the depth chart. That is certainly not guaranteed to stay that way, but the quarterback has the support of the players and is putting in the work necessary to make improvements.
