The New York Jets like to keep things interesting when it comes to their quarterback situation. First there was the Tim Tebow experiment, then the Mark Sanchez/Geno Smith competition last season. General manager John Idzik failed to endorse anyone as the future starter despite Smith playing every game last season. Now with Michael Vick on the roster, drama continues to surround the team. Smith is simply trying to say all the right things.
Smith certainly saw his share of ups and downs when it came to his rookie season. Winning the starting spot after a season-ending injury to Sanchez, Smith tossed 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. He helped the Jets win their final three of four games and finish the season 8-8. However, no one would call him the future starter for the team when the season ended. Now with Vick, could another competition be in store for Smith? The second-year pro is simply focused on what Vick can teach him rather than competing with him.
"Awesome, man. Vick's my guy," Smith said, via ESPN.com. "We needed to find a guy that was legitimately a guy that could come in and play. I think that's what we did. Mission accomplished. It's just good to have a guy to compete with like Mike. We're going to compete. We're not going to say, 'Hey, you're the starter.' And we'll leave it at that. We want to get better."
While Smith is trying not to read into what the signing of Vick means for his future, head coach Rex Ryan continues to endorse the young star as the 2014 starter for the Jets. Ryan said that it would be very hard for someone to beat out Smith for the job, no matter who they are.
"This young man's going to be hard to beat out," Ryan said. "I don't care who comes in here. We want competition at every spot -- I think it's great -- but make no mistake, Geno Smith gonna be hard to beat out. The last four weeks of the season, when most rookies are (on the decline), he's (on the rise). And we all saw it coming. And what's (the) evidence? He's the second-highest quarterback rating in the National Football League. ... Was he using his legs? Was he protecting the football? Was he throwing it with accuracy? Did he really take to Marty's (Mornhenweg) offense and the Jets offense? Yeah, he absolutely did."
The Jets are still a favorite to draft a rookie in May. Right now the team has Smith, Vick and Matt Simms on the roster. Getting a rookie in would help round out the rotation. The team could draft a late-round option like Aaron Murray or AJ McCarron to add another level to the quarterback drama.
