I could see Seattle going either way here, skipping QB entirely or drafting someone like Hooker or Levis in round 2. Maybe someone further down in the draft. They don’t need to be committed to the idea of a Qb here.
Personally I don’t think Geno is the type of guy that’ll ever get us anywhere, but he does offer us a great deal of flexibility. He’s an Alex Smith sort of placeholder that can man the position until we find someone we’re in love with. His contract provides us a lot of flexibility.
I feel very differently about Geno. I believe that there is a good chance that after one year under his belt that he will make significant progress this year. I think we should be thinking of last year as his rookie year. Before you go crazy, let me explain:
Now, many people will say that I'm wacko, but Geno's entire career history has been misunderstood and mischaracterized. Yes, he did start his rookie year in New York, but the circumstances have never been fully explained in the Seattle press.
I was living in New York during Geno's rookie year, so I witnessed it first hand. I even went to his first game that year. What happened in 2013 was that John Idzik, formerly of the Seahawks, was hired, and that hiring was seen as an effort to take away some of Ryan's authority. Over Rex's objections (or at least it was conjectured), Geno was drafted in the second round by Idzik who saw him as a Russell Wilson clone.
No one thought that Geno would play a down for the Jets that year. Mark Sanchez was Rex's guy (he even famously had a tattoo of Sanchez) and had taken them to consecutive AFC championship games. But at the end of the pre-season, Sanchez injured his shoulder, and Geno was thrust into being the day 1 starter with little preparation. Marty Morhinweg was the third OC in NY in three years due to criticisms over the Jets offensive production, so it was a somewhat unstable situation, with not many offensive weapons (the leading receiver that year was Jeremy Kerley).
I still remember that game. A friend took me to the game because I was depressed about my son having gone away to college. Geno, I think, fumbled on his first play and then was intercepted in the second series. (I could be wrong about this, but that's how I remember it.) But then he threw the ball all over the place and ran like a maniac and the Jets came from 17 points down to beat the Bucs. But even after that game, there was talk that Sanchez would come back, or that the Jets would go get another QB, and there was no commitment to Geno. Eventually, Sanchez had to get surgery and the Jets released him and signed Michael Vick. Although Geno finished the year 8-8, he wasn't seen as the long-term answer in NY. He was named the starter at the end of the preseason in 2014, but he was eventually replaced by Vick in mid-season. (Vick left at the end of the season, but then Geno was punched in the mouth.)
So my point to the overly long post is that this year will be the first year that Geno goes into a preseason as the starter, with a whole preseason to work with his receivers and in a stable environment (2014 was Rex Ryan's last year with the Jets.). Let's see what he can do when he finally enters a season as the presumptive starter, with a year's experience in that system under his belt.
