Can Geno Smith rebound with the New York Jets?
A panel of 50 voters voted on the top QBs for the 2026 season with Mike Sando of The Athletic.
New York Jets QB Geno Smith came in at No. 30.
Smith is looking to turn back the clock in his second stint with the Jets after leading the NFL in interceptions last season with the Las Vegas Raiders. Smith's best seasons in the NFL came with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 and 2023. He made the Pro Bowl in 2022 and 2023 and won the 2022 AP Comeback Player of the Year Award.
“He got sacked 10 times in a game (against Cleveland),” a defensive coach said. “Once you get hit and keep getting hit and hit and hit, how good are you going to be? They had no identity on offense. Geno got a bad rap. He was getting murdered out there.”
A West Virginia product, Smith enters this season with 22,168 passing yards, 124 passing touchdowns and 89 career interceptions in the NFL. His starting record is 42-56-0.
"I'm so excited, I can't describe how excited I am," Smith said.
New Jets OC Frank Reich, who has been in the NFL for a long, long time, has enjoyed working with Smith thus far. The veteran coach has been impressed by the QB's "football mind."
"It's hard for me right now to not be overly, what's the word, effusive with praise, but I am just so impressed with Geno," Reich said, via Jets.com. "I know we haven't played any games yet, we've got a long way to go, we've got a lot to prove. But man, he is on point. His preparation is top-notch, his football mind is elite, the way he's communicating in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage and the way he communicates in the quarterbacks room."
The Jets went 3-14 last season in Year 1 of the Aaron Glenn era. Let's see how they do in Year 2 with Reich and Smith in the fold.
NYJ WR Garrett Wilson is excited to catch passes from Smith this season. After the Jets acquired Smith from the Raiders, Wilson "immediately" called Seahawks superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Smith-Njigba and Smith were teammates in Seattle.
"Yeah man, when I heard we signed Geno, initially for me it was like I immediately hit up my dawg Jax, who had played with him for two years out in Seattle," Wilson said on the Jets' official podcast, via Heavy Sports. "He had a lot of good insight. He just loved Geno, he spoke so highly of him.
"All of a sudden, I'm pumped, I'm excited, and then once I got to meet the guy, which would have been a month ago now, mid-April, I had constructed this view of him in my head and how he was going to be. It was cool, right? I couldn't wait to meet him based on what I had constructed in my head. Then I met him and he just blew that out of the water."
It will be fascinating to see how Smith plays this season. This is likely his last chance to be an NFL starter.
“It’s hard to tell because last year wasn’t fair, and before that he was a 3,” an offensive coach said. “I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he’s a 3 till proven otherwise.”
