Would the New York Jets Have Been Better Off Without Geno Smith and Drafting a QB in 2014?

With the New York Jets struggling with a 1-6 record and their quarterback Geno Smith showing more inconsistencies this year than he did as a rookie, it is interesting to play the ‘what if’ game. As a total hypothetical situation, they could have still been rid of Mark Sanchez and starting someone with a bigger upside than Smith.

Flashing back to 2013, the Jets were comfortable moving on from the man once known as ‘Sanchise’ and putting a rookie over center. With that now being a known fact (given the way things turned out), they could have easily done the following:

*Start Sanchez for one final season before releasing him

The Jets ended up paying Sanchez to rehab his shoulder after he was injured during the 2013 preseason. So why not let him play and if he is ineffective, bench him in favor of Matt Simms for a few games? If he was the starter out of the gate, he wouldn’t have been playing in the third quarter against the New York Giants in the third preseason game.

*Draft an impact player in Round 2

Assuming that the Jets already decided to let Sanchez play out the expensive part of his salary cap unfriendly contract, general manager John Idzik could have used some foresight and realize that the 2014 NFL Draft was a much deeper one for quarterbacks and went in a different direction with the 39th overall selection.

After Idzik tabbed Smith at that spot, here are a few of the names picked (up to 10 spots later) that would have looked very nice in Jets kelly green and white:

DE Tank Carradine (Round 2, Pick 40 – San Francisco 49ers) – ACL surgery as a rookie has set him back and the 6’4″, 295-pound former Florida State Seminole seems to be getting close to the bust label. But things could have turned out differently in New York for him.

CB Jonathan Banks (Round 2, Pick 43 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – The Jets secondary could sure use a guy who started all 16 games in his rookie campaign and had three interceptions.

LB Kiko Alonso (Round 2, Pick 46 – Buffalo Bills) – The Oregon product tore his ACL in July and is out for the season but started all 16 games as a rookie and had 159 tackles and four interceptions.

RB Le’Veon Bell (Round 2, Pick 48 – Pittsburgh Steelers) – A budding superstar, Bell ammassed 860 yards and eight touchdowns in 2013 and has 599 yards through seven games this season.

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*Draft a quarterback in 2014

Without even thinking about the two signal callers that went in the first (Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel) and second round (Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo), there were still a number of quarterbacks coming out of college this past May to entice patience. [No quarterbacks were chosen in Round 3.]

As a matter of fact, the Jets even drafted one – Tajh Boyd in the sixth round that they ended up cutting and he is now playing with the Boston Brawlers of the FXFL.

Here are the mid-round quarterbacks selected in 2014:

Logan Thomas (Round 4, 120th overall – Arizona Cardinals) – Currently listed as third on the depth chart, Thomas did dress for a few games as Drew Stanton‘s back-up while starter Carson Palmer was injured.

Tom Savage (Round 4, 135th overall – Houston Texans) – Also number three on his team, Savage may find it hard to crack the starting line-up with Ryan Mallet on the roster.

Aaron Murray (Round 5, 163rd overall – Kansas City Chiefs) – Third stringer behind Alex Smith and Chase Daniel.

AJ McCarron (Round 5, 164th overall – Cincinnati Bengals) – The media darling out of Alabama is currently on the Bengals non-football injury list with shoulder soreness.

Zack Mettenberger (Round 6, 178th overall – Tennessee Titans) – The LSU product was spoken about as being a smart late round pick and one that could eventually be a steal for someone. Considering that the Jets picked Boyd 35 spots later anyway, Mettenberger would have been a nice quarterback of the future for them even the way things played out with Smith. He is third on the Titans depth chart but can jump up this offseason.

David Fales (Round 6, 183rd overall – Chicago Bears) – Currently on the practice squad but the Bears only dress two quarterbacks on game day.

Keith Wenning (Round 6, 194th overall – Baltimore Ravens) – Wenning is in the same situation as Fales.

Garrett Gilbert (Round 6, 214th overall – St. Louis Rams) – Also on the practice squad but is currently fourth on the Rams depth chart.

With all of this in mind, the last area to be reviewed is the take away for Idzik from Rounds 4 through  7. The Jets had nine draft choices in those rounds and here are the players chosen:

WR Jalen Saunders (Round 4, 104th overall) – After being given the punt returner job, Saunders muffed one in the Jets Week 3 loss to the Bears. Head coach Rex Ryan then inactivated him the following week versus the Lions. A few days later, Saunders was given his walking papers.

WR Shaq Evans (Round 4, 115th overall) – On injured reserve following shoulder surgery.

OT Dakota Dozier (Round 4, 137th overall) – Switched to guard and is right guard Willie Colon‘s back-up.

ILB Jeremiah George (Round 5, 154th overall) – Released in September and signed to the practice squad. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him three weeks later.

CB Brandon Dixon (Round 6, 195th overall) – Cut from the roster in August and picked up by Tampa Bay for their practice squad.

WR Quincy Enunwa (Round 6, 209th overall) – Currently on the practice squad.

DE Ikemefuna Enemkpall (Round 6, 210th overall) – Switched to outside linebacker and currently third on the depth chart behind Quinton Coples and Jason Babin.

QB Tajh Boyd (Round 6, 213th overall) – Was expected to at least make the practice squad but was one of the last cuts and is now trying to catch on with another team by way of a developmental league (FXFL), as stated above.

OLB Trevor Reilly (Round 7, 233rd overall) – Third on the depth chart on the opposite side behind Calvin Pace and Antwan Barnes.

So are the Jets a contender with Smith? Or would things have turned out better if Idzik picked Bell in 2013 and Mettenberger a year later?