Over the offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders made several changes to the QB room, including trading Geno Smith to the New York Jets. It was a one-and-done season for Smith with the Silver and Black, which saw the team finish among the worst in the NFL.
During the 2025 season, Smith posted a 60.9 overall PFF grade. Furthermore, over his 524 dropbacks, the veteran threw for 3,025 yards and 19 touchdowns, with 17 interceptions, while also recording 14 big-time throws and 23 turnover-worthy plays.
However, NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms believes Smith shouldn’t be judged by his 2025 campaign in Las Vegas and hints that the Silver and Black are at fault for setting him up to fail. Furthermore, Simms expects Smith to bounce back with New York this upcoming season.
“Who was he going to throw to last year? Who? Receivers, nobody,” Simms said on the May 7 edition of PFT Live. “Brock Bowers was in and out of the lineup for a big period of time. They couldn’t run the ball, and Ashton Jeanty didn’t look worth a damn until late in the season. The defense stunk…
“But Geno’s the guy, when they’re down 10 late in the fourth, he’s not just going to check it down, so when the game’s over, nobody can blame anything on him. It’ll look like he played well.
“No. Like a lot of great quarterbacks, he went, ‘No, we’re going to go for it, we’re going to come back, I’m going to fit a ball into a tight window, we’re going to win this game.’ And of course that lends itself to some bad numbers and late-game interceptions because he’s trying to go out there and win it.”
Did Raiders Take a Step Back In Signing Kirk Cousins?
Moreover, Simms believes that Smith was a better option for any team looking for a veteran QB. He also noted that the new Jets QB is better than Kirk Cousins, whom the Silver and Black signed this offseason.
“He’s better than Kirk Cousins and he’s better than Tua [Tagovailoa], and that’s why you take him,” Simms added. “He’s certainly a better fit for the offense. So I’m pumped to see what Geno can do here in Round 2 with the Jets.”
Geno Smith Lands Blunt Take for 2026 Season
Smith will be looking to prove he still has gas in the tank and that his poor play last season was due to the team situation, not him.
As a result, the veteran wants to show that he isn’t at the end of his NFL career, so Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton has listed the former Raiders QB as one of the signal-callers who will face the most pressure this 2026 season.
“Smith had his best years with the Seahawks, earning a couple of Pro Bowl nods, but he wanted out of Seattle after the 2024 season,” Moton wrote in his May 2 article. “The Las Vegas Raiders traded for Smith, but his reunion with head coach Pete Carroll didn’t work out well.
“In 2025, Smith threw 17 interceptions, the most leaguewide, and only won two games as a starter. The Raiders fired Carroll and traded Smith to the Jets. At 34, Smith will once again try to revive his career as a starter—this time with the team that drafted him.
“Having gone through career trials and tribulations, Smith can turn things around for himself, but he’ll try to do it with a franchise that hasn’t had stability at quarterback for decades. If Smith has another down year, he’s unlikely to get another chance to be a full-time starter in the league.”
Raiders Get Surprising Take Involving Geno Smith, Kirk Cousins