Through the first two games of the 2026 season, New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith has been incredibly solid. However, ESPN’s Rich Cimini believes there is another level to his game that can unlock the rest of the offense.
“Look, no interceptions for Geno Smith. This is notable because Smith threw a league-high 17 interceptions last season with the Raiders. He’s making smart decisions with the ball for the most part — not a single turnover in 74 dropbacks. He’s completing nearly 71% of his passes, though he’s averaging only 5.8 air yards per attempt — tied with Daniel Jones for 28th in the league. Going forward, the Jets need to open up the passing attack to maximize their skill position talent,” Cimini wrote.
In other words, he has been good, but he can be even better. One of the things the Jets thought they were getting when Smith arrived was a verticality element to the passing game. To be blunt, that was non-existent with Justin Fields at quarterback. He was afraid to make mistakes, and he didn’t take shots down the field. So defenses loaded the box and sat down, daring Fields to take the top off the defense, but he never did.
For the Jets to truly reach their final form on offense, Smith has to be willing to throw deep, and obviously offensive coordinator Frank Reich has to be willing to put those chunk shots in the playbook.
We saw flashes in Week 1, with Smith’s beautiful spiral he uncorked to Adonai Mitchell down the right hash for a 40-yard chunk play. That has to be a more prominent flavor in the offense, and that should open up everything else.
Oh Yeah and Another Thing…
Since we’re currently having this intervention about the Jets offense, what the heck happened in Week 2?
Isaiah Williams getting six targets? Garrett Wilson only getting seven targets? In no world should Williams be getting one fewer target than Wilson. That gap in target share between those two players should be sizable, with all due respect.
Wilson is one of the top 10 highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. They need to get him the ball each and every week.
“Absolutely. Absolutely. That is a point of emphasis every time we go out, it’s to try to make sure we get him the ball, and we have to continue to do that. There are guys on this team: Breece (Hall), Mason (Taylor), (Kenyon) Sadiq, especially Garrett, that we have to make sure that we get those guys involved. Again, there’s a number of guys we have on this team that can make plays on offense. Sometimes that’s a tough situation. Especially if a team is keying on a guy, then other guys have to come in and make some plays,” head coach Aaron Glenn explained during his media availability.
Time to Release the Kraken
The Jets wide receiver room is hurting with so many injuries. Tight end Mason Taylor is on the shelf with a new injury. That means it’s time to unlock rookie TE Kenyon Sadiq.
“Now would be a good time to buy Kenyon Sadiq stock,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said in response to the Taylor injury.
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