If you had told someone before this weekend that the Jets would draft Geno Smith, it wouldn't have been a shock. But the fact that the Jets got many pundits' top QB in the 2013 class with their third selection is quite a surprise.
"This is a steal in terms of where you got Geno Smith," said ESPN's Todd McShay.
The 6'3", 218-pound Smith possesses all the physical traits that you could want in a quarterback. He has a strong arm and can drive the ball down the field. Smith posted a 4.5 time in the 40-yard dash and he can pick up chunk yardage on the ground. Smith operated out of a shotgun spread attack with the Mountaineers and he will have to make the transition to Marty Mornhinweg's West Coast system.
Last season, Smith completed 71% of his passes with 42 TDs against only six interceptions. He had a tremendous Pro Day and a lot of pundits thought he was well on his way to becoming a Top 10 selection. But Smith sat through Thursday's Round 1 at Radio City Music Hall and then through six selections in the second round. But the Jets ended the wait and a visibly relieved Smith greeted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell with a warm embrace.
"I had pretty good meetings with them and when I visited it went well," he told reporters in a conference call. "But as you can see, nothing was really 100 percent. But right now, I'm just proud to be a Jet and ready to get to work."
The Jets now have a six-pack of quarterbacks on the roster with Mark Sanchez, David Garrard, Greg McElroy, Tim Tebow, Matt Simms and Smith.
"I just want to come in and compete," said Smith. "I'm going to come in with the right mentality as I've stated and I'm a competitor. I'm going to accept my role on the team whatever is handed to me. But my job is to compete day in and day out."
A four-year starter at WVU, Smith threw for a school-record 11,662 yards with 98 TDs and only 21 INTs while completing 67% of his passes. While posting huge numbers, Smith had an interception percentage of just 1.43%. He threw for more than 300 yards 17 times and more than 400 yards 17 times.
Early Friday morning, many people wondered why the Jets didn't address the offense with a pair of first round selections on Thursday. But the Green & White stuck to their board and selected perhaps the top cornerback in the draft in Dee Milliner (No. 9 overall), one of the top overall players on their board in versatile defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson (No. 13 overall) and they waited their turn in the third and might have just landed the most talented QB in the draft — Geno Smith.
