New York’s Change at the Quarterback Position Won’t Change Much of Anything

The New York Jets have gotten fed up with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and they decided to make a quarterback change. Fitzpatrick is now out, and Geno Smith is the No. 1 quarterback.

Fitzpatrick has really had an incredibly bad start to the year, leading the National Football League with 11 interceptions. To make matters worse, this comes after a drama-filled off-season in which the New York offense practically begged the front office to bring him back following a phenomenal year in 2015, and he upped the ante even more by threatening to retire.

The Jets have tied for the league’s worst record at 1-5 after suffering a 27-3 beating at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals Monday night, and they went with Smith late in the second half after benching Fitzpatrick. He only played in one offensive series in Arizona, it ended with an interception, and he’s been someone that has been very abysmal in his career since he arrived in 2013.

There’s an old saying that goes, “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.” Usually when teams start hopping from signal-caller to signal-caller midway through the season, things either don’t end well or weren’t going well, to begin with, and the team chemistry on offense can become severely damaged. This case likely won’t be any different, considering Geno’s a career 57 percent passer with more interceptions (36) than touchdowns thrown (27).

That being said, Geno has been waiting for this moment for a while; he’d made waves after saying before a game that he was “antsy” to play, and he’s got some guys in his corner, especially wide receiver Brandon Marshall. If he’s really overcome adversity and grown up in the way that Marshall has claimed, then maybe the Jets will be alright. However, “growing up” and “overcoming adversity” will only get you so far in this league. It’s highly likely we haven’t seen the last of Ryan Fitzpatrick this year.

Glen Thomas