Who Should the Jets Start at Quarterback in 2015?

The Jets have three players who could be the team’s starting quarterback this season. Those three quarterbacks are Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bryce Petty. The goal of every team in the NFL is to win Super Bowls. None of the three quarterbacks listed above give the Jets any chance of winning the Super Bowl this year. So then there are two questions the Jets must ask themselves. The first question is, “Can any of these three guys guide us a Super Bowl in the future?” The second is, “Who gives us the best opportunity to win this season?”

The Better Veteran Quarterback

First, before looking at rookie quarterback Bryce Petty, the Jets must decide between their two veteran quarterbacks. Neither Geno Smith nor Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the Jets a chance of winning a Super Bowl this season or in the future. Some Jets fans would argue that Smith is only twenty-four years old and deserves at least one more season of action before judgment is passed on him. Generally, I am a firm believer in giving quarterbacks three years before passing judgment on them. However, it is clear from watching his first two seasons that Smith does not deserve to be a starting quarterback in the NFL and that he will never develop into a championship winning quarterback. As a starter, Smith has a career record of 11-18. He has a career completion percentage of 58% and a career touchdown to interception ratio of 25-34. Smith is an inaccurate thrower who makes bad decisions. Recently, he was ranked as the worst starting quarterback in the NFL by an anonymous ESPN poll of coaches, general managers and executives. It may be tough to give up on a second round draft pick after only two years, but the Jets must cut their losses and move on. Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the Jets a better chance of winning games this season than Geno Smith. However, with that being said, Fitzpatrick still does not give the Jets any chance at winning a Super Bowl. Since neither guy gives the Jets a chance of winning a Super Bowl now or in the future, the Jets should go with the player who gives them the best shot at winning football games and that player is Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has a career completion percentage of 60% and a career touchdown to interception ratio of 123-101. Fitzpatrick has more touchdown passes per game, fewer sacks per game and a higher completion percentage than Smith. However, neither guy is a good option at starting quarterback. Fitzpatrick’s stats are still below average and his career record as a starting quarterback is 33-55-1. The Jets have two below average veteran options. Fitzpatrick is just the better of two bad choices at starting quarterback.

Bryce Petty

The Jets should start Bryce Petty at quarterback. Smith and Fitzpatrick will never be capable of winning a Super Bowl for the Jets. While Fitzpatrick should start over Smith, he is not a good option at quarterback. The Jets will not make the playoffs with Fitzpatrick. The Jets used a fourth round pick on Petty in the 2015 draft. Since neither Smith nor Fitzpatrick will ever lead the Jets to a Super Bowl, they should start Petty in order to evaluate him. Petty played his college football at Baylor University. In his two years as a college starter, he completed 63% of his passes and had a touchdown to interception ratio of 62-10. Obviously, it would be more difficult to put these numbers up against NFL defenses. Petty may not be ready to be an NFL quarterback, but the best way to learn is by playing. The Jets should not waste a season by losing with Fitzpatrick or Smith. They may not win with Petty, but they should at least use this year to assess him. Petty is an unknown since he has never played an NFL game. While it’s unlikely, he could possibly lead the Jets to the playoffs this season. The Jets have a good team outside the quarterback position. The Jets have a top notch defense and a strong run game. If Petty is good, they could make the playoffs. It comes down to the fact that neither Smith nor Fitzpatrick will ever win the Jets a Super Bowl. Rather than waste another year on either of them, the Jets should play Petty so that they can evaluate whether or not he will ever be capable of winning a Super Bowl.

What do you think? Who should the Jets start? If you want comment, drop me a line, swing by my site http://the-topic.sportsblog.com/ or follow me on Twitter @The_Topic321 https://twitter.com/The_Topic321, and keep coming to Clutch Commentary for your sports news.

Caelum Maloney is a lead sportswriter for The Topic.