Geno Smith works out at Jets training camp. (Anthony J. Causi)
CORTLAND — Exotic plays run during training camp normally are top secret. No texting and no tweeting allowed, lest the opposition be alerted to what’s in your offensive playbook.
But coach Rex Ryan couldn’t help himself shortly after seeing rookie quarterback Geno Smith burn his Jets defense yesterday with the kind of zone-read option play that Colin Kaepernick made lethal for the 49ers.
It occurred during the end of team drills at SUNY-Cortland. Smith took the snap, sprinted toward the left defensive end with the option to pitch out to the running back. He kept the ball instead, bursting through an opening at the corner and racing down the left sideline. He didn’t stop until he reached the end zone, doing a mock Deion Sanders touchdown dance.
“Geno ran that zone read today and I’m not so sure we tackled him,” Ryan said about an hour later when he met the media.
Through two days of training camp there hasn’t been much to separate Smith, the second-round pick from West Virginia, from Mark Sanchez, the incumbent starting quarterback who is entering his fifth season. Both have thrown the ball well and haven’t made any glaring mistakes. The only difference has been that one play when Smith showed the added dimension he brings if named the Jets starting quarterback.
This wasn’t the Wildcat offense the Jets didn’t get right all last season. This is not the quarterback lining up as a wide receiver or Tim Tebow coming in for a no-yard gain. This is the play that made Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson the weapons they were as rookies last year. It’s the play that helped get Kaepernick and the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
General manager John Idzik yesterday said it will be “a collective effort” that decides who will be the Jets starting quarterback. Idzik, Ryan, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, quarterbacks coach David Lee and various scouts will all have input.
“There’s a lot of discussions and debate that goes over these types of decisions,” Idzik said.
The new general manager was in Seattle last year when Wilson, a third-round pick in the 2012 draft, outplayed highly paid veteran Matt Flynn. Wilson went on to lead the Seahawks to an 11-5 season.
The success last year of rookie quarterbacks Wilson, RG3 and Andrew Luck also could play in Smith’s favor. The NFL is a copycat league. If the Jets want to mimic the success of the Redskins, Seahawks and 49ers, then it should give Smith an edge in the competition. Ryan was drooling over the option play yesterday.
“It was kind of cool to be able to do that,” the coach said, adding, “[Smith] has that type of athleticism that he can do some of that.”
Ryan pointed out recent rules limiting the type of vicious hits that can be delivered has made the running quarterback more of a weapon. It’s part of the reason Wilson won the job as a rookie in Seattle and Kaepernick was picked over Alex Smith in San Francisco. It’s the current craze in the NFL and the Jets could decide Geno Smith is mobile enough to turn the zone read into a weapon.
A truer look should be offered today when the Jets don full pads. If Smith continues to display his mobility and protect the football — something Sanchez still has trouble doing — then the starting job could be his.
Braylon Edwards, who was with the Seahawks last year, said Smith reminds him of Wilson.
“Russell was a maniac when it came to studying film, breaking down film and asking questions,” Edwards said. “That’s what I see potentially in Geno — how he comes in the huddle, how he asks questions in meetings.”
It will be the play on the field that ultimately decides who the starting quarterback will be — plays that create a lasting memory such as Smith’s end zone run yesterday.