From 2021 onward, I've been pounding the table for Geno from a skillset perspective.
He's got deadeye accuracy that cannot be taught. The types of throws he makes are something that cannot be coached into a quarterback - you either have the trait or you don't. Geno has it.
Geno was one of the most prolific pure passers that college football has ever seen. That WVU team with Geno, Tavon Austin, and Stedman Bailey was a picture perfect offensive attack. Geno, for his part, was underrated coming out in terms of his fundamentals at the spot. Natural arm, little frantic. Obviously, he was not mature enough yet and especially wasn't mature enough to handle the existential dread of being a Jet.
Everyone forgot about him while he waited for the next opportunity. Ben McAdoo tried to bench Eli Manning for him and obviously was a believer in Geno Smith and it got him fired by ownership who didn't want Eli to go out like that. I see you though, Ben. You were right.
From the moment Geno came into the game against the Rams in 2021, I saw it. He had the gene. He came in, he immediately seized the moment, and he brought that team down the field 98 yards cold on straight up arm talent.
His clock was slow, but his balls were huge. I'll take that. You could see he was a quarter-second behind where he needed to be in his reads and his pocket reflexes, but 7 years of rust will do that to a man.
2022 preseason looked better. Somehow, people wanted Jacob Eason and Drew Lock over him. That's when I knew that he'd never get a fair shake in terms of fanbase perception. Priors are a hell of a drug. Still, I myself couldn't really believe that what I was seeing would translate. Stories like this don't happen. I thought it'd fall apart and he'd be a low-tier starter.
2022 was up and down but mostly very up. No question he's the guy.
2023 was even better. I know, the stats, blah blah - but he had marked skillset growth between 2022 and 2023. He dealt with a truly unrealistic amount of pressure and had no real support anywhere, but he grew in two areas:
1. His clutch gene is beyond contestatiom now. He put this team in the W column on the merits of his arm late in over half of our wins. He had factually one of the clutchest years ever. He is now a record holder specifically for being clutch.
2. Geno was always a tick slow to react to pressure, and I thought it'd get him clocked. He has since developed his biggest weakness into a strength, because he negotiates space within collapsing pockets like few others do if 2023 isn't an outlier. Multiple times per game he'd step up, sidestep, slip out, etc. while keeping his eyes downfield and firing a laser.
Geno, in terms of the talent and skillset he shows on tape, can take you as far as you can build the team around him. It makes sense that coaches love him while box score scouts hate him.
If you like what Grubb was able to do with Penix, well... he's got a similarly-talented shot caller here.
