Ryan Fitzpatrick Should Have Equal Opportunity to Be New York Jets QB

Depending on whom you ask, there is or there isn't a quarterback competition this summer for the New York Jets.

And that's a shame.

The Jets have been so smart with so many of their moves this offseason, going all-in to improve their secondary with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie while also fortifying their receiving corps to fit their new offensive scheme and bolstering their front seven to better execute the new(ish) defensive scheme.

Now, they run the risk of flushing it all down the hopper by making a rash decision at the game's most important position. 

It's not complicated. The Jets have two quarterbacks who should be in the running for the starting job. On one hand, you have Geno Smith, the third-year passer who has had a turbulent start to his career but whose skill set is a perfect marriage for a spread offense—which is exactly what the Jets will run under new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey.

On the other hand, you have Ryan Fitzpatrick, a veteran journeyman who had his most successful days in that very same system run by that very same coordinator when the two were together with the Buffalo Bills.

Yet on one hand, you have Gailey saying that Smith will be the starter "unless something happens—an injury, or something like that, that you don't foresee," according to Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, while on the other hand, you have head coach Todd Bowles saying, "I view it as open competition with Geno being the starter."

Huh?

"

It's his [job] to lose and it's Ryan's to take, it's Bryce's to take, it's Matt's to take. No different than any other position. 

"

What?

Bowles' comments start off as a vote of confidence in Smith and end up sounding like a presidential candidate trying to cater to everyone in America in a single debate.

It also sounds like Smith will have to play abominably in order to lose the job. But hasn't he already played poorly enough to warrant the job being up for grabs? Likewise, hasn't Fitzpatrick been successful enough to warrant some minuscule level of confidence that he could be the man for the job?

When Smith first came to New York, he and incumbent starter Mark Sanchez were alternating first-team practice reps in training camp, allowing both men an opportunity to win the job. In the end, the Jets went out of their way to line Smith up for the job, and their efforts were bolstered by a shoulder injury that landed Sanchez on injured reserve, but the initial plan was laid out to afford both men a shot at the job.

Forty-one turnovers later, shouldn't Smith be back on the hot seat? 

Span	First 7 games, 2011	Next 25 games, 2011-2012
Comp	155	504
Att	229	845
Comp%	67.7	59.6
Yds	1739	5493
YPA	7.6	6.5
TD	14	34
INT	7	32
Rate	97.8	76.5

Make no mistake; Smith could be the better fit in the offense, and at 24 years old to Fitzpatrick's 32, the long-term upside is obviously much higher for Smith than it is for Fitzpatrick.

Plus, Fitzpatrick has been no saint himself; his brightest days were in a seven-game stretch in 2011 when he compiled a 97.8 passer rating, which were followed by a 76.5 passer rating encompassing a 25-game stretch that ended his Bills career. 

Fitzpatrick and Smith both have a legitimate claim to the starting job. Fitzpatrick has been successful in Gailey's offense in the past. Smith has the tools to be as successful, if not more so, than Fitzpatrick in this offense.

Neither man should be handed anything. Both men should earn everything.