Don't Forget About Bryce Petty in New York Jets' Long-Term QB Plans

Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick have been the only New York Jets quarterbacks in the headlines lately—Smith for his broken jaw and absence of six-to-10 weeks, and Fitzpatrick for his status as the man who will start at quarterback in Smith's stead.

Thus far, though, all the talk has centered on what the Jets will do in the immediate future. The long-term plans have been an afterthought, as Jets fans and media scramble to find the answer at quarterback for the 2015 season. But what about 2016 and beyond?

That's where rookie quarterback Bryce Petty becomes crucial. 

Is he the long-term answer to the Jets' long-term quarterback woes? No one knows. But the Jets made the right choice by gambling on the former Baylor star. 

Formation	Snaps	NFL rank
4 WR	586	1
3 WR	1,669	5
Shotgun	1,643	3
2 RB	616	24
2 TE	341	32

For starters, Petty wasn't just a flier pick. He wasn't just a player who was projected to be drafted a bit higher than he ended up being selected. Petty was—and is—a bona fide fit for the Jets system. Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey has a special affinity for spread offenses and shotgun formations.

According to ESPN Stats & Information (via ESPN.com's Rich Cimini), a vast majority of Gailey's offense is comprised of three or more wide receivers being on the field at the same time, with the quarterback lined up a couple of yards behind the center.

So all those knocks on Petty being a "product of Baylor's one-read system"? Good. The scouting reports, such as this one from NFL.com's Lance Zierlein, probably made Gailey giddy:

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Mistakes happen when forced to come off of first read. Struggles when defenders are near his feet. Yards per attempt declined in 2014 and screens were a much higher percentage of his passes. ... He needs a year or two of practice time and camp work to learn how to get through his progressions, but has the intelligence to do that.

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Of course, he'll have a learning curve on the pro scene—what quarterback doesn't? Petty won't throw 61 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in his first year as the Jets quarterback, but even the most pro-ready college quarterbacks have to endure a transition period.

As is the case with any college prospect at any position, it's not that he can't execute the high demands of his position in the NFL. It's just that he hasn't yet.

"What I was asked to do in college, it's different but it's not because I couldn't do a pro-style offense...that's just what I was told to do, so I did it," Petty said after being drafted, according to Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. "And I did it to the best of my ability."

In that regard, he'll need some time to learn. That's the luxury of having two quarterbacks in Smith and Fitzpatrick who can fight over the starting job in 2015 and who are not really tied to the team after this season. Fitzpatrick is set to be a free agent next season, and the Jets could cut Smith to recoup more than $1 million in cap space next year, according to Over The Cap. 

That gives the Jets a year to get a feel for what to expect from Petty, and they can make a decision at that point.

Most first-round rookie quarterbacks are thrown into a situation that's so high on pressure that they might as well be 10 feet underwater. Petty, on the other hand, is just lying on the beach, watching everyone else while he gets ready to take his first dip in the NFL waters.