Does Off-Field Friendship Between NFL QBs and WRs Lead to On-Field Success?

Geno Smith and Brandon Marshall have their last, best hope in each other.

Smith is an embattled third-year veteran who made a bad situation worse with questionable decision-making on and off the field. He needs a great season to hang on to his career as a starting NFL quarterback, and to have that great season, he first needs a great summer.

Marshall is a supremely talented veteran wideout who overcame well-documented mental-health struggles to reach the peak of his profession. After struggling through injuries and an imploding Chicago Bears locker room in 2014, though, Marshall found himself dealt on a discount to a desperate New York Jets team.

If Marshall can be the do-everything go-to receiver Smith's never had, and Smith can get Marshall the ball without derailing the offense in the process, these two could be each other's best friends.

That's why they're hoping the reverse is true: According to the New York Post's Brian Costello, Marshall moved into Smith's New Jersey home to help forge that brothers-in-arms bond.

But does it really work that way? Can on-field performance really improve when a quarterback and receiver have an off-field friendship? Can an off-field friendship bloom during a couple of months of sharing protein shakes in the breakfast nook? Just how important is chemistry to a receiver-quarterback relationship anyway?

"I think it's everything," former NFL quarterback Brad Johnson told Bleacher Report. Johnson made two Pro Bowls, won a Super Bowl and spent time with four different teams in his 15-season career. "You have to respect each other's talents and understand what you're both good at."

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Quarterbacks and receivers have to learn all the little ins and outs of each other's games. A host of variables and subtleties factor into the connection between thrower and catcher: whether the quarterback is stronger at timing routes and anticipation or is more of a see-it, throw-it player; whether the receiver is a body catcher or likes to extend his arms. Everything from how quickly the receiver finds the ball out of his break to how fast it spins off the quarterback's hand factors into whether that 3rd-and-7 pass moves the sticks or bounces off the turf.

"In Geno's situation, it's a little different," said Shaun King, a six-year NFL veteran and current analyst for NBC Sports who also gave Bleacher Report his perspective. "The criticism of him has been so public." As a veteran, King said, Marshall can help guide Smith through the gauntlet of vitriol the New York media have thrown down.

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"I know if I had been criticized to the level Geno has," King said, "I'd be sensitive, and a little defensive. That's just human nature. It's smart of Brandon to show Geno, 'I see your situation, I understand it, I'll be there for you, you ARE talented.'"

On a team and in a city where almost no one has had Smith's back, Marshall being there for Smith could be huge.

"Put yourself in his shoes," King said. "It might be hard to trust people. Everything that's gone wrong with the New York Jets has been blamed on you."

Trust, Johnson said, is what on-field chemistry is all about. When the quarterback knows the receiver consistently runs the right route against different coverages and runs to the appropriate depth, that builds invaluable trust. Miscommunications lead to incompletions and interceptions—which almost always reflect back on the quarterback.

"You have to be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there," Derrick Mason told Bleacher Report. Like Marshall, Mason is a former first-team All-Pro who garnered two Pro Bowl nominations and had stints with four different teams, including the Jets. "That's what it boils down to with quarterbacks and receivers. If the route calls for you to run 12 yards, you've gotta run 12 yards. If it's zone coverage and you run in the zone hole, instead of seeing man, he knows he can trust you."

"I played with Cris Carter and Randy Moss," Johnson said and subsequently rattled off a long list of legendary pass-catchers he'd thrown to. "Keenan McCardell, Keyshawn Johnson, Irving Fryar, Larry Centers, Tim Brown, Andre Reed." Johnson chuckled as he realized just how long the list was. His favorite out of all of them, though, was Chris Walsh.

Who?

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"He was probably our fourth- or fifth-best receiver on the Minnesota Vikings," Johnson said. "We were roommates on the road. We were best friends. Did he deserve to start? Probably not." But the "hours and hours" the two spent in conversation about the details of the game, having dinner together and "just hanging out" gave each a unique understanding of how the other played the game.

"You don't have to be best friends," Johnson said. "You don't. But what you have to have is respect. A big thing for me with receivers was, I would ask a guy after a play if he was open. I wasn't worried about whether he could beat the coverage; a lot of guys take that as a personal statement." At this, Johnson laughingly remembered to add Terrell Owens to the list of elite receivers he'd played with.

"They may say, 'Yeah, I'm open every time, I'm open every time,' but, well, you're not," Johnson said. "I can go back on film and see, and if you're not, well, then you're lying to me. I want to know, as a quarterback, if I'm reading the coverage correctly. You tell me you were open and you weren't, well, maybe now I don't trust you. Now, I don't know if we're on the same page."

Johnson said receivers often assert that even if they're covered, they can make an individual play. That's where chemistry, trust and understanding come in: If the quarterback knows what the receiver wants to do in a given situation, and he trusts the wideout to follow through and make the play, he'll take more of those blind-faith shots in that receiver's direction.

"But if you're being double-covered and you're making up stuff just to get more balls..." Johnson trailed off. "I know you have confidence, that's not the problem. I believe in you, I believe you can catch the ball. But I'm not going to force it into coverage." Mason, for his part, agreed: Confidence is great, but tape doesn't lie—and losing credibility with the quarterback is an absolute no-no.

"If the quarterback has any hesitation with throwing you the ball, that's not good," Mason warned. "I would never go to Steve [McNair] or Joe [Flacco], and say 'Listen, throw me the ball, because I was open.' I wouldn't want to put them in a position where then on the next play, they would try and force me the ball."

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"That relationship and trust is built over thousands of throws in practice and in games," Johnson said.

Spending off-hours together can help forge that bond, Johnson agreed, but only if it's real. Loudly proclaiming you're going out to dinner together just to get stories like this one written isn't going to get it done when toe meets leather.

"That stuff only comes over time," King agreed. "To have that sort of unspoken eye contact, you know they're going to be where they're supposed to be kind of thing, that only happens when you play together with someone over a period of time."

Johnson felt he always had the trust of his receivers—not just the Hall of Famers, but all the receivers he played with—because he took the time to talk out every play with them, after practice or on the sideline, talk to them off the field.

"Geno's doing it with Brandon Marshall," Johnson said, "but he needs to be doing it with all his guys, not just one guy. There's some guy that's going to make the practice squad—and you need to play golf with that guy, you need to go to lunch with that guy. A one-man band is not what we want." 

Johnson pointed out that a trusting relationship doesn't just enable good plays to happen, but it also keeps a receiver's motivation up even when the quarterback isn't going his way or the receiver makes a mistake. If a receiver doesn't trust his quarterback, if he really is open and the ball never comes—or comes but is uncatchable, or hangs him out to dry over the middle—that's when receivers get disheartened and stop going all-out every play.

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If the Jets are going to take back the AFC East, Smith is going to have to have all the help he can get from every offensive weapon he's got: Marshall, Eric Decker, second-round rookie Devin Smith, the tight ends, the running backs, everyone. If he can get them all fighting all-out for him on every down, Geno and the Jets just might have a chance.

"It's going to take time," Mason said. "Some days are going to be better than others. But if they spend the time they need to after practice, in the meeting room, or staying outside an extra 20-30 minutes going over each individual route, then I think it'll work out."

"I've gone on record as saying Geno's going to be Comeback Player of the Year," King said. "I can put together game tape of Geno Smith looking phenomenal. The problem is, his lows have been really really low, and they've mostly been on nationally televised games, so everyone has seen them." King thinks new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey is a much better fit for Smith's strengths than his predecessor, Marty Mornhinweg. Both the talent around Smith and his chemistry with them should be greatly improved over 2014.

All that's left for Smith and Marshall to do is to have the training camp of their lives—on and off the field.

Ty Schalter is a National NFL Analyst with Bleacher Report, and member of the Pro Football Writers of America. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Catch him on B/R Radio on SiriusXM, and follow him on Twitter: @tyschalter