When the ultimate New York Jets’ homer is not on your side, you know it’s possible something isn’t going right. Making an appearance on ESPN’s Monday Countdown, Hall of Famer Joe Namath threw some shade the way of Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Joe Namath says on Monday Countdown that Fitzpatrick is not a "gifted" passer. #Jets
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) October 17, 2016
There’s some jokes that come to mind here. Maybe, Fitzpatrick is good at gifting interceptions to other teams. After all, he has thrown 10 interceptions in five starts.
More to Namath’s point. No one is going to draw the conclusion that Fitzpatrick has the arm of a Jay Cutler, Colin Kaepernick or Joe Flacco. That’s obviously not the case.
Fitzpatrick was selected in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the then St. Louis Rams. If here were a gifted passer, the Ivy League grad likely would have gone much earlier in the draft.
Though, it also must be noted that being a gifted passer doesn’t necessarily equate to on-field success. We can say without a question that Fitzpatrick’s 2015 performance was much better than anything we saw from Cutler or Kaepernick. That’s not even really up for debate.
Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick has struggled in the game management aspect of the quarterback position this season. That’s led to some calling for the Jets to go with Geno Smith after a 1-4 start to the season.
Taking on the Arizona Cardinals Monday night, the Jets need to find a way to win in a big way. Should that not happen, the call for Fitzpatrick’s benching will likely come out in droves.