New York Jets’ quarterback Geno Smith has not exactly dazzled during his first two seasons as the team’s starter and has had to deal with a lot of criticism along the way.
However, he seems to have a new fan in Brandon Marshall, who the Jets recently acquired in a trade. Marshall, who already has a history with Smith, had nothing but high regard for the young quarterback sharing these comments. (via the New York Daily News).
He has a drive and a passion that a lot of people don’t see.
This is pretty interesting because Geno and I, we started this weird relationship from the time he got drafted. He’s a Florida guy. My gym … it’s literally like three exits from him. We started this relationship, and it’s pretty cool to see how it develops off the field.
With Marshall already taking on a mentoring role, he said he plans to workout with Smith during the offseason to build on their relationship.
So now I get traded, and when this stuff starts happening, we started communicating. We both decided it would probably be cool to get together and work out for the rest of the offseason … and try to get other guys down so we can start building that chemistry.
Marshall also claimed that he doesn’t believe that there will be any competition between Smith and newly acquired quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Despite Marshall’s high opinions of Smith, the bottom line is the Jets still lack a clear star quarterback to to dig them out of the hole they currently occupy within their division.
Perhaps the presence of a high-caliber receiver in Marshall playing opposite wideout Eric Decker will be the boost Smith needs to climb up in the ranks this season.
Photo: USA Today