Todd Bowles on the Jets Quarterback Situation

Todd Bowles made some interesting comments yesterday regarding the state of the quarterback position yesterday for the Jets after the fourth round trade up for Baylor signal caller Bryce Petty.

On potential time table he expects Petty will need to develop into a starter…

Bowles: He has a lot to learn. Like I said, we are not looking for him to be a starter right now. He has to project a whole different offensive type of scheme that he is going to. You have to see progress (there) before you can make those kind of decisions and we have not even gotten him here to get him on the field yet. So I don’t know how fast that can happen.

On the quarterback depth chart for the offseason now that the draft has concluded…

Bowles: It is the same thing how I said before of how they stack up.  Obviously, Geno is going into training camp first team and Ryan is going in as second team. Matt is going to get some reps and Bryce is going to get some reps and we are going to let them battle it out. We are going to see who makes growth and who moves forward. We are going to make the best decision we can make for the team (as far as) who is starting at quarterback.

The company line has been that Geno Smith is going to enter training camp as the number one guy. I'm not really concerned about ceremonial titles as camp opens, but the Jets haven't been clear on how firm Smith's grasp is on the starting job.

I see lot of arguments saying Geno should be the starter. I see others about how Fitzpatrick should start. I don't agree with either side. I think this should be a competition. The better guy should start.

The way I view things, players like Darrelle Revis, Sheldon Richardson, and D'Brickashaw Ferguson have proven themselves to a degree in the NFL that their starting jobs should be guaranteed. A bad camp and preseason shouldn't change that. At the quarterback position, the Jets have nobody with that kind of record.

There is Geno Smith, who has been in the league for two seasons and been one of the least effective quarterbacks in the league for two seasons. Then there is Fitzpatrick, who is on his fourth team in four seasons. If he was that good, it would stand to reason three teams would not have given up on him since 2012.

Nobody here has earned the right to be viewed as the starter or even have a leg up. I'm hoping this job is earned by the best guy. Heck, there's even an outside chance that might be Bryce Petty. Maybe he really takes to NFL concepts quickly. Back in 2012, the Seahawks entered training camp thinking Matt Flynn would be their starter. They ended up being shocked by how good Russell Wilson was.