When Geno Smith was signed by the Chargers, I felt a ping of excitement. Not because I think Geno Smith could be the future of this franchise, but because the Chargers would finally have a reliable quarterback option sitting behind Philip Rivers. I think back to the year when Billy Volek had to come in for Rivers during the playoffs, and how the Chargers have been stuck with Kellen Clemens, who never had a passer rating over 78.8 in a single season (minimum 25 attempts). According to spotrac.com, Clemens made about $5.1 million in his 4 seasons with the Chargers, and that was a massive waste of money.
Along comes Geno Smith, who improved in every single category his second season in the NFL, but was still benched by the Jets. That’s fine. Since then, in the regular season, he’s thrown about 100 passes, completing roughly 60%, and has thrown 4 TDs to 2 INTs. Not exactly starter numbers, but in a pinch? I’ll take it.
This preseason, Geno Smith has been completing 64.5% of his passes, has 2 TDs, 1 INT, and a passer rating of 104.6. Obviously, with only 31 attempts, he has roughly one full game of playing time under his belt with the Chargers, but it is incredibly refreshing to see him pick up the scheme so quickly, and already have trust in some of the receivers, most notably Mike Williams. If Philip Rivers were to go down, I’d be fully confident that the Chargers would still be able to move the ball and score points with Geno Smith at the helm.
Cardale Jones on the other hand? 9/16 for 77 yards and a 69 quarterback rating. He has missed wide open receivers, made terrible decisions, and the offense would completely stall with him if Rivers were ever to go down. Anthony Lynn, please do the right thing and keep Geno Smith. Hell, sign him to a 3-year contract. Even if Philip Rivers decides to retire after this year, at least the Chargers wouldn’t be helpless.