Geno Smith’s first season back with the Jets has been enough to keep him in the middle of the league’s quarterback conversation, even if the team around him has gone nowhere fast.
Heading into Week 9, Smith was ranked as the 13th-best NFL quarterback. That puts him one spot ahead of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and one spot behind Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Through eight games, Smith has thrown for 1,913 yards with 12 touchdown passes and three interceptions. He’s also completing 69.0% of his passes.
The Jets, meanwhile, are sitting at 2-6. Their season has already included wins over the Tennessee Titans in Game 1 and the Cleveland Browns in Game 5, along with losses to the Green Bay Packers in Game 2, the Detroit Lions in Game 3, the Chicago Bears in Game 4, the New England Patriots in Game 6, the Miami Dolphins in Game 7 and the Las Vegas Raiders in Game 8.
New York brought Smith in from Las Vegas during the offseason, and that move came after a rough year with the Raiders. Last season, Smith led the NFL with 17 interceptions in 15 games.
He hasn’t played his way into danger with the Jets this year, but with the team headed for the playoffs, the focus could soon shift to rookie Cade Klubnik. The idea is simple: if the season is going nowhere, Aaron Glenn might as well see what the youngster can do.
Klubnik’s preseason work was uneven. He went 21 of 34 for 190 yards, with no touchdown passes and one interception.
His stock took a hit after the 2025 college football season, when he and Clemson struggled. Entering that year, Klubnik was projected to be one of the top picks in the 2026 draft. Instead, the Jets landed him with the 110th overall pick.
Even after that slide, Klubnik still carries plenty of confidence. He finished the 2025 college season with 2,943 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, and his Clemson career closed with 10,123 passing yards and 73 touchdown passes.
Smith, though, is still the one under center for now, and the Jets’ next test comes against the Kansas City Chiefs. All signs point to New York falling to 2-7.
Across his NFL career, Smith has 24,081 passing yards, 136 touchdown passes and 92 interceptions. Before this season, he had 22,168 passing yards, 124 touchdown passes and 89 interceptions.
Smith’s best years came in Seattle, where he put together strong seasons in 2022 and 2023. He made the Pro Bowl both years and won the 2022 AP Comeback Player of the Year award.
The bigger picture in New York remains bleak. The Jets are 5-18 in the Glenn era, and they still haven’t won a game in the AFC East.
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