The New York Jets have turned back to one-time franchise savior Geno Smith ahead of their match-up against the on-the-rise Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Smith - given the keys to the franchise at the beginning of the season before failing in wholly spectacular fashion and ceding hit starting spot to veteran Mike Vick - will have the final four games of this season to prove to general manager John Idzik and owner Woody Johnson the thing that he has, thus far into his career, been unable to prove: that he is a franchise, Super Bowl-winning, quarterback.
So, when the expected happens and Smith fails once and for all and coach Rex Ryan is eventually let go, where are Idzik, Johnson and the organization to turn next? The first order of business will be to find a real franchise quarterback, and of the top-of-the-draft possibilities, Jameis Winston of Florida State University and Marcus Mariota of the University of Oregon are the cream of the expected crop.
But which of the two best fits the needs of the Jets?
Kevin Kernan of The New York Post thinks that Winston would be the perfect player to rejuvenate and revitalize New York's championship hopes:
"It's Geno or bust now and bust is not a bad thing if it brings Winston to the Jets in the next draft. That's exactly what Jets fans should be rooting for - that the team continues to lose Monday night at MetLife Stadium against the Dolphins and winds up picking Winston in the draft, despite his heavy baggage," Kernan wrote.
Winston is widely regarded as one of the most talented players in all of college football. He's also been beset by controversy and drama this year thanks in large part to a continuous string of idiotic decisions, from stealing crab legs to screaming obscenities in the FSU student union. He has gone from a surefire first-round pick to a player some are wary of drafting at all, according to NBC Sports' Michael David Smith.
But when it comes to football, he's got size, strength and a proven track record as a winner:
"Winston is big and strong in a Ben Roethlisberger kind of way, and keeps his composure on the field - for the most part. Character counts in a big way in football, and the hope is Winston has learned from his many mistakes and terrible decisions and that his character improves, but like everything else in the NFL, this is a football decision. It always comes down to football," Kernan wrote.
Winston is a leader and he is a prodigious talent on the football field. But he's also a questionable character who is entering the league at a time when the atmosphere surrounding the NFL is particularly charged thanks to controversies involving players like Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson.
New York, should their season continue on it's current trajectory - they are currently 2-9 and in last place in the AFC East - are almost assured a top-5 pick in next year's NFL Draft. Winston, should he check out positively in the pre-draft process, might in fact be the perfect fit for their needs.
