As many Americans get ready to settle in for a night of family and fun to celebrate the countries 250th birthday, one that will undoubtedly be topped off with a mostly red, white and blue fireworks display, Jets fans can only wonder if the 2026 version of the team will be able to provide any fireworks of their own on offense.

After trading for quarterback Geno Smith this offseason, the Jets are in a familiar position.  They’re coming off of yet another season in which their quarterback play was flat out embarrassing.  From Justin Fields regularly struggling to surpass fifty passing yards to Brady Cook appearing to considerably regress from one week to the next.  Calling the Jets a dumpster fire at quarterback last season would be generous.  And so now Geno Smith makes his return.

Smith was plenty bad himself last season, throwing seventeen interceptions, the most he’s thrown since his rookie season as a Jet when he threw 21.  But in fairness to Smith, the Raiders parted ways with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly for, among other things, reportedly calling plays on game day that he hadn’t installed during the week.  That alone is enough to expect a quarterback to fail miserably.  Add to that the fact that Smith was without an offensive line or any quality pass catchers and you can give him the benefit of the doubt.

After all, this is a quarterback who has thrown for 4,000 yards twice in the past four years.  Something no Jets quarterback has done since Joe Namath did it the one and only time for the franchise back in 1967.  Can Smith recapture some of what worked for him with the weapons he’ll be working with?

If he can’t, it would be eerily reminiscent of the many Jets quarterbacks in the past whose bar was set quite low, hoping for just “league average” play.  Last season it was Justin Fields, before that it was Aaron Rodgers, prior to that it was a young Sam Darnold nearly being coached out of the NFL by Adam Gase.  Even with the rare exception of a Jets quarterback exceeding expectations (2015 Ryan Fitzpatrick), he followed up the following season with a tremendous thud.

So now the Jets find themselves once again, wondering if the new quarterback can be somewhere in the neighborhood of the 15th-20th best signal caller in the league.  Smith doesn’t only have a proven offensive coordinator in Frank Reich, who has run multiple top 10 offenses, but plenty of targets to choose from.

Garrett Wilson is an established 1,000 yard receiver who has produced with some of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.  First-round receiver Omar Cooper is expected to see tons of action in year one as he teams with Wilson and emerging former second-round pick AD Mitchell.

The ground game should be more than adequate with an offensive line made up of last year’s stud rookie Armand Membou at right tackle, Olu Fashanu on the  other side and Joe Tippmann at right guard.  If Dylan Parham can replicate his play last year with the Raiders, the Jets O-line will be a well above average group.

Using a first-round pick on freak athlete Kenyon Sadiq to play tight end to pair with Mason Taylor should result in some of the most productive tight end play the Jets have had in years.

Whether or not everything will fall into place remains to be seen, but even given all of the Jets’ past failures, it would be hard to blame Jets fans who are expecting plenty of fireworks across the country tonight, and at MetLife Stadium in the coming months.

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