Geno Smith’s start to his second stint with the New York Jets has been nothing short of outstanding. While it’s just three games into the season, Smith has been playing at a very high level, even exceeding the expectations that his most optimistic defenders, such as myself, had set for him.

The biggest question entering this season was, “What version of Smith will the Jets get?” If it were the Seattle Seahawks Smith from 2022-24, every Jets fan would have signed up for that. He just happened to be coming off a disastrous 2025 campaign with the Las Vegas Raiders, though, where a myriad of outside factors contributed to his production plummeting.

Three games in, he has looked like the Seahawks version of himself, and two areas of his hot start stand out.

Deep ball success

During his time with the Seahawks, one of Smith’s calling cards was his excellent deep passing.

In 2022, Smith ranked second in completion percentage on deep passes (20+ air yards) at 47.1% while throwing the most touchdowns on those attempts (15). He also earned PFF’s best grade on deep passes at 99.2.

That continued into 2023, where he earned a 95.6 deep grade, tied for the sixth-best in the league. The same trend continued through 2024, his final year in Seattle, when he graded out very well again at a 95.1 grade from PFF, ranking fourth.

For the 2025 season, though, those numbers fell off a cliff. He ranked 31st among 32 qualified QBs in PFF’s deep grade (70.4) and deep completion percentage (31.9%), and dead last in passer rating on deep attempts (55.6).

Even accounting for his weak supporting cast in Las Vegas, it doesn’t fully explain his struggles. He absolutely could have been better last season; there is no doubt about that.

Context, though, is key. The 35-year-old was pressured on 40% of his dropbacks, and his leading wide receiver, Tre Tucker, had just 696 receiving yards. Add in offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who was fired midseason, and head coach Pete Carroll, who went one-and-done, and it’s easy to see why it was a tough spot to be in.

This season, though, his deep ball looks more like it did in 2022-24 than last season. Out of 30 qualified QBs (minimum five deep attempts), he ranks sixth in PFF’s deep grade (93.7), while leading the league in completion percentage (70.0%) and passer rating (152.1).

Two of his four passing touchdowns on the season were on deep passing attempts caught in the end zone, showing his confidence in making those throws in high-leverage situations.

Three games have been played, so this is around the time of year when trends start to emerge, but it can be hard to sift through which ones are real versus fraudulent. This one feels much more encouraging than most. That’s largely because Smith has been one of the NFL’s top deep passers before… and for three consecutive seasons.

This isn’t a new area of Smith’s game being unlocked; it’s always been there. As we are starting to see, with the right pieces around him, Smith remains a more than capable starting quarterback at 35 years old.

If he continues to throw the deep ball this well, the Jets’ offense will be in an excellent position.

Success under pressure

Last year, one of the biggest problems with Smith’s game was his struggles under pressure. That was amplified because he was pressured on an absurd 40% of his dropbacks.

One of the primary reasons for optimism entering this season, though, was that he remained a highly competent quarterback when he was placed in a clean pocket.

Here is a look at the discrepancy:

Clean pocket:

  • 312 dropbacks
  • 83.0 PFF grade
  • 81.9% adjusted completion rate
  • 7.4 yards per attempt
  • +0.24 EPA per dropback
  • 2.8% big-time throw rate
  • 2.5% turnover-worthy play rate

Under pressure:

  • 212 dropbacks
  • 29.3 PFF grade
  • 63.8% adjusted completion rate
  • 5.3 yards per attempt
  • -0.71 EPA per dropback
  • 3.2% big-time throw rate
  • 6.5% turnover-worthy play rate
  • 25.9% sack rate

In a clean pocket, his 81.9% adjusted completion rate ranked seventh among 33 qualified quarterbacks, sandwiched between last year’s AFC and NFC champions, Sam Darnold and Drake Maye.

With the Jets, Smith was expected to face pressure less frequently, emphasizing his success from a clean pocket. That has happened, as Smith’s pressure rate has dropped to 34.5% compared to 40% last year, but that’s not the biggest difference leading to Smith’s improved play. It’s been his success under pressure.

Smith has completed 70.4% of his pressured passes, best among 30 qualified QBs by over 12 percentage points compared to the closest player. He is also third with 8.9 yards per attempt on those throws, trailing only Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

Smith can still improve at minimizing sacks, however. He is tied for fourth in the league with nine sacks taken, while his 22% pressure-to-sack rate is third-worst.

However, the pressure itself has largely not been Smith’s fault. According to PFF, though, he is responsible for just 12.8% of his pressures this season, which ranks 24th among 35 qualified QBs.

Overall, even with the sack issues, Smith’s performance under pressure is a highly encouraging development, especially considering where he was last season. The hope entering this year was that better protection would give Smith more clean-pocket looks, which he thrived on last year. He has had more of those so far, but at the end of the day, to compete consistently in today’s NFL, QBs need to hold their own under pressure, and Smith is doing just that.

If final scores were based solely on quarterback play, there is a case to be made that the Jets should be 3-0 right now. Smith has done everything expected of him, and then some.

There is still a lot left to prove, but Smith’s resurgence looks increasingly believable.