While Geno Smith’s play dropped off significantly in several key areas during his rough 2025 season with the Las Vegas Raiders, he still ranked among the league’s best quarterbacks in one category: completion percentage.
It’s an area where Smith has been elite for years now.
With the Seattle Seahawks, Smith established himself as one of the league’s top quarterbacks in completion percentage starting in 2022, and that continued through 2025.
Here’s a look at where Smith has ranked among qualified quarterbacks (min. 300 dropbacks) in completion percentage since becoming Seattle’s starter during the 2022 season:
- 2022: 1st (69.8%)
- 2023: 12th (64.7%)
- 2024: 5th (70.4%)
- 2025: 8th (67.4%)
For context, the Jets haven’t had a quarterback who finished in the top 10 among qualified signal-callers in completion rate since Josh McCown in 2017 (67.3%, fourth). Before McCown, you have to go back to Brett Favre in 2008 (65.7%, fifth).
If Smith can rank even within the top 15-20 of completion percentage this season, which are low expectations compared to his recent rankings, the Jets should be in a strong position to succeed.
The Jets aren’t built to win high-scoring shootouts with Smith throwing for four-plus touchdowns. It’s just not the way the roster is constructed.
Smith was brought in to steady the ship. The organization has a much-improved defense and a deeper supporting cast on offense compared to last season.
Average quarterback play, assuming the defense is much better than last year, should be enough for the Jets to be a feisty, competitive team at the very least in 2026. Smith’s high completion percentage shows he can be trusted to execute the plays called for him and consistently deliver easy throws—precisely what you expect from an average quarterback.
It’s unlikely that Smith will be as effective as he was during his prime in Seattle, but it’s also unlikely that he will be as poor as he was in Las Vegas during the 2025 season. Ultimately, it’s expected that his level of play will fall somewhere between the two.
We’ve broken down several reasons Smith’s play is poised to improve drastically from the very low bar he set last season. His sustained accuracy is another reason for optimism.
The fact that Smith remained among the NFL’s top quarterbacks in completion percentage despite a major down year is quite promising. It is yet another example of his lackluster supporting cast playing a role in his statistical fall-off.
Clearly, Smith can still get the ball where it needs to go. That basic fundamental skill is something that few Jets quarterbacks have provided over the last two decades.
Smith’s accuracy alone can go a long way in helping the Jets win games.
