Entering the 2026 season, there are mixed opinions regarding New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith.

Some believe he will bounce back and return to his level of play with the Seattle Seahawks, while others believe his atrocious 2025 season with the Las Vegas Raiders was the beginning of his decline.

It’s safe to say that his head coach with both the Raiders and the Seahawks, Pete Carroll, firmly believes that Smith has a lot left in the tank.

“He is just as fiery as you can get,” Carroll told the New York Post. “Sometimes he has run into some problems because his competitiveness gets the best of him, and he has to chill out so he can get back to balance. For the most part, with us, that was never a problem. But it was a concern. Geno knew it, I knew it, and he handled it really well.” 

With the Raiders, he led the league in interceptions (17) while his overall play fell off in nearly every notable metric. But context is everything. He was playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines and lacked a reliable supporting cast in the passing game.

Coaching was also an issue. Las Vegas’ offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, was fired in-season, while Caroll himself went one-and-done following a three-win campaign.

The 74-year-old acknowledged that Smith’s surroundings certainly played a role in his 2025 struggles.

“It was not his fault with the Raiders, either,” Caroll said. “We weren’t good enough, and we didn’t prepare him well enough for the rigors of the season. His talent showed.” 

It’s hard to find someone more optimistic than Carolll in the 35-year-old. He believes that Smith could do just as much with the Jets in 2026 as he did with the Seahawks in 2022.

“I think his chances are just as good as they were coming out of Seattle — they have to have a good team around him, just like every quarterback does,” Carroll said. “I’ve had pretty good success with quarterbacks, and Geno was as good as any of them. He can do it. If he’s had a good offseason — I don’t know how he would do otherwise — then he’ll be ready for the challenge. He isn’t going to run the whole thing by himself.” 

If Caroll turns out to be correct, the Jets could be surprising contenders for a playoff spot.