Todd Bowles is correct: You can win in the NFL without a franchise quarterback.
It’s just that you can’t win a Super Bowl without a franchise quarterback.
Maybe in a different era you could. Not in this quarterback-driven era.
So, in the absence of a franchise quarterback, you go out and you build up the team around the quarterback you have.
This is what Rex Ryan is doing in Buffalo around Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel — with LeSean McCoy, Percy Harvin and Charles Clay all joining Sammy Watkins — and it is what Mike Maccagnan and Todd Bowles are doing now — Brandon Marshall, Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine, James Carpenter — around Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Smith is the starter entering training camp for three reasons:
He is the incumbent. Fitzpatrick is rehabbing a broken left leg suffered in December. Marcus Mariota is not a Jet.
The Jets need to make Mariota a Jet.
No one can predict with certainty whether he can make the transition from the spread offense to the NFL and become a franchise quarterback. But with the right coaching, he will have a chance.
No one around the league had seen anything from Smith that tells anyone he can be a franchise quarterback, and Fitzpatrick is a journeyman insurance policy.
Bowles is taking the right approach, saying the only thing he can at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, and taking the pressure off Smith at the same time.
Mariota, given time, could make the Jets Super Bowl contenders in 2016, when Tom Brady is another year older.
“You would love to have a great quarterback, but with 32 teams in the league, you’re not going to have 32 franchise quarterbacks,” Bowles said. “That’s just fact. You can name five [franchise quarterbacks], maybe 10 if you want to stretch it to two types of tiers. There are 12 playoff spots. There are not going to be 12 franchise quarterbacks who are in the playoffs.
“There are different ways to skin a cat. So you’ve got to try to win in different ways. Not that your quarterback is bad. You play with the quarterback you have, and you limit the mistakes. And as long as he’s confident in what he’s doing and understands and doesn’t lose the game and he’s smart with the football, you have a chance to win the ball game.
“You don’t have to win with a franchise quarterback, because not everybody does it, and every year, there are playoff games and playoff teams that don’t have franchise quarterbacks. So you have to play team football and understand what your team is and try to win with that team that you have. As long as you understand your team’s personality and they play together and you have enough talent, you’ll go far.”
Both Ryan and Bowles should be able to field elite defenses, or close to them. But you can’t make a living in this NFL winning 17-14 or 20-17.
“It’s a team game that gets you there,” Bowles said. “The quarterback does have to make plays. He’s the face of the franchise. He’s got the whole burden on his shoulders, good and bad. That’s understandable going in. But there are a lot of positions and various areas that can help that quarterback out, too. To put it all on his shoulders, in our situation, would be wrong. Because it doesn’t fall on his shoulders. We’ve got to get better all around, and hopefully, the quarterback gets better, too, and that’ll enhance everybody’s play.”
Go get Marcus Mariota, and go chase a Super Bowl. The playoffs are nice. For the Jets and long-suffering Jets fans, not enough. Not even after 4-12.