{"id":27636,"date":"2015-02-09T15:22:32","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T19:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jetnation.com\/?p=27636"},"modified":"2022-04-01T03:08:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T07:08:01","slug":"will-bowles-gailey-address-qb-with-past-pupils-ryan-fitzpatrick-tyler-thigpen-matt-moore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/2015\/02\/09\/will-bowles-gailey-address-qb-with-past-pupils-ryan-fitzpatrick-tyler-thigpen-matt-moore\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Bowles, Gailey Address QB With Past Pupils?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Glenn Naughton (@acefan23<\/a>)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When Todd Bowles hired Chan Gailey as his offensive coordinator to\u00a0 help turn around an\u00a0offense that has seemingly been stuck in neutral for the better part of a decade, he\u00a0added a coach with\u00a0a reputation for getting the most <\/a>out of what he’s had to work with at the quarterback position.\u00a0 Barring an unforeseen blockbuster trade for an established quarterback, the Jets will likely enter the 2015 season with Geno Smith, a rookie draft pick, and perhaps a veteran or two to compete\u00a0for playing time.<\/p>\n

While some fans are sold on Marcus Mariota as the answer at quarterback if he were to fall to the Jets as some are predicting<\/a>, expecting him to be able to step in and play well in 2015 might be asking too much.\u00a0 Despite his prolific college production, some analysts have noted Oregon’s up-tempo offense and Mariota’s ability to effortlessly outrun defenders, something that won’t come so easy in the NFL, as a reason for his success.<\/p>\n

Dan Leberfeld of Jets Confidential nails it <\/a>in discussing Mariota, saying that while he may end up being a franchise quarterback,\u00a0his situation is nothing like that of Andrew Luck who came from a pro-style offense at Stanford.\u00a0\u00a0Leberfeld notes that Mariota is coming from a system with pre-determined throws being made to often wide 0pen receivers.\u00a0 Leberfeld has also suggested the possibility of a blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia Eagles at number 20 if Mariota is still on the board when the Jets\u00a0select.<\/p>\n

Which quarterback(s) the Jets may target in the draft, free agency or any potential\u00a0trade\u00a0is pure speculation at this point as teams prepare to attend the NFL combine<\/a> later this month.\u00a0 However, given the number of years Gailey and Bowles have been roaming NFL sidelines, it’s worth taking a look at a few current QB’s\u00a0they’ve seen up close\u00a0and personal who could be available once the off-season is under way.<\/p>\n

Ryan Fitzpatrick<\/h3>\n

Gailey’s most successful pupil who could be available via trade is Houston Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.\u00a0 The Harvard product played for three seasons under Gailey who was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2010-2012.\u00a0 During that time, Fitzpatrick went from inexperienced journeyman to three-year starter.\u00a0\u00a0Teamed with Gailey, Fitzpatrick averaged just over 20 touchdown passes per season, twice completed at least 60% of his passes, and threw more interceptions than touchdowns\u00a0just once.\u00a0 While none of those numbers will get Fitzpatrick a bust in Canton anytime soon, that type of production would be a significant upgrade\u00a0over Geno Smith who has completed just 57% of his passes in two NFL seasons while posting 25 touchdowns and 34 interceptions.<\/p>\n

Tyler Thigpen<\/h3>\n

One\u00a0under-the-radar option for the Jets could be the same quarterback who backed up Fitzpatrick during the 2011-2012 seasons in Tyler Thigpen.\u00a0 Thigpen, a virtual unknown to many NFL fans, has started just twelve games in his career, eleven of which were with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008 when Gailey was calling plays for Herman Edwards.<\/p>\n

During that season, the former 7th round pick of the Minnesota Vikings far outplayed his draft slot when he managed to throw for over 2,600 yards to go along\u00a0with 18 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.\u00a0 Like Fitzpatrick, the numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet, but unlike most quarterbacks the Jets have gone to battle with over the past six seasons, Thigpen protected the football and put it in the end zone more often than he put it in\u00a0the hands of opposing defenses.\u00a0 That 2008 Kansas City Chiefs team finished a paltry 2-14 as Thigpen was sacked 26 times in his twelve games of action, but Gailey did like him enough to bring him to Buffalo\u00a0as a\u00a0back up.\u00a0While Thigpen doesn’t stand much of a chance to start anywhere in 2015, an invite to Jets camp to compete for a roster spot may\u00a0 not be out of the question.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0\u00a0a defensive coach, Todd Bowles would have spent more time\u00a0going against\u00a0the previous quarterbacks on\u00a0 his roster than developing them, but\u00a0seeing them perform on a regular basis\u00a0should not be ignored.<\/p>\n

Matt Moore<\/h3>\n

In his final season with the Dolphins in 2011, Bowles watched an unlikely candidate, Matt Moore, start twelve games for Miami and put together a season that once again, would be a vast improvement for the Jets at quarterback (60.5% comp pct, 16 TD’s, 9 INT).\u00a0 For the purpose of this discussion, none of those starts would have been more important than Moore’s final three of the season. At that point, Bowles had relieved the fired Tony Sparano as the team’s head coach and would have more say in the offensive game planning.\u00a0 In those two games, the Dolphins posted a 2-1 record as Moore threw for six touchdowns and three interceptions.<\/p>\n

Nick Foles<\/h3>\n

From Miami, Bowles moved on to coach the Philadelphia Eagles secondary in 2012 where he would get a look at a potential target in any possible Jets\/Eagles draft day trade.\u00a0 Nick Foles was a rookie third round pick\u00a0that season under Andy Reid and former Jets offensive coordinator\u00a0Marty Mornhinweg.\u00a0 In Reid’s final season, Foles stepped in as the Eagles starter from weeks 9-15 and the Eagles didn’t hesitate to let him throw the ball.\u00a0 In seven starts, Foles averaged just under 38 pass attempts per game, completing 61% of his\u00a0throws\u00a0to go along with \u00a0six touchdowns and five interceptions.\u00a0 Since that time he has gone on to perform at a high level for Chip Kelly’s up-tempo offense\u00a0in Philadelphia but\u00a0speculation regarding his future with the Eagles continues to mount<\/a>.\u00a0 If the Jets were to have any interest in acquiring the\u00a0 young quarterback, Bowles’ familiarity with how he performed in a more traditional offense as a rookie could play a big part in the Jets’ evaluation.<\/p>\n

So as the Jets join the rest of the NFL in laying out the groundwork toward assembling a roster for 2015, time will tell if any current NFL quarterbacks made a\u00a0strong enough\u00a0impression during their time with both Bowles or Gailey to land them in\u00a0green and white next season.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Glenn Naughton (@acefan23) When Todd Bowles hired Chan Gailey as his offensive coordinator to\u00a0 help turn around an\u00a0offense that has seemingly been stuck in neutral for the better part of a decade, he\u00a0added a coach with\u00a0a reputation for getting the most out of what he’s had to work with at the quarterback position.\u00a0 Barring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":27632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,1337],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured-editorials","8":"category-home-slider"},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Gailey.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peLffi-7bK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27636"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58690,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27636\/revisions\/58690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}