NFL teams
Jon Gruden, ESPN Staff Writer 11y

Geno Smith's NFL potential

NFL, NFL Draft

For the Jon Gruden QB Camp series, we wanted Insiders to see a little more. So we dispatched ESPN.com NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas to Tampa, Fla., to sit in with the coach and squeeze out a little more insight. This is what Gruden told him.

When Geno Smith came in for QB camp, there were a couple of big questions to address in assessing his value.

For one, you start with the question of production. With Smith, the one I get asked is this: "Is this guy simply a product of a system?" I get it. Hey, those big numbers cut both ways. They might look good, but they also make scouts suspicious. Does the system create the quarterback, or is the quarterback maximizing the system? I mean, 42 touchdowns and six picks?

Here's what I see.

Maybe the system is great, but I don't know of a quarterback who has had as many decision-making opportunities as Smith had. And you know what? He made the right decisions. For instance: Every running play that was called, he had the option to hand the ball off, but he could also check out of the play and throw it. There were always options.

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