Geno Smith Impressive In Preseason Game

Geno Smith 7-of-7 with a Touchdown in Jets Return

It had been almost 10 full years, 9 years and 302 days to be exact, since Geno Smith last suited up for the New York Jets. In his 2026 preseason debut back in green and white, he offered a clear glimpse of what his second stint with the team could look like.

Smith was perfect on his lone drive of the night, going 7-of-7 for 65 yards, a 9.3 yards-per-attempt average and a 144.9 passer rating, capping a 10-play, 69-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown to tight end Jelani Woods on a rollout out of the pocket. The Jets went on to shut out the Steelers 17-0, with rookie edge David Bailey also recording a sack and the defense adding two interceptions.

Head coach Aaron Glenn didn’t hold back in his praise afterward. “Very, very efficient,” Glenn said of the drive. “He looked very comfortable, exactly what we were looking for.” Smith, for his part, stayed grounded in his own assessment. “It felt good to be out there with the guys,” he said. “You always want to start fast, so that was a good thing. But definitely a lot of room for improvement.”

A second-round pick of the Jets back in 2013, Smith struggled to find consistent footing during his first stint in New York before finally breaking through with Seattle, where he won Comeback Player of the Year in 2022 and made two Pro Bowls over six seasons. A rough 2025 season buried in a broken Raiders offense preceded a trade that brought him back to New York, and by all accounts, he’s put together an impressive training camp since arriving.

One clean drive against Pittsburgh’s backups is a small sample, and it’s worth noting the Steelers defense he faced was without several of its top starters. Still, for a quarterback who spent last season trying to squeeze anything out of one of the league’s worst offenses, a sharp, in-rhythm showing in a new system under offensive coordinator Frank Reich is an encouraging early sign.

If Smith’s training camp buzz and this kind of clean execution carry into the regular season, his current draft price could prove to be a real bargain for fantasy managers looking for a quarterback with legitimate every-week usability later in drafts.