Geno Smith Eugene Cyril Smith III ( born October 10 , 1990 ) , better known as Geno Smith , is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was selected by the Jets in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft . He played college football for West Virginia University . Early years . Smith was born in Miami , Florida and is the son of Geno Smith , Jr . and Tracey Sellers . His great - uncle Danny Smith was a record breaking All - American hurdler at Florida State University , and his cousin Melvin Bratton was a star running back at the University of Miami in the mid - 1980s . He was admitted to Norland Middle School ' s magnet program , which dedicated two hours a day to arts instruction . He would go on to attend Miramar High School where he was coached by former Mountaineer Damon Cogdell . As a junior he passed for 2 , 200 yards 25 touchdowns and three interceptions and was named Second Team All - State QB . He was also named Second Team All - Broward County as an athlete for 2007 . Following his junior year he was invited to the prestigious Elite 11 Quarterback Camp in Aliso Viejo , California . During Smith ' s senior season he led his team to the state 6A semi - finals and completed 205 of 338 passes for 3 , 089 yards and 30 touchdowns while also rushing for over 300 yards . He was an All - State First Team in Florida Class 6A and a Parade All - American . He was also the No . 1 rated player in Broward County according to the Miami Herald and South Florida Sun Sentinel and finished No . 2 in the voting for Mr . Florida . He finished his career as the third - best passer in Broward County history , and was named to the ESPN Top 150 prospects list . He chose to attend West Virginia over offers from Florida State , South Florida , Boston College and Alabama . College career . Smith attended West Virginia University , where he played for the West Virginia Mountaineers football team from 2009 to 2012 . He was an English major . Freshman season . Smith saw some action his freshman year , being the backup behind senior Jarrett Brown . His first snap in a regular season game came against Auburn University ; he completed 5 of 8 passes for 50 yards and one interception . He would see action again against Syracuse , Marshall , Louisville , and in the Gator Bowl against Florida State . In his freshman year at West Virginia University , Smith completed 32 of 49 passes for 309 yards , throwing one touchdown and one interception , and rushing for 7 yards on 17 attempts as the backup to starting quarterback Brown . He finished his freshman season with an 81 . 1 quarterback rating . Sophomore season . 2010 was Smith ' s first year as the starting quarterback . For the year , he completed 241 of 372 passes for 2763 yards , throwing 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions , and rushing for 217 yards on 106 attempts . He got his first start in the season opener against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers . He completed 20 of 27 passes for 216 yards , two touchdowns , and one interception . He led his team to a 31 - 0 victory over the Chanticleers . With the Mountaineers down 21 - 6 against in - state rival , Marshall University , Smith led his team to a 4th quarter comeback victory . Smith led the first drive from the WVU 4 - yard line . With help from senior running back Noel Devine , the Mountaineers cut Marshall ' s lead to 8 points . After the WVU defense stopped Marshall , a punt put the Mountaineers near their own end zone again , starting from the 2 - yard line . After completing 9 of 13 passes and scrambling for 20 yards , Smith found tight end Will Johnson in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown . With Marshall still leading 21 - 19 , Bill Stewart elected to go for the two - point conversion . Smith completed a pass to wide receiver Jock Sanders in the back of the end zone for a two - point conversion . The Mountaineers went on to win the game in overtime by a score of 24 - 21 . Smith finished the game completing 32 of 45 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown . He rushed for 13 yards on 14 attempts . After two games , Smith lead the Big East in passing yards and passing efficiency . In a 31 - 17 victory over Maryland , Smith completed 19 of 29 pass attempts for 268 passing yards and four touchdowns . Two of his touchdowns were to Tavon Austin , and two were to Stedman Bailey . Smith won his first Big East Offensive Player of the Week for this performance . In WVU ' s first meeting ever with LSU , the Mountaineers lost at Tiger Stadium by a score of 20 - 14 . Smith completed 14 of 29 pass attempts for 119 yards , two touchdowns , and one interception . He rushed for 10 yards on five attempts . Smith threw for 220 yards and ran for 19 yards in West Virginia ' s 49 - 10 win over UNLV . It was the most points WVU had scored since playing Connecticut in 2007 . In an overtime loss to Connecticut , Smith was 22 for 34 , throwing for 160 yards . He had a season high of 64 rushing yards . This was the first game all season Smith did not throw a touchdown pass . The loss was the first time Connecticut had ever beaten West Virginia . Smith tied his record for touchdowns in a game in a 37 - 10 win over Cincinnati , where he was 15 for 25 , throwing for 174 yards , four touchdowns , and one interception . The win came after a two - game losing streak . It was the first time the Mountaineers beat Cincinnati since 2007 . Smith won his second Big East Offensive Player of the Week for this performance . Junior season . With the arrival of new WVU football head coach Dana Holgorsen and a new passing - based offensive system , Smith saw his passing numbers improve drastically . In the fourth game of the season against the # 2 LSU Tigers , Smith set school records for completions ( 38 ) , attempts ( 65 ) and passing yards ( 463 ) in the 47 - 21 loss on September 24 . With 372 passing yards against the Cincinnati Bearcats on November 12 , Smith tied a Big East record with his seventh 300 - yard game of the season . He tied the record that was set in 2007 by Brian Brohm of the Louisville Cardinals . Set single - season school records for pass completions ( 291 ) , attempts ( 448 ) and yards ( 3 , 741 ) on November 25 against rival Pitt Panthers . He broke the records that were held by Marc Bulger in 1998 . In West Virginia ' s 70 - 33 rout of the Clemson Tigers at the 2012 Orange Bowl Smith tied three individual bowl records : most touchdown passes ( six ) , most touchdowns overall ( seven ) and total points ( 42 ) . Smith ' s 401 yards passing broke Tom Brady ' s Orange Bowl record of 396 that he set in 2000 . Smith , who was also the game ' s MVP , also became the Big East single season passing leader with 4 , 379 yards breaking Brian Brohm ' s record that he set in 2007 . Senior season . With his performance against the Marshall Thundering Herd ( 32 – 36 , 323 yards , 4 TDs ) on opening day , Smith became the school ' s all - time leader for career completions and touchdown passes , passing Marc Bulger ' s totals from 1996 – 1999 . In Smith ' s game ( 34 – 39 , 411 yards , 5 TDs ) against James Madison ( second game of the year ) , Smith became the all - time leader for career passing yards , passing Bulger ' s total of 8 , 191 yards . Against Baylor in a 70 – 63 win , he threw for 656 yards and 8 TDs with 45 completions ( all three Mountaineer records ) , and only six incompletions . In his final regular season game , Smith completed 23 – of – 24 passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns in West Virginia ' s 59 – 10 victory against Kansas . He set the WVU consecutive pass completions record with 21 , spanning the first fourth quarters , and broke the Big 12 record of 20 previously held by Missouri ' s Chase Daniel in 2008 . Smith ' s completion percentage of 95 . 8 tied the NCAA record ( min . 20 attempts ) and also set a Conference mark . Statistics . Regular season and postseason Professional career . Pre - draft . Smith received an invitation to the Scouting Combine where his performance was well received by scouts who highlighted his athleticism , strong arm and accuracy but noted his ball placement needed improvement . Smith was widely regarded as one of the top prospects alongside EJ Manuel of Florida State University . In the days leading up to the draft , several NFL teams expressed interest in Smith , including the Kansas City Chiefs ( No . 1 selection ) , Jacksonville Jaguars ( No . 2 selection ) , Oakland Raiders ( No . 3 selection ) , Philadelphia Eagles ( No . 4 selection ) , Buffalo Bills ( No . 8 selection ) , and New York Jets ( No . 13 selection ) . New York Jets . Draft and signing . On April 25 , 2013 , Smith was in attendance for the first round of the draft as many analysts and scouts expected him to be taken that night however he was not selected ; his counterpart , EJ Manuel , was the lone quarterback taken in the first round . Smith declined to be interviewed by ESPN and originally planned to return home but later decided to attend the second day of the draft . Several league executives alleged that Smith did not handle the draft process in a professional manner which caused him to fall out of the first round while analysts pointed to his late - season decline at West Virginia as the primary reason . The following day , the Jets expressed interest in trading up in the second round to select Smith but couldn ' t consummate a trade . Despite this , Smith remained available and the Jets selected him with the 39th overall pick . General manager John Idzik , following the selection , stated Smith would compete with incumbent Mark Sanchez to determine the starting quarterback . After firing his agency , Select Sports Group , upon the completion of the draft , Smith sought out new representation . He opted to sign to Roc Nation Sports on May 22 , 2013 with Kimberley Miale serving as his representative . Smith worked out in his home state of Florida during the offseason prompting questions as to whether or not he had spurned incumbent Mark Sanchez by not attending Sanchez ' s Jets West summer camp . Smith and Sanchez dismissed this notion with Sanchez saying it was ' no big deal . ' Smith signed a four - year $ 5 million contract on July 22 , 2013 with approximately $ 690 , 000 in workout bonuses . 2013 season . Smith made his professional debut in the preseason on August 9 , 2013 against the Detroit Lions . He completed 6 of 7 passes for 47 yards but left the game due to an ankle injury in the second quarter . X - rays showed no structural damage and Smith returned to practice on August 11 , 2013 . Smith started the Jets ' third preseason game against the New York Giants completing 16 of 30 passes for 199 yards , a touchdown and four turnovers . Smith was named the team ' s starting quarterback on September 4 , 2013 . In his first regular season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Smith completed 24 of his 38 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown . With only a few seconds left in the 4th quarter , Smith was hit out of bounds by Lavonte David , which drew a late hit penalty and the Jets eventually won the game 18 – 17 . In Week 2 against the New England Patriots Smith struggled as he completed 15 of his 35 passes for 214 yards , a touchdown and three interceptions , as the Jets lost 10 – 13 . In Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills , Smith completed 16 of his 29 passes for 331 yards , rushing for a touchdown and passing for two touchdowns and two interceptions . Despite the Jets committing 20 penalties , the team won 27 – 20 . Smith also became the first rookie quarterback in franchise history to throw for 300 or more yards in a game . Smith struggled Week 4 against the Tennessee Titans . He completed 23 of his 34 passes for 289 yards , a touchdown and two interceptions . He fumbled twice which led to Titans touchdowns as the Jets lost 13 – 38 . The Jets faced the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football the following week ; Smith completed 16 of his 20 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns . He completed all four of his passes on the Jets ' final drive in which Nick Folk kicked the game - winning 43 - yard field goal for New York . Smith was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week and the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week for his performance . In Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers , Smith threw for 201 yards and two interceptions as the Jets lost , to the previously winless Steelers , 6 - 19 . The following week , the Jets played the Patriots ; Smith completed 17 of his 33 passes for 233 yards , a passing and rushing touchdown and an interception . The Jets won 30 – 27 in overtime . The Jets struggled Week 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals . Smith completed 20 of his 30 passes for 159 yards but had two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns as the Jets fell to the Bengals 9 – 49 . Smith was replaced in the fourth quarter by back - up Matt Simms . Smith started the following week against the New Orleans Saints ; he completed 8 of his 19 passes for 115 yards and a rushing touchdown . It was the Jets ' running game that helped propel the Jets to a 26 – 20 upset of New Orleans as the team rushed for 198 yards . Smith struggled the next two weeks in a rematch against Buffalo and the Baltimore Ravens , both losses . Including the Baltimore contest , Smith threw ten interceptions to one touchdown over the course of a six game span . During Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins , Smith threw for 29 yards and an interception before he was relieved at halftime by Matt Simms . The team continued to struggle as they lost to Miami 3 – 23 . In Week 14 , Smith completed 16 of his 25 passes with an interception and a 25 yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Kerley . The Jets would go on to defeat the Oakland Raiders 37 - 27 .