Geno Smith's success in college did not carry over to the NFL

Geno Smith spent four years at West Virginia and put together a great four years for the Mountaineers. Smith sat behind Jarrett Brown in his first year at West Virginia before becoming the full-time starter in his sophomore season. After four years at West Virginia, the New York Jets selected Geno Smith in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft.

When looking at the college career of Geno Smith, it brings a question to mind - why did the success from college not carry over to the NFL?

Geno Smith's college football career at West Virginia

As mentioned above, Geno Smith sat behind starting quarterback Jarrett Brown during his freshman year. Geno Smith was promoted to starter during his sophomore season. His junior and senior seasons at West Virginia were his best college football seasons.

Throwback #WVU moment:
College Gameday made its way to Morgantown as #16 West Virginia hosted #2 LSU.
Geno Smith (@GenoSmith3) gets great protection and then throws a BEAUTIFUL ball to Tavon Austin (@Tayaustin01) who then breaks free and turns on the jets for a gain of 72 yards! pic.twitter.com/FW4AJH980t
— The Blue Lot (@bluelotpod) July 31, 2020

Geno Smith's performance in the Orange Bowl in the 2010-2011 college season will go down as one of the best. West Virginia still holds the record for the most points scored in the Orange Bowl game itself with 70. Geno Smith recorded a completion percentage of 74.4% and threw for 407 passing yards with six touchdowns.

Smith also added a rushing touchdown to his totals during the 2011 Orange Bowl game. Geno Smith accounted for seven touchdowns against the Clemson Tigers. West Virginia ended winning the shoot out 70-33 over Clemson in 2011. Here is a look at what Geno Smith was able to do at West Virginia.

Geno Smith's Career Stats at West Virginia

-- Completions: 988

-- Attempts: 1,465

-- Completion percentage: 67.4%

-- Passing yards: 11,662 yards

-- Touchdowns: 98

-- Interceptions: 21

What happened to Geno Smith in the NFL?

Geno Smith spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets. He did not last long as the starting quarterback for the Jets. After two seasons of starting, he was replaced.

Geno Smith has only started two games since the 2014 NFL season. In two seasons as the Jets starting quarterback, Geno Smith threw a total of 34 interceptions. He was sacked a total of 71 times in his first two seasons.

Geno Smith will reportedly sign with @Seahawks. #NFL https://t.co/SC48GIYhsn pic.twitter.com/hXZoP4Qdd0
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) May 13, 2019

Since being drafted by the New York Jets in the 2013 draft, he has spent time with three different teams. Smith is currently the back up quarterback to Russell Wilson in Seattle. Geno Smith only appeared in one game in 2020 for the Seahawks.

The main reason to why Geno Smith has not carried over his success from college into the NFL is because of his turnovers. Smith has thrown a total of 36 interceptions during his NFL career. Some fans may say that the New York Jets are the reason why Geno Smith failed.

This could be true, but the Jets were not on the field making the throws. Geno Smith threw for over 11,000 yards in college. He has failed to reach 7,000 passing yards in seven NFL seasons.

Geno Smith will be 31 years old entering the 2021 NFL season. His opportunity window to be a starting quarterback in the NFL has shut. It will be interesting to see how the rest of his NFL career turns out.