West Virginia Professional Athletes

It took one preseason drive for the conversation around Geno Smith to change — and the West Virginia product hasn't stopped turning heads since.

Smith, signed by the New York Jets this offseason as the clear-cut starting quarterback, made his debut in Gang Green's preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers and promptly went 7-for-7. Perfect. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich — who has worked with some of the best quarterbacks in the league — came away raving, calling Smith "dialed in" and "on point" after the showing.

The Vibe Shift Is Real

For a Jets fan base that has lived through more quarterback heartbreak than most, cautious optimism is a hard-earned emotion. But Smith is giving them something to work with. Reports out of training camp described his command in the huddle as "calming" — a tone-setter that veterans and young receivers alike have responded to. Reich's public praise wasn't just a coach managing expectations; it tracked with what observers saw on the field and on the practice report throughout the week.

Smith has also been vocal about what he wants the Jets to feel from him beyond the stat line. Per reports, he's made clear he wants teammates to sense his passion and competitive fire — the kind of locker-room temperature that a franchise trying to rebuild its identity badly needs.

With the Jets sitting Smith for the final preseason game, there's nothing left to prove before the regular season. The coaching staff has seen enough.

A WVU Connection on the Other Side of the Ball

Smith wasn't the only Mountaineer in action when the Jets hosted the Steelers. Pittsburgh center Zach Frazier, a Morgantown native and one of the Steelers' starting offensive linemen, was suiting up on the other sideline — a quietly fun footnote to the matchup for WVU fans keeping tabs across rosters.

Frazier has established himself as a legitimate starter at center for Pittsburgh, giving the Mountaineer alumni base a reliable presence in the trenches on one of the AFC's more competitive rosters.

Looking Ahead

Smith enters the regular season as the Jets' unquestioned starter, with a receiving corps that's generating its own buzz. WVU alum Bryce Ford-Wheaton is listed on the Giants' roster, but it's Smith's situation that commands the most attention among Mountaineer alumni in the league this week.

For a program that's produced its share of NFL quarterbacks, few moments land quite like watching one of its own walk into a marquee market, silence skeptics in a single outing, and earn the trust of a coaching staff before Labor Day. West Virginia's most high-profile NFL alumnus right now isn't just surviving in New York — he looks like he belongs there.

West Virginia's most prominent NFL alumnus delivered exactly when it mattered most.

Geno Smith, the former Mountaineer quarterback who returned to the New York Jets this offseason, put every preseason concern to rest on Friday night in Pittsburgh — completing all seven of his pass attempts, throwing a touchdown, and walking off the field with the Jets' QB1 job firmly in hand after a 17-0 shutout win over the Steelers.

The performance carried extra weight given what preceded it. Smith had been a late scratch for the Jets' preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to ankle soreness, thrusting rookie Cade Klubnik into an unexpected starting role. That absence, combined with reports of inconsistent practice play, had stoked questions about Smith's health and his standing at the top of the depth chart. His status for the Steelers game remained uncertain until sources confirmed he would start — and then he went out and removed all doubt.

On his lone drive of the night, Smith was surgical. He capped the series with a touchdown pass to Jelani Woods, finishing the evening with a perfect completion rate and no wasted snaps. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn didn't mince words in the aftermath: Smith was, in Glenn's phrasing, "exactly what we were looking for."

Insiders echoed the sentiment. One Jets beat reporter noted Smith was "throwing the mess out of the ball" in the victory, a far cry from the hand-wringing that had accompanied his preseason absence. The 17-0 final score only added to the feel-good narrative — New York's defense was equally dominant, but Smith's efficient opening series set the tone.

With the regular season approaching, the QB1 conversation in New York is effectively closed. Smith enters 2026 as the unquestioned starter, backed by a healthy ankle and a stat line that, however brief, offered a clean proof of concept. Klubnik's solid preseason debut keeps the Jets honest about their backup situation, but Smith's night made clear there's a legitimate separation between the two.

For WVU fans tracking their NFL alumni, no Mountaineer made bigger news this week than Smith. The 35-year-old continues to defy the career arc critics once predicted for him, and Friday night in Pittsburgh was another entry in that ongoing rebuttal.

Geno Smith's Injury Puts Jets on Alert

West Virginia's most prominent NFL alumnus opened the 2026 preseason on the wrong foot — literally.

Geno Smith, the Jets' starting quarterback, was held out of New York's preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday due to foot/ankle soreness, per multiple reports. The absence was a surprise: head coach Aaron Glenn had declared earlier in the week that "everybody's playing," only to reverse course when Smith's status deteriorated ahead of kickoff.

With Smith sidelined, fourth-round rookie Cade Klubnik was bumped into the starting role — a slot he wasn't expected to occupy. Glenn said afterward he saw "the same moxie, confidence we saw in college" from Klubnik, a line that generated buzz but also underscored how suddenly the depth chart had shifted.

The nature of the injury — described variously as foot soreness and a sore ankle across different reports — adds a layer of uncertainty heading into the regular season. Smith's availability for the early weeks of 2026 is now a legitimate question worth monitoring, particularly as the Jets have retooled their offense around him. Training camp notes from earlier in the week had highlighted the growing chemistry between Smith and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, making the timing of the setback all the more frustrating for New York's plans.

Smith has battled durability concerns at points in his career, and any preseason missed time tends to amplify those narratives quickly in a quarterback-starved market like New York. The Jets have not characterized the injury as serious, but no clear return timeline has been offered publicly.

Other Mountaineers Worth Watching

Smith isn't the only WVU alum with a foothold in NFL camps this week. Zach Frazier, the Steelers' center, continues to anchor Pittsburgh's offensive line as one of the more firmly entrenched Mountaineer products in the league. Wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton is pushing for a roster spot with the Giants, while Garrett Greene — the former WVU starter — is competing for a receiver role with the Buccaneers, the very team that handed the Jets their preseason opener.

On defense, Rasul Douglas and Daryl Worley give Washington's secondary a distinctly Mountaineer flavor at cornerback, and Garnett Hollis Jr. is in the mix for the Bills.

The WVU pipeline into the NFL remains deep, but for Mountaineer fans, Smith's health is the story that matters most right now. If the ankle lingers into late August, the pressure on New York's backup situation — currently a Klubnik-vs.-Bailey Zappe competition — will intensify fast.

Geno Smith Is Hard to Miss at Jets Training Camp

The former West Virginia signal-caller arrived in Florham Park this summer looking different — literally. Geno Smith has been wearing red contact lenses during Jets training camp practices, a glare-reducing technique designed to help quarterbacks track the ball in bright sunlight. Smith explained the reasoning himself, describing the lenses as a tool for cutting through sun glare on the field. Whether it works or not, the optics — pun intended — are undeniably distinctive.

But the contacts are only the sidebar. The real story is what Smith is doing between the white lines.

Reich Is Bought In, and the Numbers Might Follow

First-year Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich didn't mince words when asked about his new quarterback. Reich called himself "really fired up" about the offense's early camp progress, singling out Smith as "laser-focused" and praising the overall trajectory of the unit. That kind of public endorsement from a coordinator carries weight — Reich has worked with some of the NFL's best quarterbacks, and he isn't one to waste superlatives.

Smith has backed it up on the practice field. Per reporting out of camp, he turned in a standout Saturday session that had Jets observers taking notice, with sharp decision-making and crisp execution throughout.

The relationship with new weapons is also developing. Wide receiver Adonai Mitchell — already on his fourth starting quarterback in green and white — is reportedly embracing the connection with Smith after limited time together in 2025. Chemistry built early in camp tends to translate when the lights come on.

The Rankings Don't Tell the Full Story

Here's the tension at the heart of the Geno Smith narrative: he's ranked 29th among NFL quarterbacks heading into 2026, and he led the entire league in interceptions last season. The betting markets even have him among the favorites to repeat that dubious distinction. On paper, that's a rough profile.

But the Sporting News framed it plainly — the NFL is still sleeping on Smith. At 29th overall, the floor is baked in. The upside isn't. A functional offensive coordinator in Reich, a legitimate wide receiver room, and a quarterback who has already proved once (in Seattle, 2022) that he can outperform expectations by a wide margin — that's a real combination. Smith flipping the narrative isn't a fantasy. It's a documented precedent.

For Mountaineer fans, the broader WVU footprint across the NFL is notable this summer. Defensive back Rasul Douglas landed with the Commanders in a move that drew buzz league-wide — Washington's offseason overhaul made Douglas part of a defense worth watching. Defensive tackle Fatorma Mulbah signed with the Dolphins, adding another former Mountaineer to Miami's front seven. And Zach Frazier continues to anchor the Steelers' offensive line at center, cementing himself as one of the more quietly reliable WVU products in the league.

But this week belongs to Smith. Red contacts, Reich's endorsement, and a bottom-of-the-rankings chip on his shoulder — the West Virginia product is giving Jets fans something they haven't had in a long time: a reason to believe in August.