Seattle Seahawks: Geno Smith Should Get MVP Consideration
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is having a great season. He should be in the NFL MVP race. Here's Why.
Joe Swenson
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is having a great season. He should be in the NFL MVP race. Here’s Why.
Yes, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith should be an MVP candidate.
That sentence sounds strange when read aloud. But before the season started, the most optimistic Pacific Northwest Sports writer predicted the Seahawks would have a 6-win season. Most agreed that through the first five weeks, the only winnable game was maybe against Atlanta.
Other online “experts” not only had the Seattle Seahawks finishing last but also making a run at the #1 overall pick in the 2023 Draft. Now it’s possible, with 11 games left in the season, that things change.
In fact, how many times, during his tenure, did Russell Wilson win the MVP through the first 6-8 games of the season only to fall so far off that he didn’t earn any votes?
During the preseason, there were plenty of questions surrounding the quarterback competition between Drew Lock and Geno Smith. It was similar to 2012 when Seattle acquired Matt Flynn and drafted Russell Wilson in the third round.
In other words, why trade for a quarterback and then draft or sign another?
Seemingly, Lock lost his opportunity to earn the Seattle Seahawks starting job when he contracted COVID-19 and missed significant time in camp. But based on Geno’s performance, it seems like there was much more that went into Pete Carroll‘s decision.
Geno Smith the Early Years
After a successful run at West Virginia, Smith was the second quarterback taken in the 2013 NFL Draft, behind EJ Manuel. It was a notoriously light draft for Qbs.
Geno Smith, for the most part, had a first round pedigree but unexpectedly fell to the second round. His rookie year was a combination of bad and not-so-bad.
The New York Jets posted an 8-8 record and missed the playoffs. Smith finished his rookie season with a 66.5 passer rating.
He improved in 2014, and his numbers were better across the board. But NYJ took a step back, going 3-10 in games Geno started.
That ended his run as a QB1. Smith took a backseat for his final two years with the Jets, one season with the Giants, and for most of two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.