Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks.
Editor’s note: This is the first of a multi-part series on Seattle Seahawks’ surprising sensation Geno Smith and his long road to success.
Nine games into the 2022 season, the Seattle Seahawks lead the NFC West Division with a 6-3 record. And they aren’t doing it with Russell Wilson as their quarterback.
Russ and his weary shoulders went to Denver in a pre-draft trade. The Seattle Seahawks received Drew Lock in the deal, but they went ahead and resigned RW3’s backup from the previous two seasons, Geno Smith, to be their QB this year.
Most believed the team would crash and burn with Smith as the starter. As a matter of fact, when the Pacific Northwest Sports staff put out our preseason predictions, only one writer thought the Seahawks would win as many as 6 games all season.
Yours truly went on the QB1 podcast and said Smith was good enough to lose close games. We and most of the football world were dead wrong.
The Seattle Seahawks average the fourth most points per game in the NFL (26.8), and Smith has the third-highest quarterback rating 107.6. It seems as though the once down-and-out QB is in the middle of an incredible redemption story.
For this installment of Geno Smith’s redemption, we travel in the “Way Back Machine” to 2013. Smith just finished up a dynamite senior season at West Virginia. He threw for 4,205 yards and 42 touchdowns.
The Mountaineers had the ninth-ranked scoring offense in the country at 39.5 points per game. Smith wasn’t why they finished 7-6. WVU’s defense allowed 38.1 points per game, seventh-worst in FBS. But at least he got experience playing in offensive shootouts.
Going into the NFL Draft, many experts had him as the best quarterback in the class. Here are some pre-draft evaluations.
Smith doesn’t have an elite skill set and still has some developing to do. In particular, his footwork and mechanics need work, which will help improve his intermediate-to-deep accuracy, which is inconsistent at times. However, he is a fierce competitor who can become dangerously efficient when he catches a rhythm. And while he is a pocket passer first and foremost, he has the athleticism to turn a negative into a positive when the play breaks down. He won’t turn around the franchise immediately, but if handled the right way Smith could turn into a solid starter.
Scouts Inc./ESPN
Though Smith has had his ups and downs as a passer in West Virginia’s prolific spread offense, NFL general managers appreciate his ultra-competitive nature, athleticism, arm strength and quick delivery. The Mountaineer turned down a Senior Bowl invitation after regressing in the second half of the season following a strong start. Smith’s eye level and pocket movement can be great, but he reverted back to staring down his first read. During his sophomore season, Smith played in an offense where he frequently took snaps from center, so he might have a leg up compared to some other prospects in that regard. – Aaron Brooks, NFL.com
Aaron Brooks, NFL.com
Of all the quarterbacks entering the 2013 NFL draft, Geno Smith stands the best chance of being selected in Round 1. Smith’s scouting report is full of positives, and watching him play, it’s clear he has the physical tools to become a capable starting NFL quarterback—if not a dynamic playmaker and the face of a franchise.
Jesse Reed, Bleacher Report
Smith has all the tools to be a franchise quarterback. He has the skill set to be a quality starter, but needs good talent around him. Whether or not Smith pans out will depend largely on him landing with a good, stable coaching staff. –
Walter Football
Things didn’t go as planned. EJ Manuel from Florida State was the only quarterback taken in the first round (16th overall, Buffalo). Smith hung around until the 39th pick when the Jets selected him. At the time, getting Smith in the second round was considered a steal.
So much for a stable organization. With Smith as the starter from Game 1, NYJ improved from 6-10 in 2012 to 8-8. He finished his rookie season completing 247 of 443 passes (55.8%) with 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Tack on another 366 yards and 6 touchdowns on 72 runs.
Not a bad first season. Some of the all-time greats started much worse. With a decent base to begin his NFL career, New York was ready for him to take the next step in 2014.
Unfortunately, for all involved, that step went backward. In Game 8, Gang Green was on the verge of losing their 7th straight game. Embattled Head Coach Rex Ryan pulled Smith after the QB’s 3rd pick in 8 attempts in favor of Michael Vick.
Vick held the starting job for three weeks before yielding it back to Geno. But by then, the writing was on the wall.
New York brought in a new coach and signed free agent QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, leaving Smith on the outside. He spent two more years with the Jets and played in a total of three games.
Smith hit the free agent market after his rookie contract expired. He signed with Giants to back up Eli Manning. That was where he got into a little controversy that wasn’t of his own making.
NYG struggled mightily in 2017. Head Coach Ben McAdoo’s job was hanging by a thread when the 2-10 G-Men showed up in Oakland. In a desperation move, McAdoo benched Manning, who had 210 consecutive starts, the third-longest streak in NFL history.
Enter Geno Smith as NYG’s Week 13 starter. He didn’t have a bad game, throwing for 237 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Behind New York’s leaky offensive line, he was sacked 3 times and hit 5 more.
The Giants lost 24-10, and ownership canned McAdoo after the game. Although it wasn’t anything he was personally responsible for, the damage was done, as far as the fans were concerned, Smith broke Eli’s streak.
On to the Chargers for 2018. Smith appeared in five games backing up another future Hall of Famer, Phillip Rivers, and threw 8 passes all year. Then he sat out all of 2019.
At the beginning of this article, one of the scouting reports said, “Whether or not Smith pans out will depend largely on him landing with a good, stable coaching staff.” That never happened. Or at least not until he signed with the Seahawks in 2020.
To be continued