The Seahawks are three weeks away from their season opener against the Broncos. If the game were today, Geno Smith would be starting at QB.
Not everyone is a fan of what Smith has done this preseason, but Pro Football Focus thinks highly of his work so far. Through two games, Smith’s overall offensive grade is 89.9, which is the fourth-highest in the league among quarterbacks and the three guys ahead of him (Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Marcus Mariota) have far fewer pass attempts.
These grades are of course subjective, but the tape also argues pretty strongly in his favor. Smith has been decisive, accurate and sharp running the offense. Here’s a look at each of Smith’s long-range attempts this preseason from one of his most devoted disciples.
Here are Smith's 5 attempts of >16 air yards thru 4 qtrs of preseason. w/ geno being ahead on procedural aspects of QB play i think these throws/plays may have already won him the job. Lock still deserves a real chance to prove he can get to these windows&make the throws too tho pic.twitter.com/PPLTx35QG2
— Geno-is-Functional Hyper Extremist (@cmikesspinmove) August 22, 2022
Smith’s traditional numbers may be somewhat underwhelming, but far too many drops and penalties have lowered his statistical ceiling.
This is all promisng, but it’s important to keep in mind a very big asterisk: the defensive looks a quarterback sees during the preseason are radically different from those he’ll face when the games begin. Coverages are vanilla by design, so you should probably wait a few more weeks before going out and buying yourself that Geno Smith jersey.
