Russell Wilson is on his way to Denver. In the most stunning news in a very busy day for the NFL, Seattle has agreed to send its star quarterback to the Broncos for a bunch of draft picks and three players.
Noah Fant is a promising young tight end (he’s 24) who’s totaled 170 catches, 1,905 yards and 10 touchdowns in three seasons. Shelby Harris is a veteran defensive tackle (he’s 30) who’s underrated and solid both rushing the passer and stopping the run.
Those two are quality pieces that will help improve Seattle’s roster breadth as will the draft picks – at least in theory.
Our real objection to the trade is the third player coming over from the Broncos: 25-year-old QB Drew Lock. For lack of a kinder word, Lock just isn’t very good at what he does. His game is erratic and mistake-prone – he led the NFL with 15 interceptions in 2020 – and we’d be surprised if he winds up being a solid starter at this level based on what we have seen so far.
Let’s see what Seattle’s projected depth chart at QB should look like in the wake of the trade.
QB1: Geno Smith (6-foot-3, 220 pounds)
Apparently the Seahawks were truly unbothered by Smith’s recent arrest on suspciion of a DUI, or maybe they fell in love with his game during the 3.25 games he started in 2021 while Wilson was injured. Whatever the case, Smith should now be projected as the team’s No. 1 – assuming they actually re-sign him some time before next week.
QB2: Drew Lock (6-foot-4, 228 pounds)
Sometimes when we don’t have anything nice to say it’s best just to rely on the numbers, which are mean enough on their own. Lock is 8-13 as a starter, has a 59.3% completion rate, 25 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and a passer rating of 79.3. This past season, his QBR was 23.4.
QB3: Jacob Eason (6-foot-6, 231 pounds)
Lock could probably benefit from a bit more time in the oven to develop, but Eason may never even get to his current level. Eason has only started one game in his career for the Colts.
What comes next?
We should probably expect the Seahawks to use Denver’s first-round pick on a quarterback prospect with attributes that they like. Malik Willis from Liberty is our favorite from this draft class.
