The lights are blinking about a possible Baker Mayfield to Seattle trade this week. While these are mostly rumors for now, it would make sense for the Seahawks to pull the trigger on a deal with the Browns soon. For now, they’re expected to start either Geno Smith or Drew Lock at quarterback when the 2022 season starts. While there are worse QBs out there, that doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence about the team’s win total this year.
In fact, some analysts think Seattle has one of the worst quarterback situations in the conference. According to a new ranking by Cody Benjamin at CBS Sports of all 16 quarterbacks in the NFC, Smith is in a three-way tie at the bottom of the pile with Sam Darnold and Marcus Mariota.
“The bottom tier is so uninspiring that we’re lumping these last three “starters” together. No disrespect to Darnold, Mariota and Smith, who are all undoubtedly working hard to seize their QB1 opportunities. But there’s a reason these three teams aren’t expected to do much damage in 2022. Darnold at least offers the mobility and live arm of a former first-rounder, but without the requisite confidence or pocket presence. Smith was so-so replacing Russell Wilson in 2021, but his ceiling projects as little more than figurehead for a run-heavy Seahawks offense.”
Ouch. While we wouldn’t put him in the top-10 among projected NFC starters, this seems just a bit harsh. Mariota and Darnold will probably lose their respective QB1 jobs to rookies at some point this season and Smith is far more competent than either one the field. He should also probably be ranked higher than Daniel Jones and Jared Goff, which would put him at No. 12 in the NFC beneath young risers Justin Fields and Trey Lance.
Smith’s ceiling likely won’t go much higher than that – even though he did look relatively sharp running this offense for 3.25 games last season.
We aren’t thrilled with the idea of gambling on Mayfield, but at this point beggars can’t be choosers and that appears to be their best hope of fielding a potential playoff team in 2022.
