Seahawks: KJ Wright has strong feelings about who should be QB

K.J. Wright is one of the best linebackers in Seahawks history. He is now a free agent. But this offseason he has expressed several views on the Seahawks.

Wright was on the I Am Athlete Tonight podcast on Sirius XM recently and let it clearly be known that the quarterback who should be leading the Seahawks in 2022 is Geno Smith. He said he was “team Geno all day.”

According to Wright:

K.J. Wright clearly wants Geno Smith as Seahawks QB in 2022

"Geno was good. He was scout team quarterback. The dude has a cannon for an arm. He’s intellectual, you know, having those two-minute drills during practice throughout the week, the man can play. Just trust him, just trust Geno. And what I said was whoever you decide to be your starting quarterback, the other guy has got to leave. You cannot have both those guys in the building throughout the season. Because what’s gonna happen? Let’s say game three or four they’re not playing as well. What are the fans gonna do? ‘Put the backup in.’ And so to hell with all that, whoever’s the starting quarterback, the other guy, you’ve got to trade him or cut him."

Of course, Wright was a teammate of Smith’s for the Seahawks in 2020. In 2021, Smith was still with Seattle but Wright played with the Las Vegas Raiders. Wright has never played with Drew Lock or Baker Mayfield. Wright wants neither of those guys to be leading the Seahawks offense this season.

But just because Wright never played with Mayfield or Lock does not mean his viewpoint is not valid. Wright is an exceptionally smart player and knows the game well. He also isn’t one to simply speak mindless thoughts. If Wright says something, he means it.

The only truly alarming thing Wright said was that if Smith does beat out Lock then Lock needs to leave. Why? Seattle still needs a backup. Wright is concerned if Smith starts badly then fans will call for the backup to be put in. This happens with almost every quarterback, though.

Seattle shouldn’t simply cut Lock and leave backup duties to Jacob Eason, for instance. What would happen if something happened to Smith? Lock would be better than Eason, surely. But likely by 2023, Seattle is going to need to find a long-term answer at QB anyway and Smith and Lock might both be gone.