Seattle Seahawks: Why Geno Smith will be named QB1 for Week 1

With the Week 1 showdown against Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos nearing closer and closer, the Seattle Seahawks have yet to announce their starting quarterback for the upcoming season.

Seattle is one of the few teams who have actively had a quarterback competition throughout training camp. The other competitions around the league creating buzz are coming from Pittsburgh, Carolina and Atlanta.

With Carolina naming Baker Mayfield as the starting quarterback, and many speculating that the vets in Mitch Trubisky and Marcus Mariota will be the starters for their respective clubs, the world awaits the winner of the battle of the bastards in Seattle.

Granted, the Seahawks have experienced some hiccups in their competition. Drew Lock testing positive for COVID-19 prior to their Week 2 matchup with Chicago, where he was named the starter, hindered this process. But, regardless of whether or not he was able to play in that game, I believe the outcome of this competition wouldn’t have changed.

Seattle Seahawks QB Competition Winner: Geno Smith

All signs point toward Geno Smith being named the starting quarterback for this club. There are a couple of reasons why. The obvious one is that Geno is well acquainted with this Seattle offense. He knows the system, he understands the language and most importantly, he recognizes the ultimate goal of his job. This lends me to my second reason.

Geno is less prone to turning the ball over. We all know how Pete wants to run his offense. Although many are opposed to the run-centric offense, this Seattle Seahawks franchise captured their first ever Super Bowl with a run-first team.

The old school approach evolves around the idea of winning the time of possession, turnover and field possession categories. With the potential of having an explosive backfield led by Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Walker III, Seattle is going to put a heavy emphasis on running the football. 

Establishing the run will allow Seattle to capitalize on what this offense is predicated on, hitting the explosive plays down the field. Despite what Geno’s statistics may say about him during his NFL tenure, there is no denying that he can throw a beautiful deep ball.

More importantly – and the third reason as to why Geno will be named the starter – when the deep ball isn’t available, he will be more consistent in taking the check downs. Although Drew Lock has made progress on going through his reads and taking what the defense is giving him, it is something he has failed to do on a consistent basis.

With all that said, I do believe Geno Smith’s place atop the quarterback depth chart will be temporary. This Seattle Seahawks team will have more potential with Drew Lock as the starter. It will just take some more time for him to earn that starting position. It is no secret that Pete Carroll and John Schneider have high admiration for Lock and his abilities to throw the football.