When the Seattle Seahawks traded for presumed backup Sam Howell last week, the move made Seattle taking a quarterback moot in the 2024 NFL draft. At least, Seattle should not choose a quarterback early in the draft. There is no need as Geno Smith is likely going to be the starter and Howell the backup.
Having two quarterbacks with recent NFL starting experience is a plus for any team. This is especially true for offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb who will be a first-time OC in the NFL in 2023. Why make life more difficult for him by adding a highly drafted quarterback to the mix and the never-ending quarterback competition questions that distraction would bring?
The likelihood is that the Seahawks should look to the 2025 NFL draft if they think neither Smith nor Howell is going to be their long-term quarterback. Both Howell and Smith would have expiring contracts after the 2025 season so if Seattle took a quarterback next year, they might then move on from Howell or Smith but not before. If Seattle chooses a QB in 2025, these might be their best options.
Seattle Seahawks could choose Quinn Ewers of Texas
Ewers is good enough to lead his team to a national championship while also keeping highly recruited Arch Manning on the bench. But Ewers is worthy of doing so because he has good size and athleticism, but mostly because he has a cannon for an arm and makes smart decisions. This last part is going to make his transition from college to the NFL a lot smoother.
In 2023, Ewers completed nearly 70 percent of his passes and had a good ratio of 22 touchdown passes to 6 interceptions. He had good offensive talent around him, but that isn't why Ewers was so efficient. He is talented enough to elevate the offense around him. With his experience playing at an elite level of college football, he could be a starter very early in his career.
Seattle could draft Shedeur Sanders of Colorado
Sanders followed his famous father, Deion, from Jackson State to Colorado before last season but his production did not trail off. Sure, he is guided by his father so there is some security in that, but the level of competition greatly increased. While the Buffalos struggled mightily after a good start in 2023, Sanders was not the reason. He just had an atrocious offensive line in front of him and a terrible defense.
Sanders threw just three interceptions this past season and completed 69 percent of his throws. He was good enough to lead his team to 10 wins, but the rest of his team was not ready for that. While he doesn't have the best arm in college football, he has an accurate one and good enough athleticism to succeed in the NFL. But physical skills are not his real strength.
Sanders, possibly because Deion was not only an athletically gifted player but also because he could outthink the receiver opposite him, has an incredibly high football IQ. There is probably nothing a defense can show him that he cannot quickly adapt to. He also has enough confidence that his teammates will believe in him.
And why shouldn't they? He might not have won that many games at Colorado in 2023, but he did not lose the games. Put a decent team around him and he is going to push that team further.
Seahawks might take Carson Beck of Georgia
Beck's numbers likely looked better in 2023 than had he been with another team because of the impressive talent around him. But like Beck, a lot of that talent was young and learning to play together. While Georgia once again went unbeaten during the regular season, they were not the machine they had been in the previous two years.
The good thing for Beck is that he will probably look even better in 2024 and understand his limitations and advantages even more. He grew as the season wore on and finished with 24 touchdowns and 6 interceptions and no one will doubt his arm strength. He is NFL-ready in that area already.
While the Bulldogs have produced a number of excellent defensive players over the last several years and some good skill position players offensively, they have not yet given the NFL a high-quality quarterback. That will probably change with Beck, though.
He also will likely cement his status as a first-round draft pick. Had he come out in 2024, he probably would have fallen in the draft because of the other quarterbacks, such as Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, who are expected to go high in the first round. Beck has the arm talent to compete with those players, he just needs another year of seasoning in college to be completely ready.