3 reasons Geno Smith might be the perfect fit in Ryan Grubb's new Seahawks offense

The great hope, of course, is that Ryan Grubb can remake the Seattle Seahawks offense into a top-10 unit. There is a lot of talent to work with, especially with the skill positions, but sometimes systems take a bit to implement. Plus, Grubb has never coached in the NFL before.

Sure, his scheme should transpose quite nicely from the University of Washington to Seattle. It's not like Grubb was running the wishbone with the Huskies. His concepts for NFL-ready even if he never chose to work in the league.

One huge difference Grubb will find is that Seattle's offensive line is not the same kind of caliber in the NFL as the Huskies' O-line was in college. Quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. was great for Washington because he had time to throw. Seattle's quarterbacks have not had the same luxury. There is one key player that might help smooth Grubb's transition to the league, however, and that is Geno Smith.

Three reasons Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith should make Ryan Grubb's job easier

Smith has uncommon experience in adapting

Every NFL player must be able to understand what their coaches are saying and apply that quickly. The difference for Smith is that adjusting to a coach's needs is something he is more used to than nearly any other quarterback in the league. Since the quarterback came into the NFL in 2013, he has had seven offensive coordinators and had to learn seven different systems.

Sure, he was a backup for many years late in the 2010s, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking if Smith was lazy and slow to adapt that a team would have kept him around. He also played behind players such as Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Russell Wilson. Smith was not sitting behind shlubs.

No player is better prepared to learn a new playbook than Smith due to all the changes he has had in his career. This means he most likely understands how to adjust quickly and pass his knowledge on to other players. Smith is QB1 for Seattle currently, and, therefore, the leader of the offense. His experience is going to help Grubb get his message out better.

The quarterback's accuracy is going to open up the playbook

There are good quarterbacks in the league, such as Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, who are such physical freaks that they are going to make plays in any system. Many of those plays might be off-script as well. For a new system to be put in place more efficiently, an offensive coordinator needs to be able to trust that his quarterback is going to put the ball where the designed receiver routes are.

There are many fans who have issues with Smith. His raw production did dip in 2023 compared to 2022. He threw more turnover-worthy passes last year than in previous seasons. He was also forced to pass more overall as former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron appeared to forget the team could also run the ball.

One part of Smith's game that should not be discounted is his accuracy. Among quarterbacks who started more than half their team's games in 2023, Smith was 15th in completion percentage, but this was a season after he led the entire league in completion percentage. Grubb is going to feel the freedom to call whatever plays he wants because he is going to know that Smith will throw the ball to the correct spots.

Smith's willingness to learn will be good for the young roster

In a recent interview with Paul Silvi of Seattle's KING 5, Smith spoke about having to adapt to Grubb's new scheme. Instead of worrying about how the new design and his skillset might work together, the quarterback clearly was OK with being the student and allowing Grubb to be the teacher. Smith thinks he can be better and he thinks Grubb can make him so.

Smith said, "I like to study, and so that’s something that I do on a daily basis, and it does help. Repetition is always going to be the father of learning. For me, it’s just about continuing to do the little things like writing notes, taking detailed notes...really paying attention to every single thing that Grubb says and just the way he wants things done...Having a new coordinator, a new system, a new philosophy, just the way that he’s doing things - and some of the plays are plays that we haven’t seen at this level."

A difficult for a professional athlete to accept at times is to be open to changing what they are doing when what they have been doing has led them to the level they have. Geno Smith appears to eschew any theory that change is bad. He is open to it. That attitude is going to be seen by younger Seahawks as well and help get buy-in to Grubb's system.

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