Recent Seahawks quarterback room ranking makes critical error

Having an opinion is a good thing. That opinion can lead to good discussions among friends and enemies and lead to healthy debates. There is a critical need for any way of thinking, however, and that need is to have some fact-based evidence in order to support one's point of view. A recent ranking of NFL quarterback rooms, especially as it relates to the Seattle Seahawks, is without merit because there is no evidence to help the author's argument.

Plus, when one does an article ranking, well...anything, the writer needs to go a bit further than just, "I don't like them." Or in the case of NFL Spin Zone's recent QB room ranking, "(Geno Smith is) just barely good enough to give the Seahawks staff and front office an accurate reading" of whether the team should keep the quarterback beyond 2024.

Why isn't Smith good enough? What are the statistics that support this? Well, we will never know based on the article because the writer doesn't deliver any.

Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks get completely disrespected in new ranking of NFL quarterback rooms

In other words, the article is so biased by the writer's personal beliefs that the ranking has no real meaning. The writer ranks the Seahawks' quarterbacks as the...wait for it...fourth worst group in the NFL. The only teams rated worse than Seattle are the Washington Commanders, Las Vegas Raiders, and New York Giants. The writer needs to do a better job than weakly saying Smith isn't good.

That is factually incorrect. In the two seasons that Geno Smith has been the starter for the Seahawks, he has had the seventh-best total QBR in the league (2022) and the 15th-best (2023). Did he take a bit of a dip in 2023? Yes, but he was still in the top half of the league in total QBR.

Moreover, Smith's backup, Sam Howell, was 25th in total QBR as the full-time starter for the Commanders in 2023. So collectively how can a Seattle quarterback room in 2024 that includes Smith and Howell rank 29th overall?

Smith was fourth in the league in touchdown passes in 2022 and 17th in 2023, even though he missed two games last season with an injury. In pure quarterback rating, Smith was 17th last year and fifth in 2022. Again, none of those numbers are close to 29th. Smith also led the NFL in game-winning drives and fourth quarter comebacks in 2023. I guess he got lucky because he's so bad, according to NFL Spin Zone.

The article has other factual inaccuracies or implications as well. One line reads, "With the team moving on from Pete Carroll, a rebuild could be on the horizon." This is simply ridiculous. No rebuild is expected as the Seahawks should have better defensive direction under Mike Macdonald to help improve the team. The offense should also be better with new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.

Seattle has one of the younger rosters in the league so I am unsure where the "rebuild" would be coming from. Seattle is simply in the midst of a retool and still having winning seasons, though they missed the playoffs last season.

The writer ends his Seattle remarks by saying, "I would expect both Smith and Howell to probably play on new teams for the 2025 NFL Season and beyond, as neither (is) particularly good." Besides that sentence being odd enough - is the writer implying Smith and Howell will be on new teams in 2025, new teams again in 2026, and so on? - both quarterbacks are signed with Seattle through 2025. Smith could be released next season and save the team $25 million, though if he plays as well as he has the last two seasons, there is no great need to let him walk.

The bottom line is that the Seahawks having the 29th-best quarterback room in the NFL is a farce. There is no statistical evidence to support the writer's argument. In fact, the statistics disprove his theory. Unfortunately, it seems personal bias got the better of the writer's ability to truly observe the NFL's quarterback situations.

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