3 critical observations about Seahawks QB Geno Smith in 2023 training camp
By Lee Vowell
There is a fairly vocal minority of 12s that do not seem to like Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. Smith, who led the NFC in touchdown passes last year with 30, might not be a perfect quarterback, but he is one of the better QBs in the NFC and Smith's statistics from last year prove that. Smith may not be Patrick Mahomes, but he is better than most other NFL quarterbacks.
Smith hasn't played much this preseason, and he might not play in preseason Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers. He doesn't really need to, however. Seattle knows what to expect from their starting quarterback.
We have learned - or re-learned - some things about Smith this training camp, though. Plus, he's become more solidified in one facet. Here are three observations about Geno Smith's 2023 training camp so far.
Seahawks QB Geno Smith looks like 2022 Geno
Geno Smith played two series against the Dallas Cowboys in preseason Week 2 and the offense scored 3 points (due to a 57-yard field goal from kicker Jason Myers). That's not exactly fantastic production, but then the offense clearly wasn't trying to do a lot of variety. The point was to have Smith gets some snaps against a team not wearing a Seahawks uniform and get some throws in.
And Smith and the offense looked a lot like they did last training camp: Efficient but not explosive. But what happened in the 2022 regular? Seattle's offense was explosive. Basically, what we see in the preseason games is not how things will be in the regular season because offensive coordinators aren't scheming against opposing defenses in the preseason. We know that Smith is capable of leading an explosive offense.
But in training camp practices, as opposed to Smith's preseason drives, Smith has led the offense to splash plays. This has worked with DK Metcalf, of course, but also with Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The most exciting bit for 12s once the real games begin is that Geno Smith will have full use of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's playbook and he can open up the passing game to include Metcalf deep, or Smith-Njigba down the seam, or Tyler Lockett wherever Lockett wants to be. The Seahawks offense should be really good in 2023, and so should Smith.