4 false narratives surrounding the Seattle Seahawks in 2023
By Lee Vowell
False narrative No. 3: Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith will likely regress this year
Let me ask you this. Say you work at a job and the boss comes to you about a fellow employees performance evaluation and that employee worked there eight years ago but came back to work at the company last year. Let's say that employee had a great year but the boss says, "Well, this person was fantastic last year but back in 2014 they weren't so good so we expect a regression to a 2014 level." Your first question might be, "Why?"
Many expect Geno Smith to fall back to pre-2022 levels in 2023 even though the Seahawks have given him more weapons to work with and likely an improved offensive line. Any why? Because back when Smith was last a full-time starter (2014), he wasn't as good as he was in 2022.
But there could be many factors why Smith will not only be as good as he was for most of 2022 - he led the NFC in touchdown passes (30) and the NFL in completion percentage (69.8) - but possibly even better. He has more experience running the offense now and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's scheme seems like a great fit for Smith. Smith will also have a very capable WR3, rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba, to give him more consistent options besides DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Plus, Seattle's defense should be better in 2023 having added talent via the draft and in free agency (Bobby Wagner, Julian Love, Dre'Mont Jones, to name three) so that means less stress on the offense to win games. Some of Smith's issues in the second half of 2022 stemmed from him trying to firce the ball to receivers in order to try to outscore the other team. In 2023, Smith shouldn't have to do that nearly as much.