Seahawks Geno Smith a top-10 QB? Nope, says Pro Football Focus

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith exceeded all expectations in 2022. But did he prove all the doubters wrong long-term? It does not seem so.

According to Pro Football Focus (the seemingly ever-knowing and subscription required website), Geno Smith is, in fact, not a top-ten quarterback. Heck, according to the site, he is just barely a quarterback who ranks in the top-half of the NFL. Smith ranks 15th overall and behind such quarterbacks as the Minnesota Vikings Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr, now of the New Orleans Saints.

This means, again according to PFF, that it would have been better for the Seahawks to not re-sign Geno Smith this offseason and instead sign Derek Carr as a free agent. Sure, the money the Saints paid to Carr this offseason was more than what Seattle paid to Smith, but we are talking how good the team would have been had Seattle gone after Carr.

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith better than Pro Football Focus has ranked

I should note here that I do not believe Carr is a better quarterback, nor is he a better fit with Seattle, than Geno Smith. The above is based on what PFF thinks. Pro Football Focus also says, "Another difficult quarterback to rank, Smith improbably ranked as a top-five quarterback for much of last season before the wheels fell off a little late in the year." Did the proverbial "wheels fall off," though?

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Smith's statistics were better in the first half of the season. But this was before the Seahawks running backs once again suffered injury issues and before the defense fell apart from weeks 10 through 16. It's easy to say, but also correct in stating, that Smith forced more things in the second half of the season because he simply had to for Seattle to have any chance of victory.

Even with some second -half struggles (compared to his first half), Smith still led all NFC quarterbacks in touchdown passes (31) and led the entire NFL in completion percentage (69.8). Not bad for a quarterback who had not been a full-time starter since 2014.

In 2023, Smith has more weapons (the Seahawks drafted who should be an excellent WR3 in Jaxon Smith-Njigba), and his offensive line should be better, too. Seattle's defense should also be better. All of that is to say Geno Smith shouldn't have to try to win so many games on his own this coming year. Smith should once again be a top-ten quarterback, no matter what Pro Football Focus thinks heading into the season.