Seahawks quarterback competition may be done after three days of training camp
By Lee Vowell
Geno Smith was always going to be the presumed QB1 for the Seattle Seahawks this year (and maybe next). He is signed through 2025 and, despite what some observers think, Smith has been a pretty solid quarterback the last two years. He led the NFC in touchdown passes in 2022 and the entire league in game-winning drives last year, after all.
The team acquired Sam Howell this offseason in a trade. Howell was a full-time starter for the Washington Commanders in 2023. He is a decade younger than Smith and could be the future long-term quarterback of the franchise. After the first three days of training camp, though, there appears to be a bigger difference between QB1 and QB2 than Howell even making the team next year.
Smith ended any potential speculation of a quarterback battle for the Seahawks in the first days of training camp. He appeared to already have an excellent grasp on new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's offense and he was incredibly accurate and sharp with the presumed first team.
Potential Seahawks quarterback controversy ended after only a few days of practice at training camp
Howell, unfortunately, struggled with accuracy quite a bit. He was running with the number twos, of course, but he seemed hesitant in where he was going with the ball and then often did not place the ball where it needed to.
Howell was so inaccurate at times that veteran PJ Walker, who is trying to make the team as QB3, appeared more likely to be Smith's backup than Howell. That is not going to happen, of course, as Howell has shown to be a capable starter in the league and is extremely inexpensive over the next two seasons.
Next. Seahawks wait until training camp for second-best move of the offseason. Seahawks wait until training camp for second-best move of the offseason. dark
There is nothing Howell showed that should make 12s feel comfortable about him playing in case he needed to replace Smith due to an injury during the season. The good part is that we are only into the first days of training camp and Howell has time to improve. Whatever he was hoping to create as far as quarterback controversy, though, is completely gone.
To be fair, 12s need to hope Smith builds off his last two seasons and has better play-calling with Grubb, and pushes the Seahawks toward a playoff spot. He has not been the issue with Seattle in the last two seasons, the defense has been. If Smith is as good as he has shown in the first part of training camp, Seattle is going to surprise a lot of pundits who think the team won't be good in 2024.
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