Seahawks steal one NFC West rival's QB in 5-year re-draft

The Seattle Seahawks finished third in the NFC West last season. Some pundits have them finish last this year. Would a different quarterback improve Seattle's odds to make a Super Bowl run?

While some 12s might argue otherwise, Geno Smith is not the reason the team has only gone 9-8 in the last two seasons. Without Smith, the team might have been 7-10. He did lead the NFL in completion percentage in 2022 and the league in both fourth quarter comebacks and game-winning drives in 2023. He has been good, though not great.

If Smith had a better team around him, he might get more respect. Perhaps if Smith played for the San Francisco 49ers, San Fran would have won a Super Bowl last year. Brock Purdy produced excellent numbers in 2023 for the 49ers, but was that because Purdy was so good or because San Francisco's offensive scheme was great and Purdy had a number of elite players around him?

Is Brock Purdy truly that much better than Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith?

The reason the question is asked is because Bleacher Report recently ran an article where they did a five-year re-draft. The idea is a little wonky, to be fair. For instance, B/R did not simply re-draft 2022 or 2020. Instead, they had teams take players all in one clump between 2020 and 2024. A bit odd and a good way to game the system.

In B/R's draft, the Seahawks chose Brock Purdy at pick number 17. There are a couple of major issues with the article. One is that B/R says, "...frankly they could be a dominant offense with better QB play than they are getting from Geno Smith..." That is absurd. Smith might not be Patrick Mahomes, but Brock Purdy is not going to elevate Seattle's offense to being dominant.

The other problem is that B/R even doubts its own thoughts because it says of Purdy, "Is Brock Purdy a product of the talent and coaching surrounding him in San Francisco? Or is he good enough to record comparable numbers in a worse situation?"

So which is it? Bleacher Report knows Purdy is so good that he will make Seattle's offense "dominant" or they aren't sure that he isn't simply a product of what the 49ers have. With the uncertainty, taking Purdy at number 17 in a five-year draft seems, well...stupid.

Instead, the Seahawks should probably just stick with taking cornerback Devon Witherspoon. B/R has the corner going at 26 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Fortunately for 12s everywhere, we already get to watch Witherspoon compete as a Seahawk. Hopefully, that will last well beyond whenever Purdy loses his usefulness with the 49ers (which could be after players such as Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, and George Kittle began to fade.)

More Seahawks coverage: