Statistic shows Geno Smith did not get much help from Seahawks receivers in 2023

Most Seattle Seahawks fans likely assume one of the strengths of the team is the wide receiver group. DK Metcalf has had 1,000-yard receiving seasons in three of his last four years and in 2023, he made his second Pro Bowl. Tyler Lockett has been one of the most consistent receivers in the league for many years, though his play dipped last season.

Metcalf and Lockett were joined by 2023 draft pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba last year. JSN got off to a bit of a slow start due to an injury and poor play-calling by Shane Waldron, but by the end of the season, he was a real weapon for quarterback Geno Smith. Rookie Jake Bobo was fairly decent as well in limited snaps.

According to a recently posted statistic by Warren Sharp of Sharp Football, though, Smith could have gotten a lot more help from his receivers in 2023. The Seahawks were tied for the seventh-most "receiver errors" that led to incompletions. 19 percent of Seattle's quarterbacks' incompletions were the fault of the receiver, according to the statistic.

Geno Smith would have looked better in 2023 had the Seattle Seahawks' receivers played better

Smith-Njigba was credited with 10 drops last season, the fourth-most in the NFL. Metcalf had seven drops which ranked in the top 20. One of the reasons Geno Smith's completion percentage decreased from 2022 is simply because his receivers were dropping more passes.

Sharp's statistic, however, is not based solely on drops. The stat is based on "dropped pass, receiver fell down, (and) receiver stopped route" as well as some other criteria. Of course, sometimes a receiver slips and that cannot be helped, and a receiver stopping his route might be subjective and might be the quarterback's fault. If a QB is sailing a pass over a receiver's head, the receiver is not going to keep running sometimes.

No matter, if new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb can get the team to clean up a bit of its inconsistencies, Smith's numbers are going to improve and he will likely stay as QB1 into 2025. Metcalf could put up more yards with more touchdowns, and JSN could blossom into a true WR2. All of this should mean more points for the offense and more wins for the team.

Or maybe the Seahawks' receivers are overrated and don't catch as well as many assume. Let's hope that isn't the case. They could disprove that thought by not dropping as many passes in 2024.

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