After the Seattle Seahawks fell short of the playoffs for the second straight season, Seattle fans were rightfully frustrated. Some of that frustration was directed at rookie head coach Mike Macdonald, some of it was directed to offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and some of it was directed at the offensive line. But a lot of the criticism and frustration was aimed at quarterback Geno Smith, and many fans want him gone in 2025.
In a season where Smith had his share of bad moments, ranging from red zone interceptions to holding onto the ball for far too long, his critics were all over him. Many in the fanbase called for Sam Howell, the young quarterback Seattle had traded for prior to the season, to start. However, when Smith went down with an injury late in the season and Howell entered the game in relief, those fans got a stark dose of reality.
The truth is Geno Smith is a very good quarterback bordering on elite status. And the truth many don't want to hear is Smith was one of the Seahawks' lone bright spots on offense, despite a terrible offensive line and questionable play calling. Those fans who celebrated his late-game heroics spanning from 2022 to now are the same calling for his job when he inevitably can't win every game single-handedly. Here are three reasons why parting ways with Geno Smith in 2025 is a bad idea.
There is no real replacement for what Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has done
Those calling for Geno Smith's job make it seem like Seattle can plug in anybody else at quarterback and the offense will magically improve. It is clear that is not the case because we've seen what it looks like when someone else is at the helm. Drew Lock in 2023, despite his last drive against Philadelphia in Week 16, was largely inefficient in Geno's absence. The offense was shaky at best and Lock looked panicked and lost for the majority of his playing time.
In four games played in 2023, Lock, who many wanted to start over Smith, threw three touchdowns and three interceptions on 63 percent passing. While it is a smaller sample size, that sort of offensive production was not acceptable as a starter. Even Lock himself said he was cool with being the backup because Geno was the starter. Yet the fans continued to clamor for someone else.
In 2024, when Smith went down with an injury in the Packers game late in the season, Sam Howell, who many wanted to start over Smith, played the majority of the second half. Howell went 5-for-14 passing, for 24 yards and an interception. That was good for a 14.6 passer rating. Again, despite the completely inefficient performance from his backup, fans were still calling for Howell to play over Smith, who was having another top-10 season.
In terms of realistic options for someone to replace Smith in Seattle in 2025, you're not looking at much. If Seattle were to release Smith, the only option on the roster would be Sam Howell, who has more interceptions than touchdowns in his career. Sure, Seattle could look in free agency.
But the best free agent quarterback this offseason is Sam Darnold, who was really good in a perfect Minnesota system, a far cry from the situation in Seattle. Darnold will likely get a ton of money from another team. Other free agents include Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Jacoby Brissett, and our old friend Drew Lock.
If you wanted to look in the draft, you better get ready to trade into the top five. The only worthy quarterback of a first-round selection is likely Shedeur Sanders, who would be a project quarterback anyway. Other than Sanders, there are a few you could maybe take a second or third-round flyer on like Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward, or Quinn Ewers, who are all unqualified to take over as starters right away.
Geno is still putting up elite numbers
If I told you your quarterback would be fifth in the NFL in yards, fourth in completion percentage, have the second-least amount of "inaccurate" throws, yet with the sixth most QB hits, faced the sixth most pressures in the NFL, and 20 recorded drops from receivers, would you not be impressed?
Geno Smith had the fourth-highest completion percentage over expected (CPOE) in the NFL. CPOE takes into consideration how improbable a completion is based on air yards, degree of separation between a wide receiver and defensive back, pressure faced, and overall difficulty of a throw. It is essentially a stat that shows how accurate and skilled a passer is against difficult circumstances.
Geno Smith secured his second 4,000-yard passing season in his past three seasons starting in Seattle. In 2022, he set the single-season passing yards record. With 186 yards against the Rams on Sunday, Geno can break his own franchise record. Russell Wilson is the only other quarterback in Seahawks history to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season. And Geno Smith is doing all of this with a bottom-five offensive line in the NFL and some shady play calling from a rookie offensive coordinator.
The reality is that Seattle will not get a more effective passer than Geno Smith unless they're somehow able to finagle away Josh Allen or Joe Burrow. I even think those two quarterbacks would see a steep decline in efficiency in Seattle's system behind its offensive line. Sure, Geno has weapons and a pair of good running backs, but when you're not put in a position to succeed by your coaches and front office, it's hard to lead a team to the playoffs every year.
Moving on from Geno would be addressing the wrong issue
Reiterating the fact that Geno is not, nor ever was the issue, the Seahawks need to look in the mirror and identify the real issues. As overjoyed as I was to see Seattle bring in Ryan Grubb from Washington, he was simply not a good coordinator in 2024. As promising as the offensive line seemed heading into this season, they were a dumpster fire again. And as excited as I was for the wide receiver corps, they could not get open enough and dropped the ball way too often.
Part of the wide receivers' issues this season stems from the play calling from Grubb. Seattle passed the ball far too often to draw in defenders and open up anything downfield. Defenses could sit back in cover two and take away all the vertical routes Grubb schemed up, leaving Geno with few options.
Further, the fact Grubb at times refused to run the ball, there was very little Geno could do to break tendencies, and he was often left with no choice but to force footballs into tiny windows. Multiple of those ended up being interceptions.
According to Pro Football Network, the Seahawks' offensive line ranks 31st (second to last) in pressures allowed with nearly 40 percent of Geno's dropbacks being pressured, and 24th in the league in sacks allowed, with a staggering 8.4 percent of dropbacks resulting in a sack.
Seattle couldn't get the run game going if it even tried, as the offensive line ranks dead last in the league in running back yards before contact with a pathetic 0.5 yards. Moving on from Geno instead of addressing the offensive line would be a lateral move for Seattle.