Geno Smith was able to revitalize his career over the past three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. During that span, he appeared in 49 games, throwing for 12,226 yards and 71 touchdowns. He completed 68.5% of his passes while adding 793 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 158 carries.
He earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2022 and reached the Pro Bowl in both 2022 and 2023. It marked an impressive turnaround for a quarterback who had not been a full-time starter since 2014.
Despite his production, Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason for a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Seattle wanted to keep Smith, but their contract negotiations turned sideways, and he ended up being dealt.
Raiders QB Geno Smith leaves panel with split opinions in recent ranking
Despite ranking fourth in passing yards and completion percentage and eighth in passing touchdowns over the last three seasons, the Raiders' new signal-caller was ranked as the 19th-best quarterback in The Athletic's recent poll.
While he has produced at a high level in recent years, this ranking still puts him in the bottom half of players at his position. One defensive coordinator, who participated in the poll, had an interesting perspective on Smith as a quarterback.
"Geno is pretty good at everything, but nothing stands out as an elite trait. There is not one X-Man power where you are like f---, this guy."Anonymous NFL defensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator claimed that, while his arm talent is great, he struggles in tough games:
"He has as good of arm talent as anyone, he is accurate and he has won games where he was the reason in some of those fourth-quarter victories and shootouts," the coach said. "He has had some struggles, too. What prevents him from being in that elite level? In the games that are really, really hard, he has not overcome those, although they did beat San Francisco this past year."
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One NFL head coach had a more positive review about Smith, which echoed more of how Raider Nation feels about their quarterback.
"I think he's a (tier) 2 (quarterback) because when the game is on the line, he can make the throws to win. He stands in there," the coach said. "Guys that can stand in there, take hits when the game is on the line, whether it's third down or two-minute, those guys are legit."
Finally, one defensive coordinator had harsh words for him and labeled Smith as a game manager, which has taken on a negative connotation in recent years.
"He is a game manager who is going to turn the ball over and can't carry it," the coach said. "Even when the team is good, you are always going to feel like we don't quite have the guy."
Smith was among the most polarizing quarterbacks in the rankings, as opinions on him varied quite strongly. One thing that should give Raiders fans some hope is that the Seahawks outperformed their expectations in each of Smith's three seasons with the franchise, and he can do that again in 2025.