Good lord, I need football back. These dog days of Summer are wearing thin, and if God wanted baseball to be the greatest sport in America, he would have infielders tackling base runners.

So, I need training camp to happen now, and I don’t know about you, but I am kinda more intrigued about the Seattle Seahawks than I have been in many years. Call it Mike Macdonald and his new coaching staff, and the chance for the team to field an exciting new defense. Call it the fact that I think the Seahawks are more talented than some national projections are indicating, and I am ready for them to be a surprise team.

Call it the fact that I think their quarterback situation is one of the more underrated ones in the league, and one that critics are grossly overlooking. Here are my thoughts on that.

There exists perhaps no other position in sports that creates greater division amongst fans than that of the NFL quarterback. Unless your team is blessed with having Patrick Mahomes, or peak Tom Brady, your fanbase is probably somewhat split about the quarterback, even if it’s a slight one.

No other example is better than this than when the Seattle Seahawks had Russell Wilson in his prime. Wilson had fans who were so devoted to him that they wanted to see Pete Carroll canned in favor of a more innovative offensive minded dude. At the same time, Russ also had loud detractors who felt it was a major mistake for the organization to invest so much in him in the first place, and that his sandlot style would only get this team so far. Both fronts were extremely dug in, much like people just are these days (unfortunately).

When it comes to this most important position, this sorta division amongst fans exists all over the league. If team aren’t winning Super Bowls, either expensive quarterbacks get judged with a high degree of scrutiny, or struggling quarterbacks on rookie deals get discarded way too soon.

Dallas fans are probably very split over Dak Prescott, even though he is perfectly in his prime, and was a leading MVP candidate last year. Critics say he doesn’t win enough in the post season, but to that I would say neither did Matthew Stafford when he was in Detroit. Something to keep in mind, if Dak does hit free agency in 2025.

Dolphin fans are probably very torn over Tua even though he is one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league. Charger fans (if there are any), might start losing patience in Justin Herbert if Jim Harbaugh doesn’t get that team off to a fast start.

If the Eagles don’t have a big bounce back season, Jalen Hurts will surely be further scrutinized after he signed his mega contract. So will Lamar Jackson, if the Ravens don’t make a deep playoff run.

If the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals disappoint again, the narratives around Josh Allen and Joe Burrow will start to shift, just you wait. Two years ago, these two guys were thought of as the second and third best passers in the league. Now there are slight murmurings of either regression (Allen) or injury proneness (Burrow).

Also, pressure is going to be on Doug Pederson in Jacksonville to get that team back in the playoffs with Trevor Lawrence. It won’t be enough to make the playoffs, either, as fans are going to need to see Lawrence finally playing at a high level after they just penned him to his monster deal.

And mark my words on this; with perhaps the most talented team in the entire NFL, if the San Francisco 49ers don’t win the Super Bowl this year, you will see division amongst 49er fans as to whether the team should make Brock Purdy one of the richest quarterbacks in the league at the expense of breaking up that roster. It will happen. The pressure on that team to win it all this year (or next) will be like no other pressure in the league.

Then you have this somewhat curious, and under the radar situation wedged up here in the Pacific Northwest with the Seattle Seahawks, and Geno Smith, and Sam Howell.

If you are a big time talking head for EPSN, or Fox Sports, I imagine it is easy to forget about who Seattle even has as a starter even though Geno Smith was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year two years ago, and has been a Pro Bowl player in most recent back to back years. Geno isn’t a superstar veteran, nor is he a young gun with youthful upside generating interesting talking points. He was a fun novelty story two years ago when he beat out Drew Lock for the starter gig and played much better than everyone expected, but novelties wear off quickly.

Way up here amongst the Twelves, however, Geno has both his highly devoted fans, and sharp critics, as any second tier starter would. He has football film junky fans who believe he is solidly a top ten quarterback, and he has some extreme critics who think he is so bad that he is holding this team back (what is it about our society that few people can ever find a solid middle ground anymore?).

In terms of Sam Howell, while perhaps most fans probably see him as nothing more than a backup, there are some NFL insiders who believe in his potential to develop into a quality starter given his youth, strong arm, playmaking potential, and toughness. Count me in with the few who see sunnier horizons with him down the road.

Both of these quarterbacks I find interesting, to be honest.

With Geno, I’ve always liked him as far back as his college days in West Virginia. He threw then, and still throws to this day, one of the prettiest downfield passes that you will see. Give him time, and a proper scheme, and Geno can deliver positive results.

I would say that if Seattle had at least a competent defensive coordinator last year, with Geno’s late season play, they would have probably won that shoot out match in Dallas, and taken that game at home a few weeks later against the Steelers, ended up 11-6, and in the playoffs. Perhaps they would have met another quick exit, but we would still be talking about Pete Carroll coaching this team today.

This is what I believe Geno Smith is good for as the QB1 for this team with this talent, and now perhaps better competency on this coaching staff. 11-6, and a playoff run, and likely another Pro Bowl nod. Geno Smith feels destined to be the new Kansas City Chief version of Alex Smith. I will take that.

He’s a stable veteran presence who understands NFL defenses, and how to attack them. He has a strong, accurate arm, and enough athleticism to extend plays under pressure, which is kinda what you’re hoping for in this modern league of football. Most importantly, he still has a feisty chip on his shoulder to continue proving detractors wrong.

When I look at all of these variables, and the fact that new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is installing an offense tailor made for his exact skillsets, I honestly laugh at Geno’s critics, and how they are overlooking him Seattle. Former Washington State local kid Colin Cowherd can dismiss Geno Smith as much as he feels like he needs to do it, but I would be perfectly willing to bet that Geno finds more success this year in this offense than he has had the last two years with Shane Waldron calling plays, barring injury.

In fact, I think Seattle is poised to catch the league off guard, and I am here for it.

Nobody knows what this team will be in terms of schemes. Grubb has already said that he’s going to change it up a bit from what he did for the Washington Huskies. With Mike McDonald building his defense, he has continued to say that he is going to morph the scheme towards the strengths of the players on this roster, so it stands to reason that simply looking at Baltimore tape over the past two years may not be enough for Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan.

While it might be really easy to write off Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks from an outsider’s perspective, the truth of the matter is that Seattle has the distinct advantage of the unknown in this league. This is the same unknown that rookie head coach Sean McVay had in LA back in 2016 when he inherited a young talented roster that was a hot mess because of the previous coaching staff.

General Manager John Schneider is banking on the innovative and analytic mind of McDonald coming in to take the league by storm. It’s not unreasonable to imagine seeing positive results in year one of his regime, either.

Some NFL insiders see Seattle’s defensive roster as having perhaps better overall talent on it than what McDonald had in Baltimore when he took over their defense two years ago. On offense, while the offensive line feels suspect, they are littered with skill players. Grubb’s DNA is coaching up good offensive lines, so all he needs to do is to improve that unit towards the middle of the pack, and Seattle can probably let it loose on teams.

I feel confidence in this scenario because of Geno Smith. I think Seattle can win games this year because of him, not inspite of him. You are free to scoff at this suggestion. I am free to hold receipts of doubters.

Onto Sam Howell.

I’m intrigued!

Heading into the 2021 college football season, Sam Howell was projected to potentially be the first overall pick of the NFL draft that following Spring. Scouts loved his arm strength, his ability to extend plays with his legs, and throw on the run. Some felt he had a Brett Farve vibe about him with the toughness that he played with. Toughness was the first thing John Schneider mentioned about Sam after they made the trade for him.

The 2021 season didn’t bode well for Sam after a very promising 2020 sophomore campaign that saw him as a Manning Award finalist. Having lost talent around him, his numbers dipped in competition percentage, touchdowns, yardage, and his interceptions trended up.

Then at the NFL combine, he ran a much slower than expected forty yard dash. Being a bit shorter at 6-1, a slower forty can be detrimental to a passer’s draft stock, especially if that dude didn’t live up to the hype during his last season of college football (Brock Purdy is the same height and didn’t put up impressive testing numbers at the combine, either, and was the last player drafted).

Because of all these factors, sure enough, Sam Howell fell to round five where Washington took a flyer on him, and Purdy to the bottom of round seven. I think it is reasonable to assert that Purdy fell to the perfect team who’s situation was unsettled enough at quarterback for him to step forward. I think it’s also reasonable to assert that Howell fell into a situation in DC that was an absolute clown circus from the top down.

Personally, at the time, I thought Howell was a good pickup for the Commanders. I was honestly expecting Seattle to grab in round three, much like they did with Russell Wilson. In fact, he was the one QB in that draft who had the most Wilson-esque vibes to me; a pure passer, with a big arm, who could buy time, and make plays with his legs.

In fact, when the Commanders came into Seattle last November, Sam Howell scared the crap out of me during that game. He wasn’t intimidated playing in front of a large loud crowd. He showed toughness and resourcefulness, and he made necessary plays that almost pulled out an upset.

So, I wasn’t surprised at all that Seattle made this move for him. In fact, I had suggested this very idea on this blog a few weeks before it went down. I loved the move then, and I like it even more now.

The cost of getting Sam Howell was peanuts for this team, and he has two years left on his rookie contract to see what they can develop with him behind Geno Smith. I think he’s potentially a great fit for what Ryan Grubb likes to do with his quarterbacks, too.

What Sam needs to do is demonstrate full command of the playbook, make smart, decisive decisions with the ball, and get the hero ball mentality out of his game. That’s the hurtle he needs to clear to become a quality starter. By what he has said in interviews, he seems very determined to prove that he can do exactly that, and he has the benefit of having some time to grow within this offensive scheme to do so.

So, while it is easy to look at his up and down stats with Washington in 2023, and believe he’s not the quarterback in the future here, I think it’s well worth considering that it was his first season starting in the league, and his results were not dissimilar to numerous first time starters of yesteryear; a list that would include Peyton Manning, Brett Farve, Drew Brees, and Josh Allen. There are other circumstances surrounding his year starting in DC that I think are well worth considering, as well.

Sam Howell was purposefully thrown into the fire as a starter. He wasn’t protected by any sort of balanced attack with a run game. In fact, he threw at a higher volume than any other QB in the league, and most of those throws came off of straight drop backs without the threat of handing the ball off with play action. He started out the season in a promising way, but it all came crashing down in a dismal way by December.

It was like Washington’s agenda was to make it as difficult as it could possibly be for him to see if he could rise above the flaming pits of Hell itself before deciding to go into the following draft targeting a quarterback. He wasn’t protected by any quarterback friendly system like Purdy enjoys in San Francisco. He wasn’t even protected the way Russell Wilson was his rookie year in Seattle with a scheme that leaned heavy on the run, either. Nope, instead, Washington decided to throw him into a pit of hungry wolves with a stick of driftwood to see if he could fight his way out.

Because of this bullshit handling of Howell in DC, I have a strong rooting interest in him now in Seattle, even more so than just than a hopeful shot at nothing to see if we have found our next long term starter. There are a lot of variables that I love to see in a quarterback, but perhaps my favorite is the natural sense of toughness and resolve to battle through adversity. If Sam Howell makes something for himself down the road in Seattle, it will be because of those very traits.

When you look at Seattle’s long history at quarterback, Howell finding success here feels perfectly on brand for this team from Jim Zorn, to Dave Krieg, Jon Kitna, Matt Hasslebeck, Russell Wilson, and Geno Smith. This team finds its quarterbacks under rocks while other teams blow first round picks on them (see New York Jets).

Ultimately, I want Sam Howell to push Geno Smith. I think it’s best for the team if he does this, and I think there’s a very reasonable to expect that it makes Geno better because of it.

After all, Geno didn’t struggle for years trying to convince a coaching staff to believe in him after his flame out with the Jets, only to finally get a QB1 gig again, make the Pro Bowl in back to back years, and then be automatically replaced in the second year of his extension here. He is going to be more determined than ever to prove himself all over again to Macdonald and Ryan Grubb. Bank on that.

This is why I believe it is fool’s gold to think Howell could usurp him this year with this staff. I just think it is more likely that Geno is going to be too good through camp to beat out. He won’t be outworked in this camp.

Why am I so confident in projecting al of this?

Because Sam Howell isn’t going to just idle back, either, and just accept the backup role out of the gates. He had last year to taste the QB1 role in DC, and he didn’t likely endure being thrown into a den of hungry wolves just to wilt into a backup role somewhere else. For the first time in ages, we might actually see iron sharpening iron at the most important position for this team. I can not wait for this.

I am very good with riding with Geno this season (and next year if he balls out big time). I will be honest, however, and say that I am ultimately more intrigued with Sam Howell, given his youth and upside as a potential long term starter.

Right now, the best thing for Sam is to show these coaches and players he’s well worth developing. He does that by showing solid through training camp and preseason games, and continuing to push Geno through the course of the season. He does this by being serious minded, digging deep into the playbook, and studying his ass off looking at tape against opponents. It’s his job to make this quarterback room in Seattle an outstanding one by becoming the best backup in the league.

However this QB situation ultimately shakes out long term, for now, I am just excited to see what this team can be in 2024. I’m feeling a lot of rosy optimism creeping in.

I think they are well positioned to surprise people. I see all the disrespect floating out there, projecting them to either be in third or fourth place within the division. I cannot help but laugh at it all. Hubris is naturally a very funny thing.

It was just the other month when Colin Cowherd called them a talented team without a quarterback. He then went on local airwaves and plainly stated his disbelief in Geno Smith, saying that he is essentially the same guy who flamed out years ago with the Jets, even though Geno has been a Pro Bowler in consecutive seasons, and quarterbacked this team to nine wins in back to back years with good efficiency numbers, all the while having to endure horrible schemes on both sides of the ball.

I can never tell what motivates Cowherd as a talking head, whether because he is from the State of Washington, he feels like he purposefully has to detach himself from the Seahawks with any sort of rooting interest, or if he just simply doesn’t care about sports in the region he grew up on because that doesn’t feed his brand, or if he just simply doesn’t track the teams up here because he’s a big shot down in LA rubbing elbows with the stars. Who knows, but I do know one thing; anyone watching Geno Smith on Sundays over the past two years calling him the same exact player he was with the Jets is a certifiable lunatic, and their opinions should not be trusted. It’s that plain and simple.

Could I be wrong on this stuff with Geno and could Colin Cowherd be correct?

Sure, anything is possible. Maybe Geno, with all of his experiences and life lessons, reverts back to when he was 24 years old and was a loose cannon trying to play hero ball.

I don’t think I’m going to be wrong, though. I think Cowherd is going to be eating crow once again regarding his “home team.”

The Seattle Seahawks have enough interesting talent on both sides of the ball for a seasoned, mature quarterback with a good arm and accuracy step in and find success this year, even if this division is a tough one. This team is built for a guy like Geno to guide it now. This is what I believe.

And that is what I think we are going to see.

Go Hawks.