Seahawks Final Report Card: How Did Geno Smith, Drew Lock Perform Under Center?
Despite finishing with a winning record for a second straight season, the Seattle Seahawks weren't fortunate enough to earn a playoff spot in 2023, bringing a disappointing season to a close earlier than expected.
Looking back on the season, while Seattle had plenty of issues that held the team back from fulfilling their goals, quarterback play remained stellar with Geno Smith and Drew Lock under center. Despite working behind an injury-marred, inconsistent offensive line, the duo combined for 22 touchdown passes and six game-winning drives, playing at their best with the game on the line all year long.
Kicking off my annual post-season report card series, I hand out my year-end grades with areas of strength and areas of improvement while taking a look into the crystal ball to see what's next for the Seahawks at quarterback.
Geno Smith
Overall Grade: 87.0
Areas of Strength: Playing behind nine different offensive line combinations over the course of the season, few quarterbacks dealt with more pressure than Smith, who ranked fifth among qualified signal callers in pressured drop back rate (40.3 percent). Despite the constant chaos, however, he only took 31 sacks, which ranked 13th among quarterbacks, masterfully maneuvering the pocket to avoid oncoming rushers and extend plays. When pressured, he threw eight touchdowns compared to only three interceptions, and his numbers would have been significantly better if not for seven drops by receivers in such situations, tied for the fifth-most.
For a second straight season, despite a somewhat slow start throwing downfield, Smith finished second behind only Trevor Lawrence in PFF's "big time throws" traveling 20 or more yards. The veteran quarterback thrived on play action passes, ranking third in completion percentage (73.9 percent), sixth in yards per attempt (9.6), eighth in passer rating (111.6), and first in big time throws (12). As clutch as any player in the NFL this year, he also orchestrated a league-best five game-winning drives while setting a new single season record with seven go-ahead touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.
Areas of Improvement: Early in the season, Smith struggled mightily with turnovers, throwing seven interceptions in his first eight starts. Through Week 9, he ranked seventh in the league in turnover-worthy plays (13) and only had thrown two more touchdowns than picks while his completion percentage dipped to 65.2 percent. For the season, he finished 10th among quarterbacks in turnover-worthy plays and seventh in turnover-worthy play percentage, still taking a few too many chances into tight coverage at times.
Though it wasn't all his fault with shaky pass protection and an inconsistent run game, Smith didn't perform well compared to his peers in the red zone and on third down. Inside the opposing 20-yard line, while he did toss 16 touchdown passes, he completed just 41.8 percent of his passes, ranking 36th out of 37 qualified quarterbacks. On third down, he wasn't much more efficient, completing just 56.9 percent of his passes and converting only 36.5 percent of his pass attempts into a new set of downs, ranking 34th and 29th out of 44 quarterbacks in each category respectively.
Drew Lock
Overall Grade: 81.0
Areas of Strength: In two relief appearances for Smith earlier in the season, Lock struggled completing only four out of 12 passes with an interception. But when granted the opportunity to start a pair of games in December, he played far more efficient football, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes and averaging seven yards per attempt against two quality opponents in the Eagles and 49ers. Showing he still has a rocket arm, he took down Philadelphia on a game-winning drive with two beautiful deep balls to DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, with the latter putting the Seahawks ahead inside a minute to play at Lumen Field.
Areas of Improvement: While Lock played a clean game against the Eagles without any interceptions, his penchant for turning the ball over remains a concern. For quarterbacks with at least 75 pass attempts this season, his 5.5 percent turnover-worthy throw rate ranked seventh worst. He also dealt with issues unloading the football from the pocket in a timely manner and dealing with pressure in general, taking six sacks in his two starts and uncorking turnover-worthy throws on 8.3 percent of his attempts when under duress.
What's Next?
Unlike last offseason, Smith shouldn't have to worry about his contract status after signing a three-year deal last March. Though his numbers regressed across the board in large part due to unideal circumstances around him, he played outstanding ball in the final month of the season, throwing eight touchdowns and only one interception in his last four starts. This should give Seattle confidence as an organization in him continuing to be the starter at least in the short-term.
With that said, Smith will turn 34 years old next season and his cap hit balloons to $31.2 million in 2024. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if Seattle approaches him about re-working his contract to open up much-needed cap room and with the 2024 NFL Draft loaded with quarterback talent, the team could peg a potential successor in April if they fall in love with the right prospect.
As for Lock, he told reporters in Monday's locker clean out that he's "night and day" different as a player after two seasons in Seattle. With two quality starts to showcase on film to other teams this time around, he's hopeful another quarterback-needy team will sign him in free agency and give him a shot to compete for a starting spot. But if that doesn't end up being the case, it's possible he could return to the Pacific Northwest for a third season.
