Seahawks Coach Shane Waldron Praises Geno Smith's 'Great Trait!'

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is happy with quarterback Geno Smith, even if he's turning down designed shot plays.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is now in Year 2 as the starter, but he’s finding success in new ways.

Last season, Smith was perhaps the most accurate quarterback in football, excelling downfield and lapping the competition in terms of completion percentage over expected. This season, a rough second half against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 stunted the hype for Seattle’s 2023 offense, but the fireworks were on display against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

The Seahawks won, 37-31, in overtime. It was the second consecutive year that Seattle visited Detroit and won a thrilling shootout. Last season, Smith averaged 11 air yards per attempt. A year later, that mark would fall to 5.7 yards.

Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron praised Smith’s ability to win in whichever way the defense allowed.

“Just keeping us on schedule is huge, he did a great job of it,” Waldron said on Thursday. “There was a couple times in that game where maybe we had some shots called down the field and they had a good pressure called or something … that prevented us from getting down field and Geno did a great job … taking the backs or taking one of the underneath routes when [the deep ball] wasn’t there.”

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Smith’s ability to hit the checkdown was huge for keeping the Seahawks ahead of the chains. Subsequently, he was sacked only once (in horrendously ugly fashion) and distributed to nine different teammates.

“He was able to get the ball out, get some completions, get the positive plays rolling,” Waldron said.

In all, Smith completed 32 of his 41 attempts for 328 yards and two scores. He needed to deliver to get Seattle back to .500, and he did just that. So what if it came in the form of frequent checkdowns? Waldron doesn’t seem to mind.

“For Geno I think it’s a great trait that he has,” Waldron said. “He has that understanding … not to wait on it, not to wait on something downfield when you know you can get the ball out and play the next play.”

Smith had a strong day on Sunday, culminating in a 0.271 expected points added per play performance. Simply put, he was vital in getting Seattle back on track.

Now, Smith will have the opportunity to help the Seahawks contend for the NFC West with matchups against the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants approaching before the Week 5 bye.