Year 3: Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith Has 'Settled Down' Ahead of Pivotal Season

Entering his third season as the Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback, Geno Smith appears more confident than ever — and that wasn't an issue before.

Aug 24, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) passes against the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Geno Smith’s journey back to being a starting quarterback in the NFL isn’t a secret anymore. Regardless of your thoughts on how he stacks up to his peers across the league, Smith is the Seattle Seahawks starter. That’s not changing in 2024.

Despite entering his third straight season in that role, this offseason was different, Smith said. He’s now just a few days away from the season opener against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Sept. 8.

“Kind of knowing that you’re going to go in and be the starter allows you to … be a little bit more comfortable,” Smith said on Thursday. “And I think I’ve settled down a little bit … it’s just helping me be more calm when I’m out there.”

Heading into the 2022 season — Smith’s first season as Seattle’s starter following the Russell Wilson trade — he had to prove he could do it. Smith did that by breaking the franchise’s single-season passing yards record (4,282), leading the Seahawks to a playoff berth and tossing 30 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions.

In 2023, Smith wanted to show it wasn’t a fluke. Seattle missed the playoffs, Smith’s completion percentage dropped five points and he finished with 20 touchdowns to nine interceptions — appearing to take a step back while playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football.

That hasn’t shaken Smith’s confidence. His numbers last season don’t nearly paint the whole picture of his campaign. He also missed two games due to injury. Smith’s two-year statistical sample size still places him among the top passers in the league.

“I think that first year I can just remember just being so — I hadn’t played, right? So, being so excited to just go out there and play,” Smith said. “Then the second year, you kind of have those thoughts: ‘Well, can I do it again? Can I come out here and do it again?’ And now, I’m kind of at that point where it’s on tape, right? So I just got to go out there and be me, and that’s really kind of how I feel about it.”

The major difference entering 2024, of course, is the implementation of a new offense. Pete Carroll and Shane Waldron are out — Mike Macdonald and Ryan Grubb are in. With that change comes a scheme that is being adapted from the college game and being placed in Smith’s lap.

Smith said he has about the same autonomy pre-snap that he had under Carroll, “and that’s the way I think you should play quarterback,” he said. Nothing has changed on that front.

“Football is football,” Smith said of the adaptation of Grubb’s scheme. “The only main difference in college is the hashes are different … he’s got a lot of plays and a lot of things that maybe some guys haven’t seen yet, so we’ll see how that goes, but internally, man, we know that we’ve got a really special coordinator.”

Smith added he didn’t change much from his offseason regimen. He just tried to improve at executing his existing process. Stacking seasons has been Smith’s biggest confidence booster, even though he was never lacking conviction when he was a perennial backup.

“I think that was probably the key thing in all that is that I remained confident in my ability,” Smith said. “I remained confident in the type of player that I wanted to be, and I worked towards it. That’s no different than it is now. I always have high expectations for myself, but I hate to make it about myself because I don’t play alone. I play with a group of guys, and it’s really about collectively how good can we be together?”

Dec 31, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrate after Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a pass for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first half at Lumen Field. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Seattle isn’t short on offensive weapons. Smith has plenty of firepower surrounding him with wide receivers DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba and tight end Noah Fant. In the backfield, Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet are a one-two punch that any NFL team would yearn for.

Smith believes the Seahawks have the “best receiving corps in the league” and the “best running back room in the league,” he said. Some might disagree, but there is no arguing either room out of the top 5.

“It’s up to us to go out there and execute, but all of those guys together, they helped me have that confidence,” Smith added.

Year three begins for Smith at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday at Lumen Field. If his performance is anything like the one drive he led in Week 3 of the preseason versus the Cleveland Browns (4-for-5 passing, 61 yards and a touchdown to Metcalf), Seattle could be off to one of its best offensive starts in recent memory.

This season will be critical to Smith’s future as Seattle’s quarterback, as well. It’s not so much his play that has brought that into question, but more so his age. Smith will turn 34 on Oct. 10 — the same day Seattle hosts the division rival San Francisco 49ers in Week 6.

Smith will try to take the attention away from a potential succession plan when the season begins. He can only do that by playing the best football of his career.