Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has been named one of the top 10 pending free agents in the class of 2023 by Pro Football Focus.
Specifically, Smith came in second on the list, one spot behind Lamar Jackson and one ahead of Tom Brady. PFF is confident that what Smith has been doing is sustainable. Here’s what they said.
“Nothing about what he’s doing is fluky or excessively bolstered by things like play action, an outlier performance in unstable metrics like passing grade against pressure, or any other method you use to try to poke holes in his production this season. Smith’s 85.9 overall grade and 89.1 passing grade from a clean pocket rank fourth. His 11 passing touchdowns on throws of 20-plus yards is three more than the next-best quarterback, and his 6.7% big-time throw rate ranks third. There’s still a lot of football left this season, but no current indication we should expect some massive regression.”
While Smith hasn’t looked quite as sharp the last couple of games, this is still correct. Nobody plays at a high level for an entire season and in any case a few questionable throws and a fumble aren’t enough to qualify for a decline.
On Sunday NFL Network reported that the Seahawks are expected to make a long-term contract offer to Smith after the season is over. Unless there’s some kind of moon-shot chance of signing Jackson, then re-signing Smith is the right move, even if they still plan to pick a quarterback early on in the 2023 NFL draft.
