Commentary: Why Geno Smith, ‘an overcomer’ of doubters, can lead the Seahawks to greater heights in 2023

RENTON, Wash. – Unlike last year, there is no quarterback competition in Seahawks’ camp, Geno Smith having long ago put that to rest with an excellent 2022 season as Russell Wilson’s replacement.

But Smith is trying to replicate the mindset that propelled him to the Pro Bowl after six seasons as an NFL backup. It takes some Jedi mind tricks, because Smith has a new $105 million contract in hand and is ensconced with the No. 1 offense during training camp. He led a Seahawks team that most people thought would flounder in Wilson’s absence to an unexpected playoff berth despite a defense that couldn’t stop the run.

During his first news conference Thursday on the second day of training camp, Smith said he wants his dynamic with backup Drew Lock to be the same despite the lack of a battle for playing time.

“It is different because I am getting more reps, but to me, it’s the same thing,” he said. “We’ve worked at the same pace as last year and we are just continuing that, and nothing is going to change as far as our competition. We are going to work the same way, but we are going to push each other to be better.”

Smith’s ability to keep his performance on the ascent will go a long way toward determining if the Seahawks can build on last year’s 9-8 season that ended with a 41-23 loss to San Francisco in the wild-card round of the playoffs. There was a raging debate about whether the Seahawks should invest long term in a 32-year-old quarterback who some felt would be a one-year wonder. But the Seahawks showed enough faith in Smith to give him a three-year deal, albeit one loaded with incentive clauses and escalators and an opportunity for the Seahawks to get out of it after one year.

Smith, however, is on a mission to not only show that the contract was warranted, but that he deserves to serve its entirety. If he does that, Smith will be handsomely compensated, and presumably the Seahawks will benefit greatly as well.

After the playoff loss to the 49ers, in which the Seahawks were outscored 25-0 in the second half after leading 17-16 at halftime, Smith said that game would both haunt and motivate him throughout the offseason. He had a costly fumble in the red zone as the Seahawks were driving toward a touchdown.

“I just had a really bad taste in my mouth after that playoff game,” Smith said Thursday. “I didn’t want it to end. I just went straight to work.”

Smith has shown up leaner than last year, having lost five to 10 pounds with a diet that he said is without red meat, chicken, dairy or sweets. He spent much of the offseason interacting with teammates in various parts of the country – throwing with first-round draft pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Miami, hanging with Tyler Lockett in Dallas (where he attended his wedding), then finishing up in California working out with DK Metcalf and Bobby Wagner at USC and UCLA.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll sees in Smith a guy who is comfortable in his own skin as a team leader after a season in which he threw for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns. Smith’s 69.8% completion rate led the NFL and helped him earn both the first Pro Bowl berth of his career and the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year Award.

“There really is a quality coming back,” Carroll said. “His seriousness about taking advantage of all the steps along the way to get prepared and to be right. He knows how he needs to connect with his teammates and players that he’s going to go to. … He’s just right in the heart of his time. He knows it, and nothing is going to catch him by surprise. He’s worked his butt off, but he’s still lean and mean right now, and he looks great. He’s just going to capture this moment and what it feels like.”

Smith waves off talk about the potential of the Seahawks’ offense (“we’ve got to prove it”) but acknowledges they have a preponderance of skill-position performers who could be dynamic playmakers.

“We have a whole onslaught of guys who bring it,” he said, before adding a cautionary, “Nothing we did last year is going to be able to help us this year except for the confidence.”

Of course, confidence can be a powerful force. So can the kind of resilience and will that allows one to seize his long-awaited opportunity, as Smith did last year.

He memorably downplayed his earlier struggles by saying, “My tough times would be a dream to someone else.” But after beating Wilson and the Broncos in the much-hyped opener last year, Smith gave his most famous quote about perseverance: “They wrote me off. I ain’t write back, though.”

On Thursday, when asked about being an inspiration to other NFL players who might have been cast aside for years, Smith referred to himself as “an overcomer.”

He’s already overcome the skepticism of those who dismissed his chances of being a competent replacement for Wilson. And to those who are writing off his chances of doing it again, Smith isn’t about to write back.