Should the Seahawks take a QB in the draft with Geno Smith playing so well?

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Let’s debate whether the Seahawks should draft a QB in the 1st round of 2023.

We’re turning the corner from the NFL season and into draft season. With it there will be all manners of arguments about player positioning and who deserves to go No. 1 overall, but one of the most intriguing predicaments in the top-5 comes from the Seahawks.

This is a team who were predicted to crater this season. In fact, 2022 was supposed to be a tank year before it even began, with the notion being that Seattle would trade away Russell Wilson, be garbage as a result, and aim to select their quarterback of the future with a top-3 pick. Now they’re pushing to find a spot in the playoffs, and Denver’s misfortunes have put the team in a generational position to overhaul all the team’s need positions in a couple of short years, and that begins now.

That said, this draft is more complicated now thanks to Geno Smith. The quarterback’s resurgence has been easily the best story of 2022, and his play has certainly warranted continuing as the team’s starter. Is one comeback season enough to ignore the QB position and address other needs? Today myself and Mark Schofield make our cases for whether Seattle should take a QB in the first round.

The Seahawks HAVE to a take a quarterback — by James Dator

I love Geno Smith. I love his play this season, I love his story, and I love how he’s defied expectations to legitimately become one of the best quarterbacks in 2022. I still think Seattle would be foolish to ignore the opportunity to take a top passer this year.

The Denver collapse has handed the Seahawks what I call a “Golden Goose Draft.” It’s something that only comes along once in a great while, in any sport. The prime example of this was the 1996-97 Spurs, which collapsed from a 59-23 record the year before, to ending up with the No. 1 pick because of a season-ending injury to David Robinson. It allowed San Antonio to take Tim Duncan with the top pick, and build a dynasty because of it.

Yes, this is a little different, but I think the effect is the same. Seattle is too good of a team to plummet back into having a Top 3 pick, at least in the immediate future. This has to be the team’s opportunity to take a passer, even if they sit behind Geno in 2023.

As it stands the Seahawks with have the No. 2 overall pick. Unless you really dislike all of the tops passers this year there is no reason not to take one. Every potential draft scenario I can think of is good. Both Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud have the potential to be top tier NFL starters. Should the Texans be foolish and roll the dice on Will Levis you can take your pick of the best NFL-ready QB in the draft.

I know this team has huge holes on defense that need to be filled. I understand that going all-defense in 2023 could result in getting Seattle back to being a regular playoff contender quickly. However, Geno is also going to be 33 years old next season, and time is catching up on him before we even talk about the likelihood he can keep this run going.

As far as I’m concerned you take a QB at No. 2. You lock up Smith to a 3-4 year performance-heavy extension, and let it rip. The worst case scenario is you wind up like the Chargers when they took Philip Rivers, and you could find a QB-needy team to trade Geno for to recoup more picks moving forward like San Diego did with Drew Brees.

If you want to get better right now, then by all means, draft defense. If you want a chance to turn the Seahawks into a decade-plus threat in the NFC you take a top passer and laugh all the way to the bank knowing your future is secure.

Seattle should follow the Eagles’ approach — by Mark Schofield

Seattle is in position to run the NFL draft next year.

They could extend that if they follow what Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles did this past offseason.

Let’s set the framework for this discussion. Right now, the Seahawks hold five picks in the first three rounds of the NFL draft, according to Tankathon. They have their own first round selection (currently 17th), their own second round selection (currently 48th overall), and their own third round selection, which is currently 82nd overall.

They also, thanks to the Wilson trade, have additional picks in the first (2nd overall) and the second, currently 35th overall.

That is a lot of draft capital.

Prior to last year’s draft, the Eagles had a trio of first-round selections at their disposal. That gave Roseman a ton of options. But the Eagles were in a similar position last spring as Seattle finds themselves this year.

Are they sure about their quarterback?

So what did Roseman do? He built around his quarterback, but gave himself a future hedge. In a pre-draft trade with the New Orleans Saints, Roseman flipped one of those 2022 first-round selections, but added a 2023 first-round pick.

As it stands right now, the Eagles are picking fifth with that Saints selection.

And because of the growth from Jalen Hurts this season — as well as how they used the rest of their draft capital to build around him, like they did with the A.J. Brown trade that involved another of those first-round selections — they do not need to draft a quarterback.

However, if Hurts did not have the MVP-type season this year that he is having, they would be in position, with a pair of first-round picks, to move up for a quarterback if they needed to.

Now let’s talk about Seattle. Thanks to what Smith has done this season — he ranks among the league leaders in a number of passing categories, including ANY/A, QBR, EPA, and CPOE — Seattle is 7-6 and chasing a playoff spot. Beyond the numbers, and the wins, what Smith has shown on the field is really a continuation of what we saw from him last year, when he was pressed into action after Wilson suffered his hand injury. Touch, trajectory, accuracy, and pocket management, are all traits Smith has displayed at a high level this year, as he did a season ago.

As I wrote about him this summer:

Staying and fighting in the pocket is one of the toughest things for a quarterback to do. It flies in the face of all human emotion. Large men are coming to do you harm, and while instincts might tell you to run for the hills — as they told me so many times over the years — the ability to stay within the pocket, create space and keep the offense on structure is a tremendous skill for a quarterback to have. That keeps as many options in the concept in play for the quarterback rather than immediately cutting the field in half, forcing defenses to still defend “every blade of grass.”

If Smith can unleash that trait as much as possible, in tandem with the others discussed, he’ll not only earn the starting job in Seattle…but he’ll keep it.

There is no reason to believe that will suddenly go away next year.

So what should Seattle do? Find a way to add that future hedge, like Roseman did last year. There is no need to force a quarterback pick this year. Smith has shown over the past two seasons that he can be the starter, and that he can play at a high level.

It might involve sliding back from the first of the two picks, which right now is second overall. There are a number of teams that will likely be in the quarterback game this cycle, including Indianapolis (currently picking seventh), Carolina (currently picking ninth), and potentially Detroit, although the Lions could roll with Jared Goff and take a similar approach.

Hypothetically, imagine Seattle trades down from two with Indianapolis, picking up a 2024 first-round pick in the process. They could add talent on defense, perhaps another pass rusher in Myles Murphy or Tyree Wilson, or imagine pairing Kelee Ringo with Tariq Woolen? Jalen Carter could still be there, depending on how teams view interior defensive linemen. (Remember, Jordan Davis slid last year to … the Philadelphia Eagles).

So what the Seahawks should do is build around Smith for 2023, but give themselves an out for the 2024 draft should the need arise. Smith has proven with his play over the past two seasons that this is not a flash-in-the-pan situation. Build around him, hedge with a future first, and hope that you put together a similar run like Philadelphia next year.

And if it all goes south, use that hedge as a way to get Caleb Williams. Somehow.