Geno Smith seeks to take ‘next step’ as Seahawks’ QB, leader with accountability, accuracy

Mike Macdonald says the Seahawks want Geno Smith to “take the next step” in being a team leader.

Another one of those steps came on the third day of training camp.

It was an easily overlooked completed pass by the Seahawks’ Pro Bowl quarterback. The NFL’s leader in completion rate at 69.8% in the 2022 season threw a swing pass in an 11-on-11 scrimmage. It was to rookie running back Kobe Lewis near the right sideline. The throw was a couple steps up field from where Smith wanted to hit Lewis in stride.

Lewis lost his balance while lunging for the catch. He fell to the turf. The undrafted rookie from Florida Atlantic got up and gained a few more yards.

But Smith knew he’d ruined a bigger gain. Seattle’s veteran captain kicked the grass. He knocked the side of his helmet with a closed fist. He tapped his chest to acknowledge to himself, to Lewis and the team that despite the completion Lewis’ fall and the shorter gain was his, the QB’s, fault.

“Certainly Geno, when you’re out there with him, you can feel his presence,” new Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “And he does a really good job of that, of commanding the attention of his teammates.”

Smith’s accountability mirrors what Macdonald is demanding in his first training camp as a head coach, as Macdonald ordering players back outside to sign autographs for fans following practice Saturday showed.

Accountability, as much as his usually on-target passing, is why Smith is the Seahawks’ captain and face of the franchise in his third year replacing traded Russell Wilson.

Smith said he’s never been stronger or faster in his 12-year NFL career. He also seeks to keep his mind sharp...by playing chess.

“I play a lot. Me and Tyler (Lockett), we play on the phone a lot,” Smith said. “Me and my brothers back home (in Miami), we sit down and we actually play.”

Macdonald, the NFL’s youngest head coach at age 37, has been effusive in praising the 33-year-old Smith.

“Highly competitive. I love how Geno works,” Macdonald said. “We are pushing him to take the next step as a football player and as a leader, and I think he’s answering the call. ...

“Just really such a respect for how hard this man works at his craft.

“Him as a leader, the mission that he’s on. Just really respect how he’s approached everything. We’re on the record with how much we love him, how much of a great worker he is.”

Accuracy is Smith’s focus

There’s another “a” word beyond accountability that Smith sees as even more important to being a quarterback.

He says it’s the most important measurable there is for the position.

It’s not passing yards. It’s not touchdowns, passer rating or turnovers or even leadership.

“Being able to throw an accurate ball, I mean that’s the most important thing in playing quarterback. ...I feel like I’m one of the best at that,” Smith said this past weekend.

“I’ll take it back to Bill Parcells: The number-one thing you look for in a quarterback is accuracy. Before decision-making, before anything, if you’re not accurate, if you can’t hit the target, it doesn’t matter what decision you make. Then decision-making, and then leadership, toughness, and all those things that you can rank however you want.

“But the number-one thing is accuracy, at all times.”

A decrease in accuracy was why Smith felt he wasted some opportunities last season. It would have been All-Pro-like for him to repeat his team-record completion percentage from 2022, the first Pro Bowl and playoff season of Smith’s 12-year NFL career. Yet his 64.7% completion rate in 2023 was more than 5% lower than Smith’s passing accuracy in 2022. He had 678 fewer yards passing (3,624, 16th in the league), 10 fewer touchdown throws (20, tied for 17th in the NFL).

Yet he kept his turnovers low. Smith had just nine interceptions in 499 pass attempts in 2023. His interception rate of 1.8% was lower by a tick than what he had in 2023 when he broke four of Wilson’s team passing records for a season.

Geno Smith clearly best

So far in this Seattle training camp, Smith has been the most accurate of the three quarterbacks. By far.

That has underscored what was already obvious: There is no competition between Smith and Sam Howell for the starting job this season. So far, Howell is in closer competition with former Carolina Panther and Cleveland Brown P.J. Walker, Seattle’s new third QB, for the number-two job than Howell is with Smith for any meaningful snaps in 2024.

Smith has been particularly precise on deep throws. He’s lofted those expertly over defenders in stride onto the hands of his receivers DK Metcalf, Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Howell, who went 4-13 and led the NFL in interceptions with 21 last season as the Washington Commanders’ starter, has been noticeably erratic. The third-year veteran acquired in a trade this spring for a fourth- and a sixth-round draft pick has often overthrown Seattle’s tallest and best-leaping receivers, including 6-foot-4 Jake Bobo over the middle.

The quarterbacks are getting dual daily challenges: Installing Grubb’s new offense the first-time NFL play caller has brought from the University of Washington, while facing Macdonald’s shifting, disguised defense every practice.

Smith and the Seahawks offense got annihilated by Maconald’s defense in Baltimore last November. In the Ravens’ 37-3 rout of Seattle, when Macdonald was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, Smith threw an interception and lost a fumble. The QB who values accuracy completed just 13 of 28 passes that lost afternoon in Maryland.

What is toughest about playing Macdonald’s defense?

“Just the multiplicity within the scheme. The fronts, linebackers moving, you got safeties moving,” Smith said.

In this Seahawks training camp, Macdonald has safeties Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins moving up and back, toward and back off the line, before snaps. Cornerbacks are on the line of scrimmage as if blitzing, then race way out and back into outside coverage at the snap. Ends stand as outside linebackers. Tackles walk outside as ends. Ends move inside as tackles.

Sometimes all that happens after the snap.

“One minute, Julian Love’s in the box. Next minute, he’s flying back to the post (deep middle),” Smith said. “I don’t want to give too much away, but these guys are all over the place and they’re flying around.

“You can see they’re out there having fun.”