Pete Carroll just had a bout with Covid, but it's straight to business now that he's back at camp. The Seahawks coach gave the definitive take on the quarterback hierarchy with the team slated to select their next starter to replace the massive hole left by Russell Wilson.
On one corner is Geno Smith. He's been on the Seahawks roster since 2020 so he's gotten a massive head start in terms of understanding the team playbook as well as in building relationships with the rest of the roster. Smith also started in place of Russell Wilson for three games last season after he injured his hand. He threw four touchdowns and averaged 190.3 yards per game in those contests with the Seahawks going 1-2.
On the other is Drew Lock. He joined the roster included in the trade that sent Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. He took over as the Broncos' full-time starter to end the final five games of the 2019 season, showing lots of promise as the team closed the campaign 4-1. He was named the starter for 2020, but didn't exactly break out with a 4-9 QB record, throwing 16 touchdowns in 13 games with a QB rating of 75.4. He is six years younger than Smith and has at least been a QB1 much more recently than 2014, when Geno last helmed a football team.
According to Pete Carroll, while the competition isn't decided just yet, it's Geno Smith who has the edge right now, largely thanks to his experience with the team, via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk:
“Geno continues to be on top, he’s ahead, he’s been in the lead for all the obvious reasons, and he’s holding onto it and doing a really good job of battling. Both guys are communicating beautifully, they’re learning well, we don’t have any issues with anything we’re trying to do. There are no issues here where we have to ‘Oh, we can’t quite do this or that with this guy or that guy,’ it isn’t like that. They’re very talented arm-wise, and the ability to throw the ball down the field is there. So, let the games begin. Getting out there, now we’re in the middle of it, and we’ll see what happens. It’s a really big day tomorrow. It’ll be a really big day tomorrow.”
While Carroll admits Smith is ahead, he maintains that there truly hasn't been enough yet in terms of QB action in camp to determine their clear cut starter. The battle will continue to heat up as the Seahawks' preseason slate looms.
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