Insider: How Grubb helps Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith

May 19, 2024, 9:11 AM

Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks throws a pass on Dec. 24, 2023. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

(Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks’ offense is set to have a different look this season, and there’s high hopes with the addition of new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.

A free agent Brock has his eye on for Seattle Seahawks

Grubb led the nation’s most prolific passing offense the past two years with the UW Huskies. He has plenty of weapons at his disposal with the Seahawks, too. The list includes wide receivers DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, running back Kenneth Walker III and quarterback Geno Smith.

Many have wondered who will benefit most from Grubb’s arrival. Mike Salk asked ESPN Seahawks insider Brady Henderson that question Friday during Blue 88 on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

“I’ve posed that question to people that I’ve talked to, and the answer is it’s all to be determined. I think they are truly still figuring out a lot of what they’re going to be, but you can obviously look at what Ryan Grubb did at UW for some clues,” Henderson said. “The thing that I think bodes well really for Geno Smith – and he’s going to be my answer here just because I don’t really have a better option.

“… What Ryan Grubb did with (quarterback) Michael Penix (Jr.) there (at UW) was Michael Penix was only sacked on 1.4% of his dropbacks over the last two years. That was the fourth-lowest rate among quarterbacks in the country.”

Of course, some of that has to do with the Huskies boasting a Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line, which is given to the nation’s top unit in the trenches. But it’s still an encouraging sign for Seattle, which invested in it’s O-line with three draft picks.

“I think that is huge for Geno Smith when you consider really how his season turned two-thirds of the way into it last year,” Henderson said. “For all this talk that we’ve had on the radio, that I’ve written on ESPN about the uncertainty, about whether he’s the guy long-term, it’s easy to forget that by QBR, he was the best quarterback in the NFL over the last six weeks of the season last year, and the turning point really was getting the ball out quicker. He had one of the fastest average time before throw in that span in the NFL, and that was really a big reason for that turnaround because he was one of these slower quarterbacks for the first two-thirds of the season.”

Find the full conversation at this link or listen to the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.