Advanced stat shows value of Seahawks QB Geno Smith
Jul 30, 2024, 8:20 AM | Updated: 8:27 am
The price for a good quarterback in the NFL is high and always rising, which is why the Seattle Seahawks appear to be in a good position with Geno Smith.
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Massive quarterback contracts have made headlines this offseason with a trio of talented signal-callers from the 2020 draft inking lucrative deals. The most recent were Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Green Bay’s Jordan Love each signing four-year deals worth over $200 million each on Friday. Love’s deal, worth an average of $55 million a season, tied him with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence for the highest average annual value among NFL players, per Spotrac. Tagovailoa is now fourth. Meanwhile, Smith is tied for 35th in $25 million.
With those deals in mind, former Seahawks quarterback Brock Huard highlighted an advanced stat shared by football analyst Warren Sharp that shows the value Smith brings to Seattle. Sharp listed the rate of incompletions caused by inaccurate passes on throws traveling 10-plus yards by the league’s quarterbacks in 2023, with a minimum of 200 attempts. Smith was at the bottom of the list at 21.6%.
“It’s good to be last in this stat,” Huard said.
The 33-year-old Smith ranked just ahead of former UW Huskies quarterback Jake Browning (22.2%) and nearly 3% above three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes (24.5%).
“His command, his accuracy – which has been off the charts the last week at camp, got people in that building excited – those next-level numbers are pretty good,” Huard said.
What also stood out to Huard was that Love checked at the sixth-highest rate at 36.2%, Lawrence seventh-highest at 36.1% and Tagovailoa was also well above Smith at 34.3%.
“Geno Smith, I’ll continue to say it, I think he’s got a chance to surprise,” Huard said. “On a return on investment compared to these dudes making that money, it is an incredible, incredible return on what they’re paying him.”
Listen to Blue 88 with former Seahawks quarterback Brock Huard at this link or in the audio player in the story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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