Coe’s Seahawks midseason report card: The QB

Is Geno Smith good, or does he stink?

Should the Seahawks extend his contract, or cut him after this season?

Those are the two biggest questions the Seahawks franchise faces going forward for the most important position in team sports: The quarterback.

While I think posts on x.com are not necessarily representative of an entire fan base, a search of “Geno Smith” or “Sam Howell” on that platform are… something. Fans either love Smith, or they want him benched, cut or even worse. For those calling for Howell to start at quarterback this season, I don’t see that happening without an injury or Smith falling off a figurative cliff — not an literal cliff as some fans may suggest.

Smith did stumble a few steps toward that cliff on Sunday with three interceptions by the Los Angeles Rams. Let’s be clear about something, however. Two of them were not all on Smith. One of them was as bad of a play as a quarterback can make.

Pick 1

One play after Jaxson Smith-Njigba picked up some good yards after a catch to turn a second-and-31 into a third-and-nine on Seattle’s second drive, Smith tried to find Smith-Njigba again. Smith found him, but the ball bounced off of the receiver’s hands and into the waiting arms of Rams safety Jaylen McCullough. The pass drifted a bit behind the receiver, but Smith-Njigba needs to make that catch:

Ruling: Smith, not guilty

Pick 2

This one just cannot happen, and this is probably what weighed on his mind when he apologized his “teammates, really to the city, the (Seahawks) organization” in a press conference after the game. Tied 13-13, the Seahawks took possession of the ball near the end of the third quarter and moved down the field in a way that felt needed at that point. Using five passes and four runs, Seattle marched to a first-and-goal at the Rams 6-yard-line.

Smith dropped back, and initially had good protection from his rickety offensive line. The line gave him just shy of four seconds — a good amount of time for an NFL quarterback. He looked to his right for Smith-Njigba in the end zone, then looked back to his left for tight end AJ Barner, who was tightly covered by LA safety Quentin Lake. With Rams linebacker Byron Young bearing down on him, Smith threw off of his back foot, and the ball floated about five yards shy of Barner. Kamren Kinchens, who was covering Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III just across the line of scrimmage, dropped back, picked off the errant throw and ran it back a Rams-record 103 yards.

Instead of 20-13 or 16-13 Seahawks, it was 20-13 Rams. It was a devastating blow. Smith should have thrown it over Walker’s head or out of the back of the end zone, or just taken a sack. Great quarterbacks don’t often make catastrophic red zone mistakes.

Ruling: Smith, guilty

Pick 3

After watching this play about 20 times, the blame here appears mixed. This one looked bad for Smith initially, but it appeared the officials missed a hold against LA defensive end Braden Smith. For this drive — which began with Cody White blocking a Rams punt — the Seahawks once again found themselves in prime position. Facing second-and-goal from the 4, Smith felt immediately pressure from linebacker Michael Hoecht. Smith quickly tried to dump it to Barner, who was held, but also likely would not have been ready to catch it. Kinchens read the throw once again and came up with his second pick.

Ruling: Smith is guilty, but receives the minimum sentence. Much of the blame for this interceptions falls on a poor blocking scheme that left Hoecht completely unblocked. Official are found guilty of a missed hold that would have negated the interception and given the Seahawks first-and-goal at the 2.

The grade

So what’s Smith’s grade? I highlighted these plays because it’s a microcosm of the mistakes the offense has made this year. Sometimes it’s Smith, but often questionable play design by NFL rookie offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, poor offensive line play and some sprinkled-in bad luck lead to offensive misfires.

Smith made big plays and big mistakes against the Rams. Likewise, the Seahawks are leading the NFL in 268 passing yards per game, but are 14th in points per game (23.3). He’s tied with Green Bay’s Jordan Love with a league-high 10 interceptions, and his quarterback rating of 88.6 is 19th in the NFL — one spot behind Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes.

So, what is Smith? Is he good, or does he stink? Should the Seahawks extend him or cut him this offseason? Smith has one year remaining on his contract, but it’s unlikely Seattle general manager John Schneider will ride out the $38.5 million cap hit for next season. When Schneider was asked prior to the season if the team was negotiating with Smith, he flatly said “No.”

While Smith is perhaps not a quarterback who can put a team on on his back and carry it to a Super Bowl, I could see a team winning a Super Bowl with him at the helm. That would require a strong offensive line, which the Seahawks don’t have right now, and a good defense — which has been inconsistent for the team this year.

Smith seems to be the best quarterback on the roster right now. With a new coaching staff having no ties to the 34-year old, it would seem they would play backup Sam Howell — who led the NFL in interceptions with Washington last season — if Grubb and head coach Mike Macdonald believed he was better.

Smith’s desire to win appears unmatched, and that sometimes leads to him trying to do too much as referenced in the pick-6 play above. My guess is that he plays every snap when healthy this season for as long as the Seahawks remain alive for a playoff spot. The question is, can the offensive line and defense gel enough for the playoffs to be a factor for the entire season? Until he plays in a regular season game, Howell’s grade is: Incomplete.

Smith’s grade: B-

This story originally appeared in seattlesportsnow.com, of which Aaron Coe is a co-founder. Follow Seattle Sports Now on X.