Pete Carroll Shares Surprising Pick for the ‘Perfect Quarterback’

The Seahawks coach went back to his USC days for his pick.

Pete Carroll is about to embark on his 13th season with the Seahawks this fall, and he is doing so with a new quarterback for the first time since the 2012 season.

After Seattle traded longtime franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to the Broncos after a 10-year run with the team, the Seahawks will start Geno Smith in the regular season opener against Wilson and Denver.

From the outside looking in, Smith is viewed as a stop-gap behind center as the team searches for its next franchise passer. After all, Smith has spent the majority of his professional career as a backup.

With the expectation that the Seahawks will be in the market for a quarterback in next April’s draft, Carroll was asked what the “perfect quarterback” would look like.

“There’s never been a more perfect guy than Carson Palmer,” Carroll said.

“I mean, he was perfect. He was big. He was strong. He was fast. He was a great athlete and he was a great competitor,” Carroll added.

Palmer was Carroll’s quarterback at Southern California from 1998 to ’02 and won the Heisman Trophy in his senior season after throwing for 3,942 yards and 33 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

Palmer went on to have a 14-year NFL career, spending time with the Bengals, Cardinals and Raiders. He threw for 46,247 yards and 294 touchdowns with 187 interceptions.