Seahawks QB Geno Smith: 'Top-Five Guy,' Says Cardinals' Kliff Kingsbury
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was ending his illustrious collegiate career right as current Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury was beginning his.
Smith played with the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Big 12 during his senior season in 2012 and missed Kingsbury by just a year, as the former Texas A&M Aggies offensive coordinator began his six-year head-coaching stint with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2013.
Despite their presence, the two never faced one another back then, but Sunday marks the first time they will. Kingsbury is all too familiar with Smith due to his collegiate coaching connections and certainly isn't overlooking the league's leader in completion percentage this season (75.2 percent).
“His arm talent is tremendous as good as anybody in the league,” Kingsbury said. “You turn the tape on, I don’t care who you are, if you watch it and you didn’t know names, you’d think he’s a top-five guy. He’s playing that well.”
The departure of longtime Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson caused many to doubt the direction of the Seahawks. After all, Smith was in an off-season position battle with Drew Lock and was never guaranteed the role.
Through five games, the Seahawks have shown they still have ample room for improvement, but Smith’s late-career resurgence has been one of the notable bright spots. He's currently 12th in the league in passing yards (1,305) while tossing nine touchdowns to just two interceptions.
“He went into a tough situation," Kingsbury said. " ... It can go south in a hurry, but to show that type of mental toughness, the resiliency he’s shown, and the way he’s playing you can see he has something to prove.”
Despite the praise, Kingsbury hopes Smith's good fortune as a full-time starter comes to an end when the Seahawks host the Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, though his half-seriousness is all in good fun.
"I’m really proud of what he’s done honestly," Kingsbury said of Smith. "Just knowing him like I do and just hope he has a really bad game Sunday.”
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