Seahawks QB Geno Smith: A Realistic 'Dark Horse' for MVP?
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has had quite the odd-defying past 10-or-so months.
After heading into last season with no guarantees that he'd be Seattle's starter, he and the Seahawks took the league by storm. While helping lead the team to a surprising postseason berth, Smith added to his trophy case by winning the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year and earning his first-ever Pro Bowl nod.
So when it comes to collecting even more hardware, it's hard to put the possibility to bed.
NFL.com seems to agree, as the site listed Smith as one of nine MVP dark-horse candidates next season, citing the team's belief in him as a major reason to think he can reach even greater heights in 2023.
"Schneider really believes in Geno. So does Pete Carroll," NFL.com writes. "Last year was not a fluke. And Schneider just gave his FRANCHISE QUARTERBACK a juicy first-round receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. I expect Geno to be even better in 2023, maximizing the Seahawks."
Smith is currently tied for the 10th-best odds (+3300) to win MVP, per SI Sportsbook. Considering he's a quarterback and 15 of the last 16 MVP winners have been signal-callers, a strong year and postseason appearance from Seattle and an equally-impressive individual season from Smith would certainly vault him into the conversation.
But the competition could prove to be too steep. Even a year after setting multiple franchise single-season passing records, Smith would potentially have to outplay the likes of guys like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen, all of whom are younger and currently better than Smith.
Still, though Seattle's confidence was high in him last offseason, hardly anyone saw Smith becoming one of the league's best success stories.
He's proved everyone who "wrote him off" wrong before. So why would we put it past him from doing it again?
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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