NFL QB Rankings: Seahawks' Geno Smith Disrespected?
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith will enter this fall aiming to prove his Pro Bowl campaign last year wasn't a fluke - and there may be a larger audience of doubters than one would expect.
Smith, 30, rose to stardom as winner of the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award last season, leading the league in completion percentage at 69.8 percent and ranking top-10 in passing yards (4,282) and touchdowns (30).
But as Smith and the Seahawks kick off OTAs, some on the outside aren't expecting a similar result this year, as Pro Football Focus ranked the former second-round pick as the league's 15th-best quarterback.
"Another difficult quarterback to rank, Smith improbably ranked as a top-five quarterback for much of last season before the wheels fell off a little late in the year," PFF writes. "Was that the inevitable regression back to the mean, or was it a product of his pass protection suffering a similar late-season collapse?
"Smith had flashed before in his NFL career, but we hadn’t seen the heights he hit last season. He earned three single-game PFF grades north of 90.0 and posted a 5.4% big-time throw rate."
Should Smith be ranked higher? His metrics and production say a resounding "yes" - but as PFF mentioned, Smith hasn't really done anything quite like last season before.
However, the point remains that Smith was, statistically, one of the best passers in the league and certainly could've been listed higher with no complaints.
Other notable rankings include former Seahawks quarterback and current Denver Broncos signal caller Russell Wilson a handful of spots behind Smith at No. 20, while Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes tops the list.
Seattle's NFC West rivals are all over the board - the Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford sits at No. 12, San Francisco 49ers passer Brock Purdy comes in at No. 23 and Arizona Cardinals backup Colt McCoy is ranked No. 29 as Kyler Murray recovers from a torn ACL.
How will PFF's rankings age? Only time will tell - but Smith has proven he's more than capable of performing well without very high outside expectations and may be put into a similar situation this year.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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