Even though Geno Smith initially played like an average player in the league, he has since proven that he is NFL material. Wide receiver D.K. Metcalf recently detailed the background of Smith’s successful outcome. 
Including the Jets and Seahawks, Geno Smith has played for 4 teams throughout 9 seasons. He set a franchise record for yards in a single season with 4,282 yards, making it one of the best quarterbacking seasons in Seahawks history. His 4,282 yards are a franchise record and mark the fifth season with 4,000 or more yards. In 17 games last season, the quarterback had a passer rating of 100.9, 30 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
How did Metcalf describe the transition of Geno Smith?
Smith is the ideal example of a player who entered as a rookie but emerged as a massively destructive player. On a recent episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Metcalf discussed Smith’s remarkable transition and success. According to the WR, the QBs’ teammate Russ Wilson’s performance played a significant role in the positive outcome by boosting Smith’s self-esteem and enabling him to establish his value. Wilson finished in the top three in deep accuracy, accuracy under pressure, and accuracy last season. Geno flourished under the influence of the outstanding athlete on the field and, in his first full season starting for the Seahawks, surpassed Wilson’s career highs in both completion percentage and yards.
"I saw the transition from 'I’m a backup’ to ‘this is my team.'"@dkm14 on Geno Smith claiming the QB position in Seattle: pic.twitter.com/y7HLhOC1KE
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 14, 2023
“I mean, he probably wouldn’t have any mind me saying, he would agree with you that he was immature in his past but I believe sitting behind Russ really like motivated him and really showed him how good he could really be in this league.”
“Even at practice he’s yelling at the practice squad guys to run their routes, he was like, ‘This is my opportunity too’, and I’m like, okay, I respect that because you understand what’s at stake and the year we traded Russ and he’s the starter.”
The 32-year-old is the ideal example of a player who entered as a rookie but emerged as a massively destructive player. GS is completely unsurprised by his rise from an inexperienced quarterback to the third-rated quarterback in football and current top-five candidate for MVP.
“He comes in and training camp and he’s locked in like body-wise mentally, he’s watching film and he’s just, I saw the transition from, okay, I’m a backup to okay this is my team on the starter like week eight He won the locker room over and he was giving pregame speeches and people were listening to him and buying into Geno Smith.” 
With five rookies starting, the Seahawks went 9-8 and made the playoffs last year, solidifying their reputation as one of the league’s more unexpected teams. Smith is a major contributor to this success. To help the Seattle Seahawks reach new heights of achievement, Geno committed to a three-year, $75 million contract with a guaranteed $40 million and an average annual salary of $25 million.
“They embraced me at a time when not many people were. I feel like that means a lot to me. I’ve got a lot of loyalty in me, and I want to repay those guys for doing that,” Smith once told about his dream team.
Smith, however, made the most of his chance through perseverance and hard work, and Seattle obviously has faith in him to keep up this course. Together, they made history by emerging as a dominant team.
