Field Gulls
With the deluge of visceral comments about John Schneider’s moves this past offseason in mind, the Seattle Seahawks’ general manager may be owed a few apologies from different analysts and news networks. Heck, some of us fans as well! Schneider has continuously made calculated risks at the quarterback position and, seemingly, come out ahead.
With Geno Smith dealing with a turnstile offensive line in Vegas, and/or the prospects of being declared … *gasp* … washed in his age 34 season, this question deserves asking. Are the Seahawks simply very good at being a supportive and strong developmental environment for starting passers? Is there such a thing as an organization that is a poor environment for QB nurturing and performance?
I say yes. We’ve seen very recent examples of bad situations and deployment of quarterbacks. The Bears and Jets immediately come to mind as case studies for teams that seem to never be able to find quality QB play. Remember when the Carolina Panthers couldn’t field a competent offense with either Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold on the roster?! Both went on to have impressive successive seasons, showing off rebounds and rebirths.
Speaking of Slingin’ Sammy D.: after leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-win season last year, he has looked like a very efficient passer for the Hawks. He hasn’t been perfect, but Darnold has a 70% completion percentage (seventh among QB’s who have attempted at least 50 passes) and owns the fifth-highest passer rating total (106.5) through four games. Some are still skeptical of his abilities, which is understandable with sample size in mind.
John Schneider moved on from Russell Wilson at the exact right moment in time. Wilson has struggled to capture his near Hall-of-Fame-level play ever since leaving the Emerald City. Schneider shifted gears away from seeing multiple Pro Bowl seasons out of Geno Smith (formerly known as a ‘bust’), who now leads the league in interceptions. How? Is it possible that it’s not a timing thing? Maybe the Seahawks organization and philosophy allow the team to support and squeeze as much talent out of each QB?
The current Seattle Seahawks regime seems to get the best years out of each quarterback, and it’s starting to feel like that’s not a coincidence or a luck of the draw type thing. Of course, tailoring your offense to a QB’s skill set would go a long way towards that outcome.
Consider what former Seahawks QB Brock Huard had to say about the Seattle marriage of signal caller and surrounding team:
“You can certainly take advantage of things on the outside,” Huard said. “But where’s the strength of Sam’s game? And where’s the strength of your personnel right now? Cooper Kupp is amazing at feeling space between the hashes. JSN’s body control and short-area quickness is off the charts. And you’ve even got tight ends in Arroyo and AJ Barner fully capable of taking care of the middle of the field.
The Indianapolis Colts found out the hard way...
