Pete Carroll: Geno Smith remains ahead, Drew Lock will catch up in Seahawks’ QB derby
The Seahawks’ quarterback competition entering training camp?
Geno Smith still has the lead. Drew Lock isn’t far behind. And he will catch up.
Coach Pete Carroll gave that assessment Thursday after what essentially was the last full practice day of the team’s offseason training program.
Seattle has a three-day “passing camp,” as Carroll called it, three final organized team activities geared mainly for younger players Tuesday through next Thursday. Then every Seahawk is off for six weeks, until the start of training camp. That is July 30.
Who will be the first-team quarterback in the derby to succeed Russell Wilson when Seattle begins camp?
Smith. For then, anyway. His familiarity of having been Wilson’s backup for the Seahawks the last three years continues to win out over Lock having been here for just nine practices.
For now.
“Man, they’ve been impressive. They’ve been really impressive,” Carroll said at the end of six OTA practices and three minicamp practices. “We’ve shared a ton of reps. Geno has gone with the first group throughout, but they’ve had very close to equal reps in situational opportunities throughout.
“They really have been very impressive, so I can’t tell you anything other than that. They’ve done a terrific job so far and they look in control.”
It’s the known the Seahawks have with Smith against the potential they see in Lock.
“Geno’s still ahead, you can tell that,” Carroll said. “But it’s not going to be too much for Drew to be caught up.
“By the time we get through camp, he’ll be there.”
What Lock has shown
Carroll, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, quarterback coach Dave Canales and teammates have been impressed with how quickly Lock, the 24-year-old acquired from Denver in the Wilson trade in March, has learned Waldron’s offense.
“Very, very comfortable,” Lock said. “I feel like the way that, you know, Shane and Dave started teaching me from the day I got here up until now. You know, at first you feel a little overwhelmed and you there’s a lot that’s thrown on your plate. But over time you learn something new about each play every day. You’re out here in practice and it all starts tying together.
“I feel really, really, really good about this offense.”
Yes, three reallys.
“I feel like I could go out and play a game tomorrow and succeed,” Lock said. “And that’s a testament to the coaches in there. And, the guys around me teach me up on little intricacies of plays that they’ve picked up over time with this offense.”
The coaches also have been impressed by his pretty throws. They are seemingly effortless. Lock displayed a deft mix of sharp line drives and exquisite touch on passes long and short during offseason practices.
Thursday, Lock ran to his right away from pass rushers to extend a red-zone play then fired back left across his body. His laser pass stuck to the hands of tight end Colby Parkinson, who was running from left to right across the back line of the end zone away from safety Quandre Diggs for a touchdown.
Then again, no defender is trying to plant Lock into the ground like a lawn dart yet. That starts happening in August.
“He’s really bright, it makes sense to him, he’s really sharp in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage and all of that,” Carroll said. “So it’s just time that he needs and there’s nothing we can do, but just gain some more of that.
“The competition is in great shape. You can tell that Geno has been here. You can feel that, and he’s taken full advantage of that. It’s good for us. We didn’t hesitate to do anything. We can do everything we’ve done in the years past.”
Smith’s pluses
The 31-year-old Smith believes Waldron’s offense suits him.
“I think the up-tempo style, similar to what I played in college (at West Virginia),” Smith said. “Also, just my ability and Shane’s trust in me to get in and out of plays, to see coverages, understanding our offenses, and moving our guys around to be able to create mismatches.
“I think Shane believes in my ability and my knowledge as a quarterback.”
Waldron said last week he and Carroll will assess after offseason practices end how to allot repetitions with the starting offense during training camp and the preseason. Will they alternate Smith and Lock with the starting unit during August? That would seemingly be the fairest and surest way to determine who wins the job, so coaches can make apples-to-apples comparisons of the two QBs.
Carroll wasn’t about to reveal any of those plans on June 9.
“You see,” the coach said. “I’m not telling you that.”
Believing in Lock
Lock was 8-13 in Denver, starting parts of three seasons. Those years included the Broncos changing offensive coordinators after Lock went 4-1 to end his injury-affected rookie season of 2019, a league-high 15 interceptions in 13 starts in 2020 then Denver signing Teddy Bridgewater before last season. That essentially ended Lock’s time with the Broncos.
The Seahawks see a 24-year-old pure passer they loved coming out of the University of Missouri in 2019 that they think didn’t get a full or fair shake in Denver, and hasn’t had a coaching staff and system believe in him.
The Seahawks plan on believing in Lock for 2022.
Lock said he plans on not turning the ball over as often as he did in Denver.
“He’s really competitive. He has all kinds of plays in him. Really a natural athlete, natural thrower and a natural movement guy,” Carroll said.
“We’ve seen it on film, so it’s just nice to get it validated here. There’ll just be tons and tons more, so this is not too big for him. He’s ready for it, he is. He’s primed up, ready, has learned a lot in the years past.
“He seeks this kind of support, and he’s getting it. We’re showing him that we believe in him as a player and we believe that he can get it done, get the job done, and now we just have to play the thing out. I don’t know that he always felt like that. ...
“We have no reason to restrict our thoughts in any way at this point.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 8:14 AM.
