1a. Once you become known as the guy who got punched in the face by a co-worker, it’s tough to become known as anything else.* But Geno Smith would more appropriately be known as the guy who never got much of a chance. He quickly devolved from second-round pick to tabloid-back-page fodder with the Jets. Then he was banished to the Giants, which should have been a forgettable year as a backup in an archaic offensive system, but instead underlined his punchline status when he was awarded a start that ended Eli Manning’s consecutive games streak.
Smith did enjoy a quiet season backing up Philip Rivers in front of the 17 raucous Chargers fans at a soccer stadium every other weekend, and then took the cushiest job in sports, backing up Russell Wilson. Or what had been the cushiest job until Wilson’s finger was mangled 10 days ago, forcing Smith into what should be multiple starts in a season for the first time since 2014.
If you back it up to his time with the Jets, you could see why he was a top-40 pick. To be clear: Smith was subpar and far too reckless, but he was also young and raw. The physical traits were there though, his pocket presence was not hugely problematic, and he did a borderline admirable job piloting a broken system for a dysfunctional team. He could have been interesting as a one-year, prove-it, reclamation project somewhere. And while Thursday night’s performance against the Rams—nearly finishing the unlikeliest of comebacks had Tyler Lockett not chosen an inopportune time for one of his trademark flops—is unlikely to be repeated, it will be interesting to see what he can do over the next month for Seattle.
The Seahawks have a very good offensive coordinator in Shane Waldron—the kind of offensive mind Smith never got to work with as a starter—and there will be no training wheels, not with that mess of a defense on the other side of the ball. Smith doesn’t just have an opportunity to produce, the Seahawks desperately need him to in order to keep the season from getting away. He looked comfortable and confident against the Rams, and he has two All-Pro caliber receivers to work with. A Sunday night trip to Pittsburgh is not the easiest way to break back into the routine, but you could have said the same about his relief appearance 10 days ago.
1b. Tyler Lockett is easily one of the top-10 receivers in football; personally, I think considering his otherworldly ball-tracking skills that he is top-five. But he has also become the NFL’s preeminent flopper.
Flopping is gamesmanship, but in a league where the rules are already so heavily skewed in favor of the offense, and where the officials struggle so desperately to determine actual fouls while the competition committee continues to refuse to allow modern technology to help them, it’s more than just a little obnoxious.
That said, the Seahawks’ last-ditch drive two Thursdays ago immediately ended with a Smith interception because Lockett chose to flop rather than finishing his route. Lockett, rightly, didn’t draw the flag like he has so many times before. And maybe there’s a lesson to be learned for him—or maybe not—but for anyone who enjoys football, that moment just tasted great. Like eating an entire bag of candy corn despite the resulting profuse sweating and nausea great.
