As far as we can tell, Geno Smith is at the top of the depth chart for the Seattle Seahawks at quarterback and nobody currently on the roster is remotely close to passing him. We could of course be wrong about that, as we considered the same to be true about Russell Wilson two years ago just before the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Denver Broncos. We're willing to entertain takes that go against our own, but this particular one is just a little too spicy for our palette.
According to Marissa Meyers at The Wright Way Network, the next franchise quarterback for the Seahawks will not be Smith or Howell or any of the young QBs who will be available in next year's draft class. Instead, she's predicting that Desmond Ridder will not only be on the team, but he'll be Seattle's franchise starter by this time next year.
"Howell showed flashes with his big arm and rushing ability, but it also came with plenty of costly turnovers and head scratching decisions. That’s where Ridder comes into play as the candidate to lead the Seahawks offense. While the play hasn’t necessarily been great for Ridder, his situation with the Atlanta Falcons wasn’t necessarily ideal either. Ridder coming out of Cincinnati was known for diagnosing defenses, which he’s been able to show glimpses of at the NFL level as well."
We admire the sheer boldness of the take, but just don't see it happening. For one thing, right now Ridder under contract with the Arizona Cardinals, who gave up a perfectly good wide receiver in Rondale Moore to get him from Atlanta. For another, while Ridder did show some promising traits in college, his performance in the NFL the last two seasons was arguably the worst of any starter.
Our best guess is this is about the heated interest the Seahawks supposedly had in Desmond Ridder leading up to the 2022 NFL draft. If you don't recall, in the weeks leading up to the draft a ton of beat reporters and analysts were convinced Seattle would pounce on Ridder, no later than Round 2. That obviously didn't happen, so all that hype was nothing but an elaborate and effective smokescreen to hide their true intentions. If they really wanted Ridder they could have drafted him then or gotten him for as little as WR4 Jake Bobo this offseason from the Falcons.
Instead, they gave up the equivalent of a seventh-round pick to the Washington Commanders for their 2022 fifth-round pick, Sam Howell out of North Carolina. As Meyers mentioned, Howell had issues with turnovers last season, but he still showed a far higher ceiling than Ridder. Unless they pull off a similar move to land Ridder in a trade next year and then Howell suffers a serious, season-ending injury there's just no way this scenario will come to pass.
Even though he's their best option to start, it's possible the Seahawks will cut Geno Smith next offseason, pocket $25 million in cap savings and see what Howell or a rookie can do. It's very difficult from this angle to see any other QB on the landscape getting that same opportunity.
