Geno Smith is favorite for Comeback Player of the Year, but is he your favorite new Seahawk?

Seahawks fan survey: Your favorite new players and your new favorite players on Seaside Joe 1357

Nov 21, 2022

When I write about the MVP award, I only do so in the context of the MVP award. It’s usually not me arguing who “deserves” to win, and there are many other places you can go for that kind of article. Instead, I’m typically interested in attempting to decipher who will win based on voting history and that’s all I care to think about.

Not whether or not the player who wins it should have won it.

My feeling is that not many Seahawks fans believe that Geno Smith should win the MVP award based on the first ten games of the season. But also that 100% of fans feel that he should be the unanimous Comeback Player of the Year. The Geno Story is too compelling to lose the Comeback Player award to Saquon Barkley. The last gasp for the MVP award likely slipped out of Geno’s grip in Munich.

Any chance for Smith to become the most surprising MVP since Kurt Warner have all but evaporated after Seattle’s Week 10 loss to the Bucs; Tom Brady leapt over Smith in MVP odds and Geno is now tied with Justin Herbert for 10th-best odds. In most cases, I would say that the Vegas odds could be way off base.

In MVP odds however, these rankings sort of represent the public perception of the Most Valuable Player and that inevitably leads to the odds influencing MVP voting. Patrick Mahomes has a huge lead over second-place Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa. The MVP vote also doesn’t account for the entire season, so Geno Smith doesn’t have seven weeks to close the gap.

He might have three or four.

It will be difficult for Geno to heavily influence the voting in that period of time, even if he plays really well, as the Seahawks are facing three of the worst teams in the NFL: the Raiders, Rams, and Panthers. Before you scream “don’t jinx it,” I’m not saying that Seattle will definitely win those games. Only that the games will not get a ton of national attention and therefore, voters aren’t going to pay as close of attention.

That’s what I care to analyze, what voters tend to do. Not who is supposed to win.

Losing to the Bucs leaves the Seahawks at a surprising but middle income record of 6-4. Jalen Hurts scored the game-winning touchdown over the Colts to lead the Eagles to a 9-1 record. Mahomes, Allen, Lamar Jackson, Tua. As Russell Wilson knows, it’s nearly impossible to beat a favorite for MVP.

But better than an MVP is a favorite.

Around The NFL @AroundTheNFL

Seahawks want QB Geno Smith back for 2023, contract talks expected to take place after the season, per @RapSheet nfl.com/news/seahawks-…

I want to move away from MVP talk and instead focus on celebrating the Seattle players who have won you over in the first 10 games of the season. I’ve created another Seahawks fan survey, this time looking to find out who your new-favorite players or your favorite new-players are through 10 games.