Seahawks mock draft 2023: The ultimate "Help Geno" strategy

How Seattle would utilize their draft capital if the one goal was to help Geno Smith, 3/7/2023

Pete Carroll’s candor with regards to the 2023 quarterback class sure makes it sound like the Seattle Seahawks are targeting that position with their first pick in the draft. From last week’s press conferences and media appearances at the NFL Scouting Combine to Tuesday’s appearance on Seattle Sports 710 with Brock & Salk, Carroll is talking up the upcoming rookie class of quarterbacks and the team has specifically been linked to Florida’s Anthony Richardson.

Notably by Anthony Richardson himself.

It could be as straightforward as it seems. That similar to the Geno Smith speculation of “Will he, won’t he” return to the Seahawks, that Pete and John Schneider’s known intentions to get Geno re-signed were simply…intentions to get Geno re-signed.

Which happened on Monday and was officially announced on Tuesday, the surprising contractual details of which leaves Seattle with the option to target a quarterback with the fifth overall pick in the draft.

Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo

Pete Carroll said the #Seahawks are “totally connected” to the QBs in this year’s draft, especially since they’re in the rare spot of drafting No. 5 overall. Smith’s contract rewards him for his comeback season but doesn’t close the door on Seattle taking a QB high at all.

I didn’t think that it was possible for the Seahawks to get Geno to agree to such a team-friendly, options and incentives-laden deal before free agency, but I’ll be damned if Pete and John didn’t pull off a stunning move almost one year to the day after they got a remarkable haul in draft compensation for Russell Wilson.

Compensation that now leaves the Seahawks in position to make potentially the most important draft pick in franchise history: Other than Rick Mirer in 1993 (second overall, tied with Steve Niehaus as the highest selection that Seattle has ever made at any position) and Dan McGwire in 1991, the Seahawks haven’t selected any other first round quarterbacks. They also haven’t ever selected a second round quarterback.

Wilson is the third-highest pick that Seattle has ever used at the position at 75th overall, while fittingly it’s Brock Huard who checks in next at 77th overall in 2003.

I find the value of the quarterback position to be incalcuable with regards to not only the winning side of football, but also in relation to the entertainment value of the NFL. And that’s what we’re really talking about here, right? Teams can be good and boring at the same time. They can be bad and boring, obviously.

But teams can also be mediocre and entertaining/watchable all the time.

I wouldn’t go as far as to call the Buffalo Bills mediocre, but the end result of five years with Josh Allen is a 4-4 playoff record with only one appearance in the AFC Championship game and that ended in absolute heartbreak. Allen is good, he’s entertaining, and…….probably a little infuriating if you’re a Bills fan and you’re honest with yourself; 29 interceptions in the last two regular seasons, three more interceptions in this past postseason.

Yet few have pulled back from the notion that “everybody wants their own version of Josh Allen”.

So does Pete Carroll actually mean it when he says that the Seahawks are keyed into the quarterbacks in this draft and that Seattle will absolutely pull the trigger on one if they like him enough? Absolutely. As I wrote a month ago, if Schneider falls in love with a first round QB, forget all the “analysis” and the “analytics” and the history of busts. The Seahawks will take their shot.

And I won’t be raining on the parade if they do. I’ll bring the umbrella.

I’m here to be entertained, period, whether that’s the next Patrick Mahomes or a beautiful disaster.

However, does all this posturing that Seattle’s going to draft a quarterback guarantee that the Seahawks are going to select Richardson or one of the other players currently projected to be going that high? That would also be a little anti-Pete, wouldn’t it? The guy who has consistently over the last 14 offseasons done everything in his power to take at best medium risks at the quarterback position?

He traded around some day two picks for Charlie Whitehurst; signed Tarvaris Jackson; signed Matt Flynn; drafted Russell Wilson in the third round; drafted Alex McGough in the seventh round; signed Geno Smith as his backup after he won the job against Paxton Lynch; traded for Drew Lock; turned the team over to Geno; has locked up Geno on a team-friendly contract.

Don’t let any of those moves be misconstrued as a strong commitment anywhere close to par with picking a quarterback in the top-five.

As Pete and John have said, they haven’t had these opportunities to even seriously scout the top-ranked quarterbacks in the draft. This unique chance to draft a QB early may indeed change history and I’m open to anything…including the possibility that Pete and John will bypass the top QBs that are available at five and 20 and decide that similar to Wilson, the guy who they were most excited about wasn’t any of the guys we’re obsessively talking about right now.

This is not a prediction, a projection, or a proclamation. It’s merely a fact: Anything could happen. That’s what I’m open to.

So let’s break down the 2023 draft strategy that specifically does the most to help Geno Smith with the Seahawks’ first five picks. That’s why I wanted to create this Tuesday night bonus article, because so many of you—more than double the rate of other Substack newsletters—are paid members of the Regular Joes club. I want to make sure I’m doing everything in my power at every opportunity to give back to those who give to Seaside Joe.

If you sign up for premium at $5/month, $55/year, or the founding members club at $120/year, that’s the guarantee you’ll get from me. Not only to support a mom-and-pop Seahawks business trying to out-work literally the entire field of competition, but TONS of bonus content: This is the fifth bonus article of March already!

We had 10 bonus articles in the previous three weeks.

How many total articles: 48 Seahawks articles in January, 43 Seahawks articles in February, and now the 15th article of March. That’s 106 articles in 2023 alone, in addition to over 450 articles in 2022, and over 1,000,000 words PER YEAR written about the Seattle Seahawks.

By one guy.

Hawkblogger’s staff: 1 article in February but an open Patreon account. The Athletic, since the season ended, 27 articles. We’re at 106 today. Just one guy writing about the Seahawks obsessively until he dies.

If you’re not signed up, give us a shot and come jump over the paywall to read a potential Seahawks strategy to not replace Geno Smith, but to help Geno Smith. What could that look like? Let’s run picks 5 through 83 to find out.