The Las Vegas Raiders have seemingly answered their problem at quarterback as they landed Geno Smith earlier this offseason.
With the Seattle Seahawks pivoting to a modest rebuild, the Raiders swooped on the chance to acquire Smith for a 2025 third-round pick. It was a strong deal as Las Vegas desperately needed a veteran signal caller to run the offense, and Smith fits the bill and then some.
While maybe not the sexiest name in the league, Smith is an above-average starter who’s got poise in the pocket and a beautiful deep ball. Smith is in the early stages of getting to know his new teammates, but so far, the early returns have been encouraging.
Smith emphasized the need to be efficient on offense, but he also expressed his desire to be explosive at the same time, via Levi Edwards of Raiders.com:
“We want to be efficient. That’s the main thing,” Smith said. “We want to do well in the situations, the third downs, the red zones. But also we want to be explosive. When teams come up and play us in man to man, we have guys that are going to win those matchups. I really feel good about where we are. We’re still in work in progress but we’re in a good spot and we’ve just to keep working hard to get better.”
Smith also gave his early thoughts on the Raiders’ pass catchers so far:
“They’re making my job a lot easier,” Smith said of his teammates. “Tremendously easy to be out here with these young, talented players. I think we have a really good team, a really good array of weapons and just a bunch of different guys that can do a lot of great things.
“Obviously Brock is who he is. Getting to know Tre [Tucker], getting to know Jakobi [Meyers] and watching Michael go out there and make plays. Ashton is coming along. The offensive line is doing a great job. I think Chip is calling great plays. It’s real easy for me, I’ve just got to go out there and be myself and get the ball into their hands and let them be special.”
There’s certainly talent on the roster for Smith to utilize, but now the question is how well he can do with his new group once the 2025 season rolls around.
Ashton Jeanty calls Geno Smith a great player
Las Vegas Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty will be complementing Geno Smith in the backfield, and although the two haven’t officially played together yet, Jeanty called Smith a great player.
