In March, the Raiders turned the keys over to Geno Smith at quarterback and expectations are high in Las Vegas going into Smith’s 12th NFL season.
Smith brings a veteran presence to the quarterback room in Vegas and despite having a few doubters, everyone in organization seems to have bought in to the team’s new direction at quarterback.
Finally in a position where someone views him as a franchise quarterback, Smith talked a little while back about one of the narratives he doesn’t like at this stage in his career.
“The one thing that I don’t like is that people try to use my age as a negative thing,” Smith told the Raiders’ Upon Further Review podcast. “I’ve gained a lot of wisdom, but I’m also still very strong and fast. If you want to get these young 24 or 23-year-olds out on the field and work with me, we’ll see who’s faster and who’s stronger.”
“I believe that I’ve continued to get faster and stronger throughout my career, and I’m in a really good spot here at 34,” Smith continued. “I’ll be 35 this year, but I still feel like I’m 21. People will see that when they get to see me on the field. They’ll see I’m quick twitch, I can move, I can play all of the positions, but I’m just a quarterback.”
Reuniting with Pete Carroll is expected to have a positive impact on Smith’s career, but one of the underrated details working in Geno’s favor in Las Vegas is going to be the stadium situation.
Specifically, Geno loves playing in domes.
Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis made an appearance this week on the Raiders’ flagship radio station, and he pointed to Smith’s accuracy as one of the most underrated aspects of the veteran quarterback’s game. Additionally, Sharp said it’s going to be a huge deal that Smith will be playing more games in a dome.
“It’s night and day. [Geno Smith] is the most impacted quarterback by great weather conditions,” Sharp said on Raider Nation Radio’s The Morning Tailgate.
“When he plays in a dome, 6.7 touchdowns for every interception. When he plays outdoors, it’s only 1.6 touchdowns for every interception. When he plays in domes, he’s averaging 8.2 yards per attempt. When he plays outdoors, it’s 7.2 yards per attempt,” Sharp continued. “His sack to interception rate drops in half. He averages a much higher success rate and a much higher EPA per attempt. The one thing, though, is that Seattle, obviously playing in the Pacific Northwest, they haven’t played a ton of dome games.”
Sharp said the sample size isn’t a lot with Smith in dome games, but it’s enough to feel confident that he is going to thrive in his first year reunited with Pete Carroll.
“In the last three years that he’s been a starter, it is a decent enough sample size to start looking at per pass attempt… but he’s still only started 10 games in domes the last three years [and] 39 games outdoors,” Sharp continued. “Do you know this year alone, he is going to play 12 games indoors? So he played 10 games indoors over the last three years, and his numbers are dramatically better every single time.”
“And keep in mind, all those games are road games, where a quarterback shouldn’t necessarily be flourishing in a hostile environment, but he is, when he’s playing in these dome games, 20 touchdowns, only three interceptions. That’s what he’s doing in dome games. Now he gets to play 12 such games in 2025.”
x: @raidersbeat
I don’t understand how we can view a soon to be 35 year old as our franchise qb. We have some good young players but our qb is one hit, trip away from an achilles injury. I hate to say it but maybe we should have drafted Sanders for insurance.
AJ is right and Geno needs to get over the age thing as quickly as possible but the Raiders still need a competent, MOBILE, backup quarterback in the event that an unforseen injury should befall Geno during the NFL’s 17 game regular season. Last year Gardner Minshew and Adian O’Connell both went down to injury and the Raiders were forced to play Desmond Ridder who was largely ineffective but mobile.
Why not pursue a battle tested, mobile, younger and affordable veteran like Joshua Dobbs? If injury should befall Geno, during the regular season, Adian O’Donnell has shown that he IS NOT a MOBILE option. I hope that the team that I have been a fan of, since 1968, will use some foresight for a change instead of getting caught with their pants down again and add a viable option at the quarterback position.
Just look at our division. Patrick Mahomes is mobile and so is Justin Hebert and Bo Nix. Outside of our division there is Lamar Jackson, CJ Stroud, Kyler Muyrray and a host of other mobile quarterbacks. Mobility and age cannot be discounted in today’s NFL. Defenses are getting younger, faster and better and it makes absolutely no sense to have a lead footed quarterback in today’s NFL. That’s just asking for trouble and NO offensive line is perfect..
It’s a long regular season and usually the unthinkable occurs almost every year but, for a much needed change, the Raiders can prepare themselves, by being proactive as opposed to being reactive, and mitigate the almost inevitable, of a possible injury to their starting quarterback, and be prepared for a change.
THIS is, and should be, a NEW era for the Raiders and a chance to turn this once proud franchise around. It took Kansas City 50 years to win their second championship. Hopefully it won’t take 50 years for the Raiders to win their fourth but it has to start with better decision making and adding a mobile, affordable, battle tested veteran quarterback, THIS SEASON, would be a good start.
I am reminded of Jim Plunkett. He had mixed results with the Patriots and the 49ers before he landed with the Oakland Raiders as a backup in 1978. Due to an injury to Dan Pastorini he became the starter in 1980 and led the Raiders to a Super Bowl win at the age of 33. He was relegated to a backup role again, this time to Marc Wilson, but came in to replace Wilson due to an injury and lead the team to another Super Bowl win. All of this in his mid 30’s.
And I will add, he was not near as mobile, athletic, or accurate as Geno Smith. So let’s just see what Geno can do. He’s mature and poised, and is apparently a good leader. I believe the playoffs are a realistic goal.