Based on everything the Raiders have said and done in the last few months, every indication is that the organization views Geno Smith as a franchise quarterback.
Smith is close with head coach Pete Carroll and despite opportunities in the offseason, Carroll and the Raiders made no public effort to bring anyone to Las Vegas that could threaten Smith’s starting job.
Since he was drafted in 2013, no team has made a commitment to Smith like the Raiders are now, and in his new role as one of the faces of the organization, Smith found himself in an unusual situation this weekend after coaching a youth football game in his home state of Florida.
While coaching the 7-on-7 South Florida Express, Smith got into a verbal altercation with an apparent bystander that isn’t shown in the video of the exchange.
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks. That’s why I get paid the big bucks,” Smith shouted at person. “That’s why they bring the big bucks to me, that’s why they pay me the big bucks, n—a!”
“I’ll do it. That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”
The game was aired on NFL Network, although the exchange was not part of the telecast.
Smith’s team won 38-21, and it’s probably a safe assumption that a fan or player on the other team wasn’t interested in walking away without a few words.
Safe to say, some will watch the video and come away feeling good about Smith’s eagerness to jump into a shouting match at a youth football game – and others will not.
The Raiders aren’t likely to comment or even be asked about the video, but the head coach and GM probably won’t be disappointed if it’s the last of its kind for a little while.
The majority of Raider fans aren’t particularly familiar with Smith, and one of the most revealing pieces on the new franchise quarterback in Las Vegas came last month from Athletic’s Ted Nguyen.
Smith broke down film with Nguyen and what fans are going to (hopefully) figure out soon about their new quarterback is that he’s incredibly smart.
“Smith’s football I.Q. is apparent when watching tape, but after breaking down film with him, his understanding of defenses and their rules stood out,” Ngueyn wrote at The Athletic last week. “Knowing the general rules of defenses is one thing, but understanding defenders’ responsibilities in their given schemes is the next level.”
Later, on his podcast, Nguyen added to those thoughts on Geno.
“I’ve broke down film with the quarterbacks in the past [and] I think the one thing that stood out with Geno is you could tell that he was coached by defensive coaches,” Nguyen said on the Just Win podcast.
“Obviously, with Pete Carroll and then Mike McDonald. Because when he talks about defenses and he breaks down the film, you could tell he really understands the responsibilities of each defender in details, not just a general idea of what defenses are.”
x: @raidersbeat
Another useless headline. Who cares?
I agree with Walter, this story is useless. What the Raiders should be addressing is the back up quarterback situation. Last year, Gardner Minshew and Adian O’Connell both went down to injury and the Raiders were forced to play Desmond Ridder. While Ridder was largely ineffective he did have one trait that neither of the two aforementioned quarterbacks had and that was mobility.
Because the NFL has a 17 game regular season, it is almost a certainty that NO NFL quarterback will get through the season unscathed. Adian O’Connell has shown that he lacks mobility, period, and the probability of a rookie leading this team to success, in the event of an unforseen injury to Geno Smith, is unlikely at best.
Therefore, I suggest that the Raiders secure an affordable insurance policy, in the form of a proven, battle tested and mobile quarterback to back up Geno Smith. My suggestion is that quarterback should be Joshua Dobbs. He’s certainly more mobile than Adian O’Connell and has experience.
In short, there is currently no one on the Raiders roster, at the quarterback position, that can lead this team should an unforseen injury befall Geno Smith.
I’m not sold on Geno Smith. He has been mediocre his whole career. We are really going to need a strong run game to offset his weaknesses. Geno is not the most mobile of qbs and his age works against him. We really need to find a qb for the future and Geno Smith is not that qb.
They have to go all in next year, but like Jayden Daniels, it requires a trade partner
I wonder how many of the skeptical fans about Smith have seen him play in recent years.. and above all if they are able to understand how strong he gives, in case they have analyzed him seriously! this is by far the strongest qb we have had since the time of Gannon and who knows if he can not repeat the same career
Much like Rich Gannon and Jim Plunkett before him, Geno is a journeyman who never gave up and in his latter end is finally making good, he is finishing with honor. Geno is a straight up good QB, I like the fire of competition with in him. Geno wants to win and he will win you over if our line can keep him alive. You will like this offense and be frustrated with this defense in general, that secondary is the real story and is swiss cheese.
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