Ranking the 7 best quarterbacks they could start…
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The Seahawks’ options at quarterback are shrinking fast. Yesterday morning we set about examining the QB situation around the NFL as it relates to Seattle, including the best remaining free agents, the top potential trade targets and all of the other teams that are still looking for a QB.
A few hours later, that picture was practically irrelevant. The Falcons traded Matt Ryan to the Colts, taking the top trade option out of play. Next, Atlanta signed Marcus Mariota, taking a young QB off the board and themselves out of the running. Not long after that, the Saints re-signed Jameis Winston, who was easily the best free agent still on the market.
If the Texans are cool with starting Davis Mills or drafting their QB, that leaves only the Seahawks and the Panthers competing for the other veteran quarterbacks around the league. Here are their top-seven options for the 2022 season.
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It’s a sign of how quick the QB market has turned that Heinicke is actually starting to sound pretty good right now. Heinicke got his first true action as an NFL starter in 2021 and did well given the circumstances. He went 7-8, posting a 65% completion rate, 3,419 yards, 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Heinicke added another 313 yards and a score on the ground. At 29 years old he’s younger than Russell Wilson and his contract for this coming season is cheap, carrying a cap hit of just $3,625,000. With Carson Wentz slated to start for Washington, Heinicke could be on the move…
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If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. That’s a reasonably philosophy when you have a championship-caliber team. This Seahawks roster as presently constructed is not that. However, Geno Smith is the most-qualified candidate to lead this offense next season. During his 3.25 game run as Seattle’s starter, Smith managed the offense well and mostly avoided turnovers, putting in 702 passing yards, five scores and one pick that wasn’t his fault. If the objective is to tread water in 2022 and try for a franchise QB in next year’s draft, then re-signing Smith and starting him is the way to go.
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Pete Carroll made an exception for the awesome talent of Russell Wilson, but he really prefers his quarterbacks to be more like Geno Smith in that he avoids risks. That makes Drew Lock an odd fit for a coach who wants to win games via defense, special teams and a strong rushing attack. However, Lock has undeniably physical gifts, including a “hose” of an arm, as GM John Schneider put it. Lock is also fast in the open field and showed a great deal of promise down the strech of the 2019 season when he went 4-1 for Denver. If the Seahawks are getting that version of Lock and not the one that led the NFL in interceptions the next year, they could be playoff contenders again right away. That’s an awfully big if, though…
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
As long as the Seahawks are considering a younger, more aggressive QB like Drew Lock they might as well go all out and try to get the wild child that is Gardner Minshew. The former sixth-round draft pick had nothing to work with in Jacksonville and only got one start in Philadelphia last season. However, some advanced metrics show genuine diamond-in-the-rough potential. Meanwhile, his career TD/INT ratio is a strong 41/12 to go with a respectable 93.9 passer rating. In the right situation, Minshew could thrive – especially with two stud receivers like D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Minshew’s 2022 cap hit is just $2.54 million. If Seattle could get him for a Day 3 draft pick he might be the steal of the offseason.
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The 49ers won’t be trading Jimmy Garoppolo to a division rival, so we can put that scenario to rest. There is another former San Francisco signal caller who’s still out there, though. Colin Kaepernick last played in the NFL during the 2016 season. Since then he’s been blacklisted over his social justice protests during the national anthem. Kaepernick went 28-30 as a starter and had a completion percentage under 60%. However, he has a rocket for an arm and was one of the game’s most efficient rushers regardless of position, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Kaepernick recently worked out with Tyler Lockett and has been in contact with coach Pete Carroll.
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Cam Newton’s famous cannon is now greatly diminished and with enough snaps he would have had the worst PFF passer grade in the NFL last season. That said, Newton doesn’t need to be the superhuman athlete who dragged an imbalanced Carolina team to the playoffs several times kicking and screaming. Healthy, he remains one of the league’s best rushing quarterbacks and could do a lot of good work in a run-first, play-action heavy kind of scheme. His instincts would also unlock a lot of mid-field concepts that had gone to waste with Russell Wilson’s bail and chuck it style. It would be especially interesting to see what Cam could do with Noah Fant given how successful his connection with Greg Olsen was during his peak.
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Newton and Kaepernick are probably better athletes even if they’re long past their prime. However, Mayfield’s age makes him the more-suitable option for the Seahawks. At just 26 years old, Mayfield still has time to develop into the quarterback that he will become in the NFL. The results have been inconsistent so far. Baker had a strong rookie season in 2018, followed by a down-year, then a good 2020 campaign, followed by a brutal and injury-ruined season last year. PFF had him ranked No. 30 at his position for the season. Still, Mayfield has the guts and the instincts to be an above-average starter in this league. Like Drew Lock, if the Seahawks get the best version of him they could go deep into the postseason.
