Las Vegas Raiders players know just how important it is that the team traded for QB Geno Smith
The Las Vegas Raiders desperately needed a quarterback, but not just any quarterback, they needed a big improvement. They needed someone they could keep around for more than one year — a guy who isn't a career backup that they're trying as a starter. That's what Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew, Brian Hoyer, Desmond Ridder, and […]
The Las Vegas Raiders desperately needed a quarterback, but not just any quarterback, they needed a big improvement. They needed someone they could keep around for more than one year — a guy who isn't a career backup that they're trying as a starter.
That's what Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew, Brian Hoyer, Desmond Ridder, and partly Aidan O'Connell are. Smith is a guy who is now considered a top-15 quarterback in the league, and he wants to be paid like it. Obviously the Raiders have had more than just one issue the last few years, but getting their quarterback definitely brings the team as close as they have been to being a playoff team since Derek Carr's departure.
When Carr was the quarterck, they always had some of the worst defenses in the league. They get rid of him and restart, and somehow end up with one of the best defenses in the league, but now they have no quarterback to pair it with. Now, heading into 2025, they should have a QB to pair with a top defense in the league.
So, yeah, getting Gemo Smith is important. The players know the importance, too.
"It's a big deal," Maxx Crosby said on his podcast. "I think it helps us immensely in a lot of ways, you know, the draft upcoming, it gives us more, you know, flexibility. So there are a lot of good things that come with that as well. And he's a winner. He's done really well in Seattle.
"I mean, even this past year, they won 10 games, and he played some of his best ball at the end of the year. So, I'm super excited about a guy with a winning pedigree, a guy who was written off at one point, but he didn't write back."
The Raiders needed a quarterback almost as badly as they needed a new regime, maybe more than that actually. And, they have a guy who can make all of the throws that were needed last year. The Raiders really struggled in the deep game. They had just four deep ball touchdowns, or passes that traveled at least 20 air yards, on the year, and that's with every quarterback that played.
Last season with the Seattle Seahawks, Smith was one of the best in the league at throwing the deep ball. He had seven deep ball touchdowns on his own, along with 26 completed deep ball passes, good for third in the league in both categories. So, with how bad their offense was in all aspects, specifically the run game and deep passing game, yes, getting Geno Smith was very important.
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The Raiders need to get this right regardless.
