Raiders' Geno Smith lays down the hammer when asked about his thought process as a backup QB in the NFL
The Las Vegas Raiders finally got their quarterback. Geno Smith, the former Seattle Seahawks quarterback, may be the perfect fit for what the Raiders want to do, and they didn't even have to draft a rookie. Instead, they got someone who's a veteran. Smith isn't just any veteran. In fact, there are very few stories, […]
The Las Vegas Raiders finally got their quarterback. Geno Smith, the former Seattle Seahawks quarterback, may be the perfect fit for what the Raiders want to do, and they didn't even have to draft a rookie. Instead, they got someone who's a veteran. Smith isn't just any veteran. In fact, there are very few stories, if any, like his. He was drafted in the second round by the New York Jets, wasn't very good.
Moved to a backup role for a very long time for the Jets, New York Giants, and even Los Angeles Chargers before joining the Seahawks for the same role. But in Seattle, something happened. When Russell Wilson got hurt, he played great. That led to him earning the right to fight for the starting position the next year when the Seahawks shipped Wilson off to the Denver Broncos.
As the starter, he became one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and certainly one of the most accurate. Smith quite literally went from the top to the bottom, back to the top, earning around $43 million a year now. And, thankfully, that has built up his mindset to what he has now. When you're sitting on the bench watching nobody give you a chance, you have no choice but to think.
And despite no one, besides Pete Carroll, believing in him, he never wavered.
"Yeah, I don't want to sound arrogant, but I knew an opportunity would come if I just continued to work hard and continued to believe," Smith said on Monday. "And right before coach called me and said, 'Hey, we want to give you the opportunity to start, you've got to go compete for it,' I was already saying, 'I'm going to take someone's job somewhere.' And again, not in a cocky or arrogant way, but I just feel that I'm one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL.
"I'm out to go out there and prove it. I want to prove it to my teammates every day. I want to prove it to the organization every day, and then when the product goes out there on Sunday, I want to make sure that I'm one of the best."
He's got the right mindset as he approaches his second team as the full-time starter. The Raiders need a quarterback with that mindset, too, a guy who knows how good he is, yet the determination to prove everyone wrong is all he can think of. And Smith has been proving everyone wrong for the last few years.
Now, he'll get to do it while wearing silver and black.
Geno Smith is already making an impression on the Las Vegas Raiders’ new additions and he hasn’t even played a snap yet
That’s how it’s supposed to be.
