Geno Smith and D.K. Metcalf pick up where they left off heading into the 2023 season
After an early offseason of uncertainty, the quarterback and sure-handed wide receiver get to run it back in 2023.
The NFL-darling and surprise Seattle Seahawks from 2022 plan on running it back with two players that directly helped the team reach the playoffs in a season that the group was supposed to do far more losing — quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.
If the duo were to be broken up, it wouldn't have been Metcalf heading out the door. The early offseason was the months of Smith, who was waiting for word that he would be the team's quarterback in the 2023 season. And then the Seahawks signed Smith to a three-year, $105 million contract in March, assuring Metcalf that his quarterback would be around for a while.
So, naturally, the two got back to work and are planning to pick up where they left off. And to that, the exuberant Metcalf is excited.
“After last year, you go into the offseason wondering if he's going to be our quarterback next year or not," Metcalf said during the Seahawks minicamp. "Once we got the news that he was going to be our quarterback, it was like, all right, we can just pick up from where we left off last year."
In total, Metcalf and Smith have played 22 games together. Throughout that stretch, Metcalf has amassed 1,404 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on 115 receptions.
They may not be Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams in Rodgers' prime, but they are a formidable quarterback and receiver duo in an NFL heavily skewed toward offensive production.
Working in the duo's favor is the quarterback's ability to thread the needle on deep passes. Nearly half of Smith’s touchdown passes in 2022 came on deep passes. And his 13 downfield scores led all quarterbacks. 25.4 percent of Smith’s deep attempts produced touchdowns. Metcalf — a big body receiver — known to break off highlight plays, is undisputably benefitting from Smith's potent deep passes.
But the continuity of Smith and Metcalf won't just lead to on-field results. The Seahawks are also benefitting from Smith's vocal leadership, something Metcalf plans on doing less of in the 2023 season.
"That's him being a great leader like he was during the whole season last year," Metcalf said. "Just his energy and his passion to win and to continue to compete. He's been here since day one of OTAs and since they started offseason workouts. He's just been trying to get everybody along and bring everybody to a team atmosphere and to where this is a brotherhood, not just us coming to work. That's the one thing he's trying to instill on offense and in this team."
To prepare for a 2023 season of continuity, Metcalf didn't work on anything specific. He just got back to the basic that helped him in college.
"I just went back to what I knew what worked in college. So conditioning, 110s, gassers, heavy in the weight room, and just technique stuff."
And as for his goal with himself and his trusty second-year Seahawks starter, comeback-player-of-the-year quarterback, win.
"Win more," he said of what he plans to do, "win my one-on-one matchups and help the team win.”
That is a good start for the two, at least for now. And it isn't even a start, the two are already fairly familiar.
Feature image via Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports.
