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When it comes to fantasy football, it's all about finding those hidden gems, the players who defy expectations and deliver exceptional performances. One such player who deserves our attention is Geno Smith, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback. Despite being a backup for years, Smith was given the opportunity to shine in 2022, and he did just that. Now, as we look ahead to the 2023 season, let's explore why Smith is poised for another top-10 performance, even if he regresses in some areas.

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Our consensus projections currently project him 14th among quarterbacks.

Let Geno Smith Cook

After years of keeping Russell Wilson out of the kitchen, the Seattle Seahawks made a bold decision. They traded him, along with a 2022 fourth-round pick, in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, Drew Lock, Noah Fant, and Shelby Harris.

At first glance, it seemed that Lock would be the likely starter in Wilson's absence. After all, Geno Smith had been a backup for the past six seasons, with his last stint as a starter back in 2014, which, to put it kindly, was less than inspiring.

However, behind the scenes, the Seattle brass quietly believed in Smith's ability to lead a franchise. They saw him not as a mere game manager for a rebuilding roster but as the starting quarterback for a genuinely competitive team.

Pete Carroll and the rest of the coaching staff deserve immense credit for their unwavering belief in Smith's potential. They were perhaps the only ones, aside from Smith and his family, who saw the valuable football skills he still possessed.

In a twist of fate, Smith was not only invited into the kitchen to cook but given his own restaurant, equipped with top-notch cookware to work with.

Seahawks Offense 2021

In 2021, the Seahawks had the second-fewest pass attempts in the league, with only 495. This low number was partly due to their 54.5% passer rate, which ranked 20th, but the main issue was the overall scarcity of plays they ran. Seattle finished dead last in plays per game, running four fewer plays per game than the next worst team.

While it's easy to blame Wilson for the team's performance, the truth is that Seattle's pace was simply abysmal. The Seahawks' passing DVOA ranked eighth in the league at 25.9%, according to Football Outsiders. Wilson still managed to average nearly two touchdown passes per game and finished the season with a solid 25:6 touchdown to interception ratio. In short, he was performing close to his career averages, albeit in a smaller sample size due to injury.

In terms of statistical rankings, the Seahawks finished 10th in passing touchdowns with 30 and were 12th in passing yards with 3,815.

While it's tempting to view the 2021 Seahawks as a collapse of epic proportions, especially considering their 7-10 record compared to their consistent success in the past decade, a closer look reveals that their passing offense was actually efficient and above league average in most categories. Geno Smith was largely overlooked in redraft leading into 2022, mostly because nobody outside the Seahawks facility was certain whether he would start or not. Even if he did, most people doubted his ability to succeed in Seattle's perceived "boring" brand of football.