The Seattle Seahawks made a switch at quarterback this offseason, trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick. While the move was criticized by some pundits at the time given the Seahawks plan to replace Smith was signing Sam Darnold, a player coming off a breakout season in the QB-friendly Kevin O'Connell offense, Geno's start at Raiders OTA's may quell some of those concerns.
Per Tashan Reed of The Athletic, Smith threw an interception to Jeremy Chinn on his first pass of OTAs. While every player needs to shake off the offseason rust, making such a glaring mistake on his first play could be some unfortunate foreshadowing for Raiders fans. As Pro Football Focus points out, Smith is receiving an upgrade in offensive line play with Vegas, but a downgrade is weapons. That didn't stop PFF from ranking Smith as their tenth-best passer ahead of the 2025 NFL season:
"Few would have pegged Smith to grade as the sixth-best passer in the NFL over the past two seasons, but here we are. In fact, his 85.8 passing grade in that span is just 0.2 points shy of Patrick Mahomes. After being traded for a third-round pick this offseason, Smith should enjoy an improved offensive line but a downgrade in receiving weapons. He protects the football and has a knack for generating big-time throws," one PFF writer wrote.
Geno Smith is off to a tough start in Raiders OTAs
To put that in perspective, Smith is ranked higher than Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield and Darnold. I'm not one to argue with PFF's rankings – they tend to be more right than wrong about such things – but Smith is entering a situation which hinges on Pete Carroll's faith in him. The Raiders also argued they were planning for the future when they signed Smith to a $75 million extension, which includes $65 million in guaranteed money.
While fans shouldn't overreact to one play in OTAs, Seahawks supporters know exactly what Geno is. He's a good, but not great signal-caller who is productive enough to help an offense with the right weapons reach the precipice of playoff contention. Do the Raiders qualify as such? We'll have to wait and see, but Vegas' best weapons include Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty and Jakobi Meyers.
While Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly can preach a physical approach and running behind a strong offensive line, they will need Smith to take his game to the next level if they're to compete in one of the strongest divisions in the NFL.