Where did that come from? We truly did write off Geno Smith… years ago. He “ain’t write back” and turned the Seahawks into a surprise playoff contender in 2022 while the team was seemingly staring a rebuild in the face after the Russell Wilson trade. Smith won the starting job over Drew Lock and never looked back. It was 32-year-old Geno’s 10th season in the NFL and eight years after his starting days as a New York Jet were put on ice.

He bounced around as a backup for the Jets and Giants, then the Chargers and Seahawks before Pete Carroll took that leap of faith. Geno finished as the QB5 overall in fantasy, thanks to 4,200 yards passing and 30 touchdowns. He also rushed for 366 yards and another score on the ground. From waivers to riches, the Geno Smith story is the dream scenario for fantasy managers.

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Finding This Year’s Geno Smith

Since no one has ever come back from eight seasons of irrelevance to fantasy stardom before, I won’t look for that pie in the sky. The 2023 version of Geno Smith will need to be a QB who is presumed to be his team’s starter and is not on the radar in leagues that only start one QB. Three QBs fit this criteria at the surface level, so let’s dive in.

Desmond Ridder takes over as the starting QB in Atlanta after Marcus Mariota clearly held back their passing attack last season. Ridder is a younger clone of Mariota, who was not necessarily a better passer when called upon at the end of 2022. He does have good mobility and athleticism, along with a very good duo of receivers (like Geno did).

Besides the towering presence of Drake London and Kyle Pitts, the Falcons also drafted generational RB prospect, Bijan Robinson. Most teams don’t surround their young QBs with this much weaponry, but the ones that do hardly ever fail. I’m lukewarm on Ridder as a professional QB, but it wouldn’t even raise my eyebrows to see him succeed in 2023.

Jordan Love is the second QB on the qualifying list to become 2023’s version of Geno. He is free from Aaron Rodgers‘ shadow and is now helming Matt LaFleur’s Shanahan-style offense. Love also possesses decent mobility and good physical tools, but his decision-making dating all the way back to the Utah State days, is a huge red flag. Love has not demonstrated, nor has he had much opportunity to, good recognition and awareness at the line of scrimmage and post-snap. His accuracy has also been erratic at times when we’ve seen him on the field.

The receiving corps in Green Bay is another question mark. Christian Watson flashed over a four-game stretch last year as a rookie but spent the rest of the season injured, covered, or dropping passes. Romeo Doubs was better than his draft capital as a late-round rookie from Nevada, but he isn’t necessarily anything special. Michigan State rookie Jayden Reed will look to be the one who galvanizes the passing game as the one true separator and technician of the bunch. Love is not good enough to elevate the talent like Rodgers did for more than a decade, but LaFleur has my vote of confidence to get the most out of his unproven signal caller.

My vote for this year’s Geno in fantasy is Commanders QB, Sam Howell. He has all the tools as the previous two, but his situation is one step better across the board. Washington might just be the team of destiny after finally shooing Dan Snyder out of town. Howell would have been a lock in the first round in 2021 but was ineligible to declare as a sophomore. His 2021 season at North Carolina was not as good in the passing department, but he took it upon himself to carry the offense as its main playmaker. This meant rushing for more than 800 yards and 11 touchdowns, despite passing for six fewer and tossing more interceptions. No excuses for him, but I was not alone in keeping him as the top QB prospect in the 2022 class.

The NFL felt differently, and Washington got a steal in the early fifth round. Howell only started the Week 18 game against Dallas last year, but he was utterly fantastic. He was QB7 on the week with more than 20 fantasy points against one of the best defenses in the league. Some are worried that Jacoby Brissett will push Howell in training camp to be the Week 1 starter. I think the Commanders would have drafted a QB this year if they weren’t planning on Howell taking the job. We know who Brissett is, and he’s not a top-20 NFL QB.

Eric Bieniemy is the new offensive coordinator in Washington and brings an exciting scheme from Andy Reid in Kansas City to match some excellent receiving personnel for Howell. Terry McLaurin is perennially overlooked as one of the best WRs in the game and is a dominant alpha at the X position. Jahan Dotson is an electric talent on the rise and is another excellent separator at the flanker position. Curtis Samuel is the Swiss Army knife at slot, while former college receiver Antonio Gibson is primed to be a younger, better version of the Chiefs’ Jerick McKinnon. Howell will have to be a lot worse than ever imagined to not outperform his ADP. If we see 2020 Sam Howell, a league-winning QB will come off waivers for the second year in a row.

More ‘Finding This Year’s’ Series

• Finding This Year’s Rhamondre Stevenson
• Finding This Year’s Evan Engram
• Finding This Year’s Christian Kirk
• Finding This Year’s Josh Jacobs
• Finding This Year’s Dameon Pierce
• Finding This Year’s Dalton Schultz
• Finding This Year’s Jamaal Williams

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