Seahawks HC excited about intangibles of dual-threat rookie QB

Geno Smith is firmly entrenched as QB1 for the Seattle Seahawks after signing a three-year extension in March. However, the pecking order at quarterback behind Smith is very much up in the air.

The only other quarterbacks on Seattle's roster at the moment are Drew Lock, who was acquired from the Denver Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade, and Holton Ahlers, an undrafted free agent who signed with the Seahawks two weeks ago.

Ahlers had a great collegiate career at East Carolina. In all, Ahlers threw for 13,927 yards, 97 passing touchdowns to 37 interceptions, along with 1,446 rushing yards and 25 rushing scores. Ahlers ranks seventh in total yards in FBS history and 11th in passing yards. 

It wasn't just Ahlers chops at East Carolina that caught Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's eye, he was impressed by his output in high school as well.

“In his senior year in high school, he threw 61 touchdown passes,” Carroll said, per SeahawksWire. “Come on. You never heard of anybody throwing 61 touchdowns. And I think he ran for 14 or 15 too, and he’s been throwing touchdowns ever since.”

Ahlers will face a learning curve in Seattle. It's a new type of offensive scheme than what was at East Carolina, and the NFC West is light-years different than the American Athletic Conference. 

“He seems really confident in himself and he’s got some transitions to make because our style is different than what they played,” Carroll said. “They were coming up with plays off the sidelines all the time. No huddle and all that. But he’ll be fine with it. He’s making transitions. “But he’s exciting because it’s kind of like the intangibles that you know are there because you’ve been successful for a long time at the position.”