How Geno Smith Can Finally Earn NFL's Respect

Pete Carroll has to have a lot of faith in his abilities in order to have the confidence to trade for him in his first year as a head coach. Tom Brady must've seen something in him that he didn't see in others, because the Raiders' front office consulted him about who their next quarterback should be.

It's clear that around the Raiders organization, they know that Smith is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, and they feel better about their outlook next season with him under center. The question is, do others feel the same?

QB Power Rankings

Cody Benjamin, sports writer for CBS Sports, published his quarterback power rankings ahead of the new season of the NFL. He has Smith ranked as the 16th quarterback, just below divisional rival Bo Nix.

"New coach Pete Carroll wants to win now, and Smith's got the zippy arm talent to aid the cause. He just might be tempted to lean too heavily on that arm if young weapons like Ashton Jeanty don't explode early", said Benjamin.

The reason why the Seattle Seahawks were comfortable trading away Smith was primarily his age, but also due to the fact that they were overreliant on his arm. This led to their offense stalling out most drives due to their inability to balance their offense.

As tempting as it may be to let Smith and their renewed passing game take over, it feels unlikely that Carroll would want to run their offense solely through the air. Not even taking into account the fact that Amari Cooper just retired, which means fewer options through the air, the Raiders have made it clear what their identity will be next season.

Balanced Offense

With their decision to make Chip Kelly their offensive coordinator and take Ashton Jeanty with a high draft pick, there's no way the Raiders aren't going to run the ball a ton. Despite this, I think the Raiders will have a balanced offense.

Smith can continue to rise in the ranks of quarterbacks in the NFL if he's an effective field general who limits mistakes and lets Jeanty control the pace of the game. Once it's time to strike, I'm confident Smith will throw a well-timed ball to Brock Bowers or Jakobi Meyers and whittle down defenses for an increased number of wins than last season.