If you don't have a membership to The Athletic, I highly recommend it. I think I am paying like 2 bucks a month and it's more than worth it.
Michael-Shawn Dugar
Sep 30, 2024
RENTON, Wash. — DK Metcalf was annoyed, as he often is when this topic arises.
In came a question during the Seattle Seahawks receiver’s Week 3 news conference, prefaced with a remark about Geno Smith being underrated. Metcalf and Smith both arrived in Seattle in 2019, and this is Smith’s third season as the starting quarterback. Metcalf has been a believer in Smith since the beginning, which is why by December of Smith’s breakout season in 2022, Metcalf complained that the media’s questions about his quarterback had become stale.
So, when a reporter began a question on Sept. 18 with, “A lot about Geno is kind of underrated …” Metcalf scoffed at the premise. Again.
“Man, y’all been calling this man underrated for three years,” Metcalf said. “When is it gon’ stop? He’s not underrated by any means. He’s an NFL quarterback just like 31 other NFL quarterbacks. I don’t think the ‘underrated’ title should be used anymore.”
Metcalf is correct that, locally, much of the discussion about Smith is centered around how he’s suddenly become a competent quarterback after seven years as a backup, and the lack of credit he receives from those outside the Pacific time zone.
It is also accurate to say the perception of Smith outside of Seattle is not commensurate with his production.
Seattle’s nationally televised game against the Detroit Lions on Monday night could go a long way toward changing that — and determining whether the Seahawks (3-0) will be viewed as a potentially frisky wild-card team or a legitimate contender in the NFC.
“A lot of times people use that word (underrated) because that’s the highest regard that they feel that they could give someone before they put them in the conversation of elite or top quarterbacks,” said veteran receiver Tyler Lockett, another player who has often been labeled underrated. “At some point, he has to be able to get out of that conversation, and you have to start putting him in those conversations where the other top quarterbacks are, based off his play.”
Michael-Shawn Dugar
Sep 30, 2024
RENTON, Wash. — DK Metcalf was annoyed, as he often is when this topic arises.
In came a question during the Seattle Seahawks receiver’s Week 3 news conference, prefaced with a remark about Geno Smith being underrated. Metcalf and Smith both arrived in Seattle in 2019, and this is Smith’s third season as the starting quarterback. Metcalf has been a believer in Smith since the beginning, which is why by December of Smith’s breakout season in 2022, Metcalf complained that the media’s questions about his quarterback had become stale.
So, when a reporter began a question on Sept. 18 with, “A lot about Geno is kind of underrated …” Metcalf scoffed at the premise. Again.
“Man, y’all been calling this man underrated for three years,” Metcalf said. “When is it gon’ stop? He’s not underrated by any means. He’s an NFL quarterback just like 31 other NFL quarterbacks. I don’t think the ‘underrated’ title should be used anymore.”
Metcalf is correct that, locally, much of the discussion about Smith is centered around how he’s suddenly become a competent quarterback after seven years as a backup, and the lack of credit he receives from those outside the Pacific time zone.
It is also accurate to say the perception of Smith outside of Seattle is not commensurate with his production.
Seattle’s nationally televised game against the Detroit Lions on Monday night could go a long way toward changing that — and determining whether the Seahawks (3-0) will be viewed as a potentially frisky wild-card team or a legitimate contender in the NFC.
“A lot of times people use that word (underrated) because that’s the highest regard that they feel that they could give someone before they put them in the conversation of elite or top quarterbacks,” said veteran receiver Tyler Lockett, another player who has often been labeled underrated. “At some point, he has to be able to get out of that conversation, and you have to start putting him in those conversations where the other top quarterbacks are, based off his play.”