Seahawks QB battle: Pete Carroll says Geno Smith ‘continues to be on top’ over Drew Lock

The Pittsburgh Steelers listed Mitchell Trubisky as the early leader in their quarterback battle in their first official depth chart. The Seattle Seahawks haven’t released a depth chart just yet, but head coach Pete Carroll did give us some insight into who’s leading between Geno Smith and Drew Lock. Right now, Carroll says Smith is “on top.”

“They keep doing stuff every day, and they’re making plays,” Carroll said of his quarterbacks, via Pro Football Talk. “They both make plays every day. I’m watching to see how it swings; if it goes heavy one way, heavy the other way. The guys are doing a nice job. We’re working hard to match up the reps with the guys that play up in front, and the receivers, we’re working to get that done, and that’ll happen, and you’ll see how it happens again tomorrow, how the reps are handed out, just so that we can make it a really even competition.

“Geno continues to be on top, he’s ahead, he’s been in the lead for all the obvious reasons, and he’s holding onto it and doing a really good job of battling. Both guys are communicating beautifully, they’re learning well, we don’t have any issues with anything we’re trying to do. There are no issues here where we have to ‘Oh, we can’t quite do this or that with this guy or that guy,’ it isn’t like that. They’re very talented arm-wise, and the ability to throw the ball down the field is there. So, let the games begin. Getting out there, now we’re in the middle of it, and we’ll see what happens. It’s a really big day tomorrow. It’ll be a really big day tomorrow.”

Smith being in the lead at this juncture shouldn’t come as a surprise, as he’s been with the franchise since 2019. He got some run as the starting quarterback last year when Russell Wilson was injured, going 1-2. In four total games played last season, Smith threw for 702 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. 

“He’s just doing things right,” Carroll said of Smith. “He handles the system, he’s making the checks at the line of scrimmage, he’s able to control the protections and working with [center] Austin [Blythe], those guys are hitting it really well, and he’s just really talented. He’s made great throws every day. I’m still looking for them to really come in, and really own it, and put days together where they don’t have any negative plays, the plays that they wish they had back. So, in a sense, there’s been openings for both guys by not having the complete day, getting everything done, and finishing the day close to perfect.”

As Carroll said, this competition is not over just yet. We still have three preseason games to play, and the quarterback that finds the most success in these exhibition matchups could lead the starting offense out onto the field come Sept. 12. Then again, it’s also possible the Seahawks add another quarterback to the competition in Jimmy Garoppolo. It’s something the front office has reportedly discussed.