Throughout Russell Wilson’s tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, they’ve never had a backup quarterback of note. Perhaps the most notable of all was the late Tarvaris Jackson. Outside of him, however, it’s been a who’s who of quarterbacks. From Trevone Boykin to Austin Davis to current backup Geno Smith, the Seahawks have never had a high-end QB2. As far as the Seahawks faithful were concerned, without Wilson, the Seahawks season is over.
In order to avoid this reality, a healthy and vaccinated Cam Newton could come into play.
The Seahawks, who are near 100% fully vaccinated, could benefit from a quarterback like Cam Newton if he were also vaccinated. As of right now, the Seahawks are going into the season with year two of Geno Smith. I like Geno the human being, but Geno Smith the backup is a whole other story. Especially when behind an offensive line such as the Seahawks. Even as great as Russell Wilson is as a scrambler and playmaker, he was still sacked 47 times in 2020.
The last thing the Seahawks can do is pin their hopes on a far less mobile quarterback like Geno Smith. Even at this stage of Newton’s career, he’s head and shoulders above Geno Smith as an athlete. Newton may not be the thrower he once was, which wasn’t very good to begin with, but he showed everyone in 2020 that his legs are still a dynamic weapon. Not to mention, like with Geno, there would never be a quarterback controversy. The only thing that will prevent this from happening, other than Pete Carroll’s unwillingness to change, is Newton’s vaccination status.
The Best Ability Is…
From a raw numbers standpoint, it’s not even a competition. Cam Newton has always been the superior quarterback, be it in college or the pros. Granted, Geno Smith didn’t have the greatest of support in New York, but that’s life in the NFL. Despite Cam Newton’s skillsets clearly leaning more towards Wilson’s than Geno’s, Geno has two things going for him. He knows the Seahawks system, and by all accounts, he’s fully vaccinated.
There’s a saying in sports that the best ability is availability. While that’s certainly not true for every situation, it is as it pertains to life in a pandemic. Though Geno may be the lesser of the two players, the Seahawks, like many other teams, trust vaccinated players more than unvaccinated players, especially when they’re a quarterback. When you’re a quarterback, you touch the football every play you’re on the field, making you the most important player on the team. As we’ve seen in today’s NFL, if you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have much of a chance to win.
A worst-case scenario for a team is that their starting quarterback gets hurt, the usual backup isn’t at the game due to COVID protocols, and a quarterback that doesn’t fully know the system has to take the field. Heaven forbid that an unvaccinated player causes an outbreak that forces half a team to miss a game. Cam Newton has every right to forgo the vaccine, but teams have the right to avoid signing him because of it. In the event that Cam Newton does get vaccinated, the Seahawks should be the first team that calls him. No disrespect to Geno Smith, but it’s not up for debate on who’s the better of the two.
