Geno Smith on Geno Smith: Raiders QB breaks down his film as he begins new chapter

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After getting traded to the Las Vegas Raiders at the age of 34, Geno Smith knows what he must do to finally be viewed as an elite quarterback: Win. But that’s been something elusive for the Raiders for the better part of two decades.

“Yeah, I would say win, win a lot of games,” Smith said. “Obviously, you wanna start with the division. That’s always first things first, take care of your division, win a lot of football games and get our team to the playoffs. That’s the main goal is to get to the playoffs and then obviously to the big dance.”

Smith isn’t brash or loud about it, but his absolute belief in himself radiates subtly. His confidence had to be unwavering in the six consecutive seasons that he wasn’t a starter to fully take advantage of the opportunity he earned from Pete Carroll as a Seahawk. Smith helped get the Seahawks into the playoffs in his first season as a full-time starter in Seattle, but failed to do so in the last two seasons.

Smith wasn’t without blame, but in 2023, the Seahawks had one of the worst defenses in the league and fielded one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines for years. He’ll have a new opportunity with his old coach in Vegas. Some may find it hard to believe, but he can take his game to another level at the age of 34 and Smith has worked as hard as he ever has this offseason.

“Shoot, I’ve been doing three-a-days,” he said. “I mean, I’m already in pads. So I’m always looking for ways to get better and my diet got better, my body, I’m stronger. I’ve gotten faster even this year. I definitely feel young. I don’t think body-wise, I don’t think I feel a day over 25.

“Part of it is not getting hit for those number of years and just not having the wear and tear, but also just having good genetics. I’ve got young parents and my mother still looks young, my dad still looks young. So that’s a lot to look forward to and I’m very happy.”

Smith also played under two offensive coordinators no longer calling plays in the league (Shane Waldron and Ryan Grubb). The Raiders made a splash hire by bringing in Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator. Kelly tried recruiting Smith to Oregon when he was the coach there and coached Smith’s cousin, Ohio State phenom receiver Jeremiah Smith, last season.

“We’ve always had a rapport with one another, which has made the transition smooth,” Smith said of Kelly. “And so, learning this offense, I’ve been in three different systems in three years. And so I’ve been able to adjust, and that’s something that I’m good at. I can adjust. And so, just an adjustment period, but the offense is really good. I’m looking forward to it. Won’t give too many details, but we’re looking to be explosive and efficient.”

When Kelly first coached in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, his tempo-based system was about getting in as many plays as possible. The approach took the league by storm, but it had to be simplistic because everything was called at the line of scrimmage. You can’t get too complex when trying to get the snap off as fast as possible. But eventually, good defenses adjusted to the pace and predicted what plays were being called based on pre-snap tells.

Kelly’s offense has evolved into a more “pro-style” one, but college quarterbacks don’t make many major changes at the line of scrimmage. One of Smith’s strengths is his ability to get the offense into the right plays with audibles. How much control will Kelly give Smith at the line of scrimmage?

“Every single coordinator I’ve played under, they understand how much film I study,” Smith said. “They understand how well I can see the defense pre- and post-snap. And so they give me a lot of the abilities to go out there and make those things happen. But again, it’s all about what can our guys do as a group? It’s never about what I can do myself. I believe in myself, but it’s a collective effort. And so we’ve got to make sure that all the guys are always on the same page. … We’re working on that. But I know that Chip knows that I can see the game.”

Smith’s football I.Q. is apparent when watching tape, but after breaking down film with him, his understanding of defenses and their rules stood out. Knowing the general rules of defenses is one thing, but understanding defenders’ responsibilities in their given schemes is the next level.

The first play we looked at wasn’t a throw but rather a run play that Smith checked into. I always wondered how he got to this audible.

2022, Week 5, 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, second-and-1

“I believe this original play we had called was a boot going to the right. And then I had press. I really didn’t feel good about it, so I just got to like a weak-side run there … just had a good numbers look over there … had three to the left side over there. Just knowing that the cutback would be there because the Mike linebacker was overflowing.”

With press coverage, there’s the threat of running a boot right into a slot blitz. Also, the press could disrupt the timing of the routes, which could give the defense time to recover on the boot. Smith saw the numbers advantage to the weak side (left of the image) and knew there was a possibility of a cutback because of how aggressively Saints linebacker Demario Davis plays and how defensive end Cameron Jordan was jumping to the outside.

“You see how Cam Jordan’s playing out on it? He had been doing that all game. So I just felt like with him doing that, there should be an easy cutback right here with this run,” Smith said.

He was absolutely correct. Davis overflowed and Jordan took himself out of the play, opening up a huge lane for running back Kenneth Walker’s first career touchdown.

Sunday gave us the best game in the young career of @Kenneth_Walker9. 😤 pic.twitter.com/ePk3zic9JZ

— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2022

An offensive line is usually a running back’s best friend, but a quarterback who can get him into favorable runs is also important. Raiders first-round pick Ashton Jeanty should benefit from Smith’s work at the line of scrimmage.

Smith finished in the top 10 in completion percentage over expected in his three seasons as Seattle’s starter, including finishing second in 2022, meaning he makes a lot of difficult throws. He said his touchdown throw to Jaxson Smith-Njigba against the Rams in Week 9 last season was one of the best of his career.

2024, Week 9, 0:11 remaining in the second quarter, second-and-10

“The Rams are starting out in a two-shell. They’re playing quarters where you can see this little triangle here between the three and two receivers, right? They’re playing quarters and then the guy outside is one-on-one. He’s pretty much got man coverage here on Tyler Lockett.”

“And then at the top, they’re playing like a three over two. So we got like a smash concept up top called.”

“I’m looking right just to make sure this safety — because I know my concept on the front side — so I’m just trying to make sure the safety carries my corner route right up top. I even give him like a little pump just to make sure he gets out of there.”

“This is a tough pass-off for the safety and the nickel corner here. So the nickel takes the corner route. And then the safety is also running with the corner route.”

With two defenders running outside with the corner route, Smith had Smith-Ngijba open over the top and Lockett open underneath.

“If I didn’t have Jaxson open if they passed this off correctly, then you can see Tyler Lockett coming open on his dig route, but I would have had to hit him like on the second window, probably on that right hash.”

“But the cool part about this is I hitch up into the pocket. And then I’m actually on the left side of the center. But I change my arm angle to throw the ball from the right side. So the ball’s wrapping around his body. And we get a touchdown right before the half. This is probably one of my better throws in my career.”

Geno finds JSN again… this time for the TD!

📺: #LARvsSEA on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/Koazz6d5EW

— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024

2024, Week 18, 12:57 remaining in the second quarter, third-and-6

“The Rams start off in a two-shell, which they do a lot. A lot of teams from that (Vic) Fangio family, they like to show you two. So you got one backer in the box, not really a blitz look. So protection wise, you’ll keep it in the box.”

“And then up top, you’ll see like, they’re kind of confused. I think they’re trying to get to cloud or they’re playing quarters over there. They’re boxing it. And then they’re playing cover two backside (bottom of the screen). We got DK (Metcalf) backside, so they’re probably trying to cloud him.”

“This safety (highlighted in white circle) sees the (running) back get out of there,” Smith explained. “Obviously, we’re getting a little bit of pressure up front.”

Smith looked like he was going to get sacked, so the free safety sprinted down to try to take away Smith’s check down, as the corner matched on Metcalf, essentially playing him in man coverage.

Smith somehow saw the safety leave the deep part of the field in the split second before he was pressured and was able to spin out of a sack.

The Geno escape 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/iISGHN7B84

— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025

“DK does a great job at just keeping the play alive, wins this route. He’s got eyes on me, but I can’t throw it right now based on what I’m doing in the pocket. But keeping my eyes up, I read the front side of the coverage to the backside (toward Metcalf).”

It’s clear that playing for defensive coaches has benefited Smith and his development as a pocket passer. He speaks the language of defense, knows where defenders are supposed to be, what their jobs are and how to manipulate them.

If you look at Smith’s highlight reel of throws over the years, you would undoubtedly believe that he should be considered one of the top quarterbacks in the league. For Smith to take that next step in the minds of the media and fans, he has to be more consistent in late-game situations and win in the playoffs.

Of course, winning isn’t all on the shoulders of the quarterback. The Raiders have young, budding talent on offense. They’ll need to quickly emerge for the offense to reach its potential. Smith’s experience and big-play ability will give them a baseline that they haven’t had in years, but he also can reach an even higher ceiling.

(Top photo: Ethan Miller and Elsa / Getty Images)

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