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At this time last year, the Seahawks had not named a starting quarterback but wide receiver DK Metcalf had a pretty good idea of which way they were going to go.
Metcalf knew Geno Smith from Smith’s three years as a backup to Russell Wilson in Seattle and he said during an appearance on Fubo Sports’ Getcha Popcorn Ready with T.O. & Hatch that Smith could “chill” in that role because he wasn’t leading the offense. After Wilson was traded, Metcalf and Smith worked out together and the wideout said he “could tell just by looking in his eyes that it was different.”
Metcalf said Smith did not try to emulate Wilson, but set about putting his own stamp on things from the moment he began competing with Drew Lock for the job. Smith won that competition and Metcalf said that it wasn’t long before the entire team saw the same things that he saw in that workout with the quarterback.
“Just going into training camp, he’s the first one out there and the first one at the facility,” Metcalf said. “He’s watching film. He’s not talking. He just had his head down and he’s working. Week Eight, he gave us a pregame speech and you could just see everyone locked in on him because they had seen how much he had matured and changed. He wasn’t the same Geno. He was like, ‘This is my team now. Ya’ll are gonna listen. I’ve put in the work and I’ve put in the time to where I have stapled my name in Seattle.’ And everybody just started to respect him.”
The Seahawks made the playoffs and Smith signed a new contract this offseason, so there’s no question about his place on the team this time around. If Smith keeps playing at the same level, it will be a while before that changes.