Drew Lock arrived in Seattle from Denver on March 16 in the Russell Wilson trade. The Seahawks re-signed Geno Smith on April 19.
Smith’s two previous seasons in Seattle, though, give him with an early edge on Lock a month later.
“Right now, Geno has done such a good job of carrying over (the offensive principles from 2021). He already had a head start over Drew right there,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said on KJR, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune. “We have a long time to go. We are just in T-shirts and shorts right now, going against air. We have a long way to go to see where this competition (goes).”
It reiterated what Pete Carroll said last week about Smith being “automatically” ahead in the competition to replace Wilson.
The Seahawks, though, are banking on Lock being their starter. They have not pursued a veteran quarterback with skins on the wall, like a Baker Mayfield, and they didn’t draft a quarterback.
Seattle appears all in on Lock, with Smith a fallback option.
Team officials repeatedly have praised Lock, and Waldron did again Thursday.
“Drew has a good, calm presence in the huddle out there, (things) we saw in the last three games of his rookie year,” Waldron said. “The thing I like about Drew is, really, his ability to make every throw on the field. The way he moves and he changes his arm angle and doesn’t have to be just a (static) pocket passer out there.”
Lock, 25, went 8-13 in his starts for the Broncos, completing 59.3 percent of his passes for 4,740 yards with 25 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.