Seattle, WA
Bump: Why Seattle Seahawks' Geno Smith can win a Super Bowl
When Geno Smith took over as the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback in 2022, most viewed him as simply a stopgap between Russell Wilson and whoever the franchise would eventually draft or acquire as its QB of the future.
Over the past two-plus seasons, Smith has been busy rewriting the narrative.
Rost: Geno a trailblazer in the way QBs are now finding success
And after a scintillating start to 2024, former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus is sold: If surrounded with the right pieces, Smith is good enough to help a team win a Lombardi Trophy.
“If Geno continues to play like this and you surround him with a good defense, your offense keeps producing and your offensive line gets better, you can definitely win a Super Bowl with Geno as your quarterback,” Bumpus said Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.
After spending most of his career as a backup, Smith compiled a breakout 2022 campaign that saw him lead the NFL in completion rate and earned him Comeback Player of the Year honors. He took a slight step back in 2023 – largely due to a porous offensive line – but still directed an NFL-best five game-winning drives and finished top-15 in both ESPN’s QBR metric and Pro Football Focus grading.
This year, the 33-year-old Smith has played like one of the league’s top quarterbacks. Through four weeks, he leads the NFL with 1,182 passing yards, ranks second with a 72.3% completion rate and has thrown for a league-high 57 first downs.
Smith directed another comeback win in Week 2 against the New England Patriots, completing 33 of 44 passes for 327 yards while overcoming pass-protection issues and a handful of drops from his receivers.
And in a shootout loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, he completed 38 of 56 passes for a career-high 395 yards, delivering a slew of key plays to help keep the short-handed Seahawks within striking distance until the final minutes. He also ran for 38 yards and finished with 433 yards of total offense, the sixth-most in franchise history.
Daniel Jeremiah: If Seahawks don’t pay Geno, another team will
“It’s not just about the percentage, the yards and the touchdowns,” Bumpus said. “It’s the moments. It’s the third-and-11 where you need a play. It’s the third-and-short where you’re sliding one in to a receiver sitting in a zone. It’s the dropping a dime on the sideline where only DK (Metcalf) can get it.
“It’s the leadership and it’s the precision in his passing in those big moments and how he does not look rattled,” he added. “… It’s the way that he’s doing it, with the pocket collapsing, him keeping his eyes down the field, rolling outside, throwing across his body. He’s in complete control at all times.”
Poised under pressure
Smith has once again been under frequent duress this season. Seattle ranks 28th in PFF’s pass block grading, which has resulted in him being pressured 69 times – the third-most of any quarterback in the league. That pressure has contributed to at least two of his four interceptions.
But time and time again, Smith has shown impressive poise while everything is crumbling around him.
That was particularly evident during a third-quarter touchdown drive Monday night.
Facing a third-and-8 at midfield, Smith looked like he was about to be sacked as a Detroit blitzer came racing in off the edge. But instead, Smith stepped up, ducked under the blitzer, spun out of the pocket and threw a dart with two defenders in his face for a drive-extending completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Two plays later, Smith and the offense were backed into a second-and-16. With the pocket collapsing, he coolly stepped up and threw an off-balanced pass on the run to Tyler Lockett for a 29-yard gain.
“There was chaos going on around Geno,” Bumpus said. “… And Geno just stood tall. At no point did he look like he was flustered.
“The good quarterbacks operate well under pressure in dropback (situations),” he added. “They’re able to get back there, get to that back foot, (and when) nothing’s there and the pocket is collapsing, you roll outside, you make a play. You extend the plays. You make plays right. That’s what Geno did a bunch of times last night. He’s been doing it all year.”
But as Bumpus said, his view of Smith is based on far more than just a four-game sample size this season.
The stats and metrics would agree.
Since the start of 2022, Smith ranks second in fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives, third in completion rate and fourth in passing yards. In ESPN’s QBR, he ranked seventh in 2022, 14th in 2023 and 10th this year. And in PFF grading, he ranked eighth in 2022, 13th in 2023 and 10th this season.
“It took me two seasons and some change for him to do enough to make me believe that this is possible,” Bumpus said. “Every single year he’s gotten better at something. Last year, he was (one of) the best in the game when it came to play-action. The year before, he took care of the football was the most accurate quarterback in the league. This year, he’s doing all that and more.”
Listen to the full conversations on Bump and Stacy at this link and this link or in the audio players within this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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Seattle, WA
Outreach groups respond to the reported relocation cycle of Ballard’s homeless population
SEATTLE — As people voice concerns about an encampment in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, outreach groups are detailing their efforts and fighting back against encampment removals.
The outreach group We Heart Seattle said it checks on the people in an encampment of at least 20 people weekly to offer water, snacks, personal hygiene items, and access to treatment.
RELATED | Ballard encampment grows after city removes nearby site along Burke-Gilman Trail
The group told KOMO it believes more can be done at the city level, from policy to housing, to get the homeless connected with shelter and services.
A woman working at the Fred Meyer off NW 45th Street and 9th Avenue captured video of a fire near tents at an encampment across the street. A day later, off camera, she told KOMO News she worries about the safety of the people living in the tents and Ballard neighbors, in addition to concerns about alleged open-air drug use at the encampment.
“We became homeless because of certain situations, and we turned to drugs, and unfortunately, addiction comes next, you know?” Crystal Rawlings told KOMO News. She has set up her tent on multiple streets in Ballard, and said she’s approaching one year of being opioid-free.
She believes there’s been more city outreach since the start of the new mayoral administration to connect people living on the streets with services, but knows there’s not enough transitional housing for everyone who needs or wants it.
She and the Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger urge the city to stop encampment removals that push this group to another block.
RELATED | City removes Ballard encampment as neighboring businesses raise housing concerns
“We’re not abominations. We’re not obstructions, and we’re not trash, so stop sweeping us,” Rawlings stated.
The city is still aiming to reach Mayor Katie Wilson’s goal of adding 1,000 new units of shelter in 2026 and recently opened a tiny home village in nearby Interbay, but fell short of the goal of 500 new units by June.
Andrea Suarez with We Heart Seattle estimates at least 20 people living on the street keep getting moved around Ballard, from behind the Albert Lee store to Leary Avenue to NW 45th Street behind the Fred Meyer.
“This encampment has people that’ve been homeless for more than five years. We know their names and faces. They’re still here. They’re still stuck in late-phase addiction, frankly because it’s permitted,” Suarez explained.
RELATED | Viral makeshift homeless shelter with chimney dismantled by Seattle city crews
She believes a camping ban on city sidewalks would help encourage more people to accept shelter, and help stop the cycle of moving people without
“It is an underserved community. I think it is unfair,” Suarez added. “We’ve tried to balance between enablement and really giving people a hand up, but without the teeth and backup for the work of outreach workers, it starts to feel futile, and that’s why we get burned out.”
The mayor’s office was working to send data about its homeless response in Ballard as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger estimates there have been nine Ballard-area encampment removals so far this year.
SEATTLE – Wednesday will be another warm day with highs in the mid to upper 80s for parts of western Washington. Eastern and central Washington will reach near 100F with high fire danger. The coast and north interior will be cooler, only in the 60s to 70s.
Wednesday will be another warm day with highs in the mid to upper 80s for parts of western Washington.
Fire Weather Watch
A Fire Weather Watch goes into effect Wednesday evening through Thursday evening for thunderstorms and gusty winds. Lightning strikes could create new fire starts and, with very dry conditions in place, any new fire could spread quickly.
A Fire Weather Watch goes into effect Wednesday evening through Thursday evening for thunderstorms and gusty winds.
What’s next:
An upper level low will move into the Pacific Northwest, bringing scattered showers and a chance of thunderstorms. The heaviest showers will be in the morning hours and will turn more scattered into the evening hours.
An upper level low will move into the Pacific Northwest, bringing scattered showers and chance of thunderstorms.
Looking Ahead:
High pressure will build again Friday and into the weekend, increasing temperatures and sunshine. We will start to see highs reach the upper 80s to low 90s by early next week.
High pressure will build again Friday and into the weekend, increasing temperatures and sunshine.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the FOX 13 Seattle Weather Team and the National Weather Service.
After so many disappointing seasons with the interior offensive line, the Seattle Seahawks made a commitment last offseason to improve the unit. They started one big step at a time by drafting North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel in the first round, 18th overall pick, of the 2025 NFL Draft. This one was one of the last steps for the Seahawks to create one of the most productive offenses in the NFL.
Zabel wasn’t perfect in his rookie season, but he was good enough to validate the decision to draft him in the first round, and he showed improvement. Zabel is already a favorite among some Seahawks fans and some media outlets as they love his determination and spirit. It was a big jump from the FCS collegiate level to the NFL and this season, he has a chance to show why he might be a top-half-of-the-league guard.
Why Zabel Could Be Ranked Higher?
The Seahawks wanted a determined workhorse when looking for a guard. That’s exactly what they got in Zabel. Last season, he appeared in 1,051 snaps, which is only 10 fewer snaps than right tackle Abraham Lucas, who had the most offensive snaps. Zabel got better as the season progressed. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 81.5 and a run-block grade of 81.2 in Week 14 through the NFC Championship Game.
There were times last season when he looked like a monster against several defenders. He was pushing some defenders completely out of the way on pulling plays and even ran to defenders after the pass-catcher caught the ball. This is the mentality the Seahawks expect him to have going into his second season in the league. He has more experience and the complete trust of the team to be a franchise player on par with Lucas and left tackle Charles Cross. If he continues to improve, he will be another steal for the Seahawks.
Why Zabel Could Be Ranked Lower?
There were times last season when he didn’t quite catch up to the learning curve of the NFL. Zabel allowed two sacks, four hits and 24 pressures in 2025. The Seahawks expect those numbers to decrease significantly as he is experienced and capable of playing at an efficient level. While Zabel is impressive, he might not be the best player the Seahawks have selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. That honor belongs to slot cornerback Nick Emmanwori, who is stepping up to be the steal of the draft.
Zabel is easily one of the best second-year players and is one of the top offensive linemen, but there are players behind him because they haven’t proven to be consistently explosive for the Seahawks. There is going to be even more pressure on him this upcoming season. The Seahawks hired a more run-friendly coach in Brian Fleury as offensive coordinator. His ranking at the end of the season might be much better if he improves, or worse if he fails to reach expectations.
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