Geno Smith traded to Las Vegas: The Dynasty Fantasy Football Impact
The Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders are both seemingly teams in transition. With the Raiders wanting to move on from the quarterback trio of Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder and Seattle tired of being stuck in mediocrity, they agreed to a somewhat surprising trade that will send Seattle’s now former starting quarterback Geno Smith to the Raiders in exchange for a third round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s a pre-free agency trade that creates a significant ripple effect in dynasty leagues. Let’s take a look at who was impacted by the deal from a dynasty perspective.
Geno Smith, QB LV
Once a second round pick of the New York Jets, Smith has had one of the strangest careers in NFL history. After all, he was labeled a bust after four years, 33 games, 28 touchdowns and 36 interceptions with the Jets. He then spent time with Giants and Chargers, attempting to fix his faults and get back on track. He finally got that chance again and Seattle after spending two years as a backup there and simply flourished. Over the past three seasons, he’s thrown for over 12,000 yards, with 71 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. While not a truly dominant performer, he has played at a Pro Bowl level and is a clear upgrade over what the Raiders trotted out last season.
Now reunited with former Head Coach Pete Carroll, it seems likely Smith should be able to post similar numbers as his time in Seattle. While the talent around him may not be quite as good, he may also have to shoulder a little bit more of the load, making those two things even out a touch. Expecting Smith to throw for around 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns would seem reasonable. That would keep him on the QB2 line and as an option to be a fill-in on a bye week for dynasty managers. While not an elite option and now 34 years old, Smith is still going to be a pretty solid option for dynasty drafters who simply pass on the quarterback position early and look to fill their roster with talent at other positions. In short, he should be relatively high-end QB2 for as long as he starts in Las Vegas.
Aidan O’Connell, QB LV
Well, that’ll do it. After losing his job to Gardner Minshew, then failing to capitalize on his opportunity when he got it again last season, O’Connell has simply proven he is who he is – a backup-level option in the NFL who can make some spot starts but can’t be built around in fantasy or reality. He’s a deep roster option at the moment in Superflex leagues, but that’s really about it.
Raiders Skill Players
This is a team that is in real flux at the moment. We don’t know who the starting running back will be. We also don’t know who the starters are going to be at receiver. There are strong rumors about Najee Harris possibly latching on, but that’s far from a guarantee. Even then, we’ve all been down this road before with Coach Carroll, who is notorious for creating competition at every spot, especially at running back. In short, this is just too fluid to even take a guess on.
Brock Bowers, TE LV
Bowers was fantastic last season with 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns, becoming the dynasty TE1 in the process. I have to admit I’m personally a little worried about his future. While there’s no doubting he’s a dominant performer, Coach Carroll just never utilized his tight ends consistently in Seattle, despite having clear-cut elite options like Jimmy Graham. It would be insanity to think Bowers would somehow not get peppered with targets, but we’re going to need to see it first to believe it. Again, there’s no reason to panic and Smith is clearly better than what Bowers had last year. However, it’s also not a slam dunk that his season is an exact repeat. He remains the TE1, but let’s see a dominant Sophomore campaign to cement that long-term.
Sam Howell and Jaren Hall, QBs SEA
At this point, these are the players who Seattle has to look at as their starter. However, that’s going to change in the next week. Howell flamed out in Washington and didn’t do much last year to inspire confidence in Seattle. Hall has some real talent, but he’s still a major project. In short, you need to read the tea leaves here – these two are not going to be in the mix to start next seeason.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR SEA
The big riser in Seattle last season was JSN, who posted 100 catches for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns, emerging as the clear WR2 for the team. With DK Metcalf likely on the way out, that’s going to likely make him the top dog in the offense next season. If Seattle can somehow upgrade the position and elevate JSN to the WR1 at the same time, we’re likely going to see some career highs and a newly minted WR1 in dynasty leagues. We’ll see what Seattle does here, but his value is at least stable and get rise in the coming weeks.
Other Seahawks Skill Players
Speaking of a team in flux, it seems Seattle will go into next season without both DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett on the roster. Outside of JSN, it’s hard to really evaluate any other values until we see what happens in free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft. However, it certainly seems Seattle is in search of an upgrade and aren’t wanting to accept mediocrity.
Free Agent Quarterbacks
It seems Seattle is going to go all out to sign Sam Darnold and many think it’s already a done deal. While that may or may not be the case, Seattle clearly has a plan here. It could be Darnold. If not, the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields, and a few others are also on the board. If it is Darnold, it’s going to be a risky proposition as we saw one really good season in Minnesota but little else for the former elite-level USC signal caller. Stay tuned.
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
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