How 2023 will be different for Seahawks’ Geno, 49ers’ Purdy
Jul 21, 2023, 12:59 PM
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 14: Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers and Geno Smith #7 of the Seattle Seahawks meet following an NFL football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium on January 14, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Two of the biggest surprises at the quarterback position in 2022 were in the NFC West in Geno Smith for the Seattle Seahawks and Brock Purdy for the San Francisco 49ers.
Smith became a Pro Bowler in his 10th NFL season despite not having been a full-time starter since 2014.
As for Purdy, the very last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft played exceptionally well after the 49ers lost two other quarterbacks due to injury.
So how will 2023 be different for those two NFC West quarterbacks? Former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus shared his thoughts during Thursday’s Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports.
“They’re not sneaking up on anybody,” Bumpus said.
Oftentimes when a quarterback has to throw the ball more than 25 times in a game, Bumpus said, they’ll see their completion numbers take a hit. That wasn’t the case for Purdy or Smith, though, so volume passing doesn’t appear to be a concern.
With Purdy, Bumpus shared what he’d do if he were a defensive play-caller.
“If I’m playing against Brock Purdy this year and the 49ers, I’m just gonna load the box up and be like, ‘Alright Brock Purdy, you go out and beat us,’” he said.
The 49ers have an explosive offense, and they lean heavily on their rushing attack.
As for Smith, there’s now “a full year of film” out on him, but he will benefit from two new rookie weapons: wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a first-round pick, and running back Zach Charbonnet, a second-rounder.
“What are they going to do to take away his options?” Bumpus said. “What Geno has in his favor is that now he has two running backs and a receiving corps that’s going to be awesome. With Brock Purdy, can he do it for a full year? So I look at these two and I go, ‘Look man, you guys had good years last year.’ Everyone’s gonna be on this ‘prove it’ type of stuff, which I think they should be because you’ve only seen it for a year with Geno and half a year for Brock Purdy. That’s all it is. The film is out. What do you do to stop these two guys?
“With Purdy, it’s load up the box. With Geno, send blitzes at him … With Geno, I’m thinking, alright, well, I’m just gonna send blitzes at him and make him be that quarterback that he wants to be. At the end of the day, the film is out on these two and they’re gonna have to adjust their game a little bit.”
This story was first published by Sactown Sports‘ sister station, Seattle Sports. Thank you for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
