Seahawks 2023 QB Watch: John Schneider was at Washington’s win over Stanford

A lot of NFL personnel were on hand for Washington’s 40-22 win over Stanford on Saturday, including Seahawks GM John Schneider.

Seattle has always shown interest in Huskies (4-0) cornerbacks, who use the same techniques the Seahawks have under coach Pete Carroll. Schneider likely had his eye on another spot, though. Going into 2023, no other team will have a greater need for a young quarterback and Washington (ranked No. 18) has an up-and-comer at the position.

That would be one Michael Penix Jr., a fifth-year transfer from Indiana and one of the biggest surprises of the 2022 college season so far. Penix (6-foot-3, 214 pounds) put up a solid line against Stanford, going 22/37 for 309 yards, two touchdowns and no picks.

For the season he’s up to 1,388 yards, 12 touchdowns, one interception and an 88.6 QBR, the ninth-best mark in the country. He’s also among the nation’s deep ball leaders.

Next up Washington visits UCLA on Friday night, followed by another road game against Arizona State.

There are bigger names to watch in the 2023 QB class, including Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. However, if Penix continues playing like this it’ll be tough to overlook him.

Barring another poorly-conceived trade, Seattle should have the resources to get one of these top quarterback prospects.

Remember, they will be armed with their regular first-round selection plus Denver’s first and second-round picks, which they acquired as part of the Russell Wilson trade.

Speaking of Denver, we expect the Broncos (1-1) to get it together at some point, but right now they look like the most poorly-coached team in the league outside of Carolina. It hasn’t helped that Wilson has been sluggish so far, posting just two touchdown passes, one pick and a 48.9 QBR, ranking No. 17 in the league.

As for the Seahawks’ current quarterbacks, Drew Lock caught COVID at the worst possible time then turnover’d himself out of a not-entirely-honest QB1 competition during the offseason. Meanwhile, Geno Smith was nearly-perfect in the preseason and superb in the first half against the Broncos, but since then the passing game has been stuck in the mud to say the least. Things should be easier today against Atlanta, though.

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Regardless of how well Smith plays against the Falcons or the coming weeks we still expect to see Lock start at least a couple of games. Unless one of them takes a massive step forward then Seattle will be drafting a quarterback next year.

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Story originally appeared on Seahawks Wire