Graney: Geno Smith is exactly the kind of leader Raiders need

I don’t know what sort of quarterback Geno Smith will be for the Raiders. But he should be a terrific leader.

And that’s exactly what the team needs from the game’s most important position.

Pete Carroll as the organization’s new coach has brought more than a lion’s share of stability to the franchise.

The same can be said for the veteran Smith.

His has been an up-and-down NFL journey. Now in his 13th season, Smith has seen the highs and lows of about as demanding a position as sports know. He has been to the top of the roller coaster and plunged to its bottom. He turns 35 in October. Been around the proverbial block.

It’s the sort of experience that should do well in the room. Smith has been there, done that and done it all over time and again. He can be a mentor to younger players like third-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell.

Smith can be one they all follow.

He bounced around a bit after being a second-round pick of the Jets in 2013 and spending four years with the organization. Spent time with the Giants and Chargers before joining Carroll in Seattle in 2019. Only appeared in five games his first three seasons there while acting as backup to Russell Wilson.

But things would take off the next three years once Wilson was traded and Smith assumed the starting role. Threw for over 12,000 yards and 71 touchdowns. Won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award. Completed 68.3 percent of passes. Twice made the Pro Bowl.

“Geno can be a blessing to coaches,” Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “He’s special. Everybody is a by-product of their environment. Not a lot of guys would have shown his resiliency or his perseverance. It’s hard to talk the talk when you haven’t walked the walk, and he has been in all those shoes.

“He has lived a life of being a high draft pick to a guy who was told a team didn’t want him. To go through all that and come out as he has is a testament to him. He’s relatable to everyone in the room.”

A definite upgrade

Kelly as coach at Oregon actually recruited Smith out of high school, but he chose West Virginia as his collegiate home. Now, they have arrived in Las Vegas under Carroll’s guidance. I suppose all things come around eventually.

Kelly loves how much Smith loves ball. How it can be a Tuesday night after an OTA practice and the quarterback is calling to review all that occurred that day.

About how well Smith seems to be meshing with those weapons he will be expected to get involved weekly. Brock Bowers. Jakobi Meyers. Ashton Jeanty. About how versatile Smith appears.

Gardner Minshew. O’Connell. Desmond Ridder. Between the three quarterbacks last season, the Raiders totaled 19 touchdown passes. The team won four games. It was a disaster all the way around.

So when the Raiders traded a third-round pick to Seattle for Smith in March, and subsequently signed him to a two-year contract worth $85 million — $66.5 million of which is guaranteed — a sense of optimism whiffed through the building.

He might not have been the first choice — the Raiders reportedly tried prying Matthew Stafford from the Rams — but Smith was a far better option than what the team had at quarterback.

Must be good

“I think leadership for me comes naturally, being the oldest child in my family and having to lead by example,” Smith said. “It really comes down to integrity. That’s a big thing for me — what you’re doing when nobody is watching. I’m not a big talker. I’m just trying to be the hardest worker. Just lead by example.”

They can follow a guy like that.

They need to follow a guy like that.

They also (desperately) need him to be good.

Not sure what sort of quarterback he’ll be for the Raiders. That’s the big unknown at this point.

But he will lead. And they (desperately) need that from the most important of positions.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.