When the Seattle Seahawks signed Geno Smith in 2019, very few people noticed, and those who did didn’t care.  Smith, who flamed out as the New York Jets starter in 2014 (his second NFL season), was relegated to the bench afterward and dealt with multiple injuries before his rookie contract expired.  Smith would later serve as the backup for the New York Giants (2017) and Los Angeles Chargers (2018), and signed with Seattle to compete for that role. He won it, but in his first year in the Emerald City, Smith never entered the game.

Smith did see snaps in one game in 2020, playing mop-up detail after another stellar Russell Wilson performance.  He saw more action in 2021, when Wilson was injured, playing four games with a 5-1 TD-INT Ratio, but in 2022, Wilson was traded to Denver, and Smith was given a chance to win the starting job.  He won it (defeating Drew Lock), and he shocked the football world with a league-leading 69.8 Completion Percentage, 30 TDs, and 4,282 Passing Yards.  He went to the Pro Bowl, won the Comeback Player of the Year Award, and the year after, Smith proved he was not a one-year fluke.

Smith went to the Pro Bowl again in 2023 (3,624 Yards, 20 TDs), and threw for more yards in 2024 (4,320), though his TD-INT (21-15) was not desirable.  He was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025, and as a Seahawk, he had a 28-24 record with 76 TDs and 12,961 Yards. 

Not too shabby for an afterthought.