Should The Raiders Bench Geno Smith?

The Las Vegas Raiders embarrassed themselves on Sunday, losing 40-6 to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. Starting quarterback Geno Smith struggled mightily. The Raiders need to seriously consider benching him.

Smith completed 25-of-36 passing attempts for 228 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. It goes down as Smith’s third multi-INT game in five appearances this season. Unsurprisingly, he leads the NFL in interceptions with nine.

The Raiders are 1-4 after dropping four consecutive contests. The defense is a major weakness, but the offense has failed to exceed 24 points in any of those showings. In fact, Smith's offense has twice been held under 10 points throughout this drought.

Smith leads the NFL in ill-advised throws with 10 turnover-worthy plays, according to Pro Football Focus. By comparison, he’s only completed five big-time throws. His turnover-worthy play percentage (5.1%) is tied for second-worst.

Smith's aggressiveness continues to lead to turnover-worthy plays. On Sunday, 22.2% of his passing attempts were thrown into tight coverage, per Next Gen Stats. That's fourth-highest across Week 5 entering Monday Night Football. You want your quarterback to possess the confidence required to test tight throwing windows, but Smith is committing turnovers when doing so.

That's consistently been the case. The experienced signal-caller has NGS's fourth-highest aggression score (19%) this season. The quarterback who has attempted the most tight-window throws, Jake Browning (22.6%), is second in interceptions (8) behind Smith. Aggressiveness is a good thing when succeeding. In Smith's—and Browning’s—case, more layups are required.

Indecisiveness behind a spotty offensive line has also been an issue. Smith's average time-to-throw this season is 2.97 seconds. That's the second-longest release time among starting quarterbacks who have played all five games this season. On a related note, Smith has been sacked on 16 occasions, tied for third-most among QBs.

Smith's overall quarterback rating of 75.6 is the sixth-lowest in the NFL, but context makes it even worse. Joe Flacco, Cam Ward, J.J. McCarthy, and Browning are four of the quarterbacks with lower ratings. That's one benched QB, an injured sophomore, a rookie, and a backup replacement.

Smith's play undoubtedly warrants a benching, but the situation is far more complicated than making that simple decision. The Raiders acquired him in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks earlier this offseason in exchange for a third-round pick. With one year remaining on his contract, the Raiders inked Smith to a two-year extension worth $75 million, meaning he's signed through 2027.

That decision was made to reunite Smith with Raiders head coach Pete Carroll. Carroll previously coached Smith in Seattle. He's essentially their hand-picked quarterback, and they're invested in getting him back on track.

If the Raiders do bench Smith, they have a quality backup option in Kenny Pickett. A former first-round pick, Pickett is 15-10 in 25 career games as a starting quarterback. His risk-averse reputation may be what the Raiders' offense needs to better protect the football.

It's worth noting that despite the lucrative contract extension, the Raiders can cut ties with Smith next offseason. The dead cap charge would be a manageable $18.5 million, with $8 million in financial savings. Mar. 15 is a critical deadline, with $8 million in salary scheduled to become guaranteed. Smith's relationship with Carroll complicates matters, but benching him should be considered.