Giants' Daboll Previews Geno Smith, Seahawks

The New York Giants know the Geno Smith story well. They were a brief side character in one of the league’s best fairy tales.

On Sunday, Smith and the Seattle Seahawks will get to play host to a beleaguered Giants team hoping to rebound after a touchdown-less Thursday Night Football contest.

Smith, though, provides a significant challenge for New York . In the two-plus seasons since taking over, he’s played like a top-10 quarterback and continues to prove that his aggressiveness is a path to sustainable success.

On Wednesday, New York head coach Brian Daboll praised Smith for his performance and perseverance.

“He's playing at a high level,” Daboll said . “He's a veteran now. He's done a really good job when you study the tape. Last year and this year, here to start out, obviously, he threw for a bunch of yards in a back and forth game there for a while. He's got command. I know it's a new offense with (Seahawks offensive coordinator) Ryan (Grubb) there. It looks like he has command of what he's doing. He has, I would say, very, very good skill players around and he gives those guys chances. …I think Geno (Smith) is a guy that leads it all.

“Does a good job of getting the ball to those playmakers … They all have good roles, good players, and Geno has, I think, for the last couple of years, been playing at a high level.”

Through four weeks, the Seahawks are 3-1. Smith ranks 11th in expected points added, second in success rate, and ninth in completion percentage over expected (per rbsdm ). Nobody has thrown for more yards (1,182), and he’s completed 72.3 percent of his passes.

Armed with the receiving trio of DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks have one of the most imposing passing offenses in the sport. They can threaten every level of the field, withstand poor offensive line play, and eliminate leads quicker than most.

What Daboll seemed more impressed with, though, was the journey Smith took to prominence. In an era of short leashes and rookie quarterbacks being thrown into the fire, Smith went from a potential franchise quarterback to a backup quickly and had to earn his way back into a starting role.

He reemerged a far better quarterback, in part due to his patience behind greats like Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, and Eli Manning. A decade into his once-written-off career, he’s playing his best football.

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“Sometimes you go through some tough times,” Daboll said. “It seems like the past few years a lot of quarterbacks have been going through a fair amount of that. He's played football at a lot of different places and he's a veteran that's really settled in and is making really good decisions and throwing the ball well.

“You can see how he bounces back in games too. The first game against Denver, sack on the first play and interception on the next play. He just keeps on chugging along. I've got a lot of respect for him and his career and journey in this league and how he's playing and looks like leading their team right now.”

Needless to say, this poses a challenge for a New York team battling injuries and inconsistencies in the defensive backfield.

Kickoff for the Week 5 contest is set for 4:25 p.m. (ET).