Smith will start Seattle's preseason opener Saturday against Pittsburgh, Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.
Drew Lock reportedly outplayed Smith by a wide margin in Seattle's mock game Tuesday, but it won't be enough to flip the depth chart, at least not yet. Smith has taken most of the first-team reps this summer, after completing 65 of 95 passes for 702 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in four games last season. The numbers are impressive at first glance, but Smith also took 13 sacks for 117 yards and added only 42 yards rushing. No qualified passer had a sack rate worse than 11.8 percent (Justin Fields) in 2021, while Smith was at 12 percent over the limited sample.