And a great opportunity for Russell. We should see him in the playoffs this season.
I’ll be really conflicted. I like Wilson and would love to root for him. But the Steelers? I can’t root for the Steelers. Ever. But I will be interested to see how this turns out.
Whereas I will have absolutely no conflicts. I don’t really like Wilson, and I loathe the Steelers. So I’m hoping for about a 5-win season for Pittsburgh.
I’m ambivalent about the Steelers and Wilson. Can he see over their front line?
Of course not, that’s why every game he’s played in, he’s running back and forth yelling “Marco” while his receivers yell “Polo”. It’s a very specific challenge for offensive coordinators.
Wilson’s stature did force the Seattle offensive line to set up with wider gaps between them. This was part of the reason why his protection often felt like turnstiles.
He went to back-to-back Super Bowls, winning one, so they did pretty well with him.
I certainly don’t want to belittle Wilson’s accomplishments, but Seattle led the NFL in scoring defense both of those seasons. Also, Marshawn Lynch was an all-pro running back in both seasons.
Of course, Wilson was also all-pro both seasons, which demonstrates that the Seahawks were a pretty damn good team on both sides of the ball.
That sounds like one of those hot take rumors that you see on social media. Out of more than a decade of listening to analysis of the Seahawks I have never once heard that even suggested. I’m going to call BS on it, my guess is that this started as a joke but somehow morphed into a “fact” on retelling.
That being said, Russell has always had a tendency to hold onto the ball too long, trying to be a hero every play, and that most certainly has made his protection look worse than it is. It’s hard to protect a quarterback who hangs onto the ball for too long without drawing a holding penalty. Wilson does (or at least did) show a great ability to elude rushers and toss the ball on the run or scramble for yards so he made it work much of the time, but absolutely that has always been a liability for him.
I have some questions.
In one YouTube video (which I watched a few weeks ago, and may not remember 100% correctly) on the NFL channel, a couple of talking heads said that he has a hard reading defenses prior to the snap. Is this something that is recognized about him? How does he compare to others?
From here, (an article dated December 31, 2023)
My bolding.
What does the last sentence mean?
Is he worse at complex plays than the average quarterback or worse than elite QBs?
My knowledge is based on being a casual 49er fan watching TV, so 2x a year while he was in the NFC West + the postseason matchups. 10 years.
My answer: no. I’m not aware of any difficulties of him reading defenses. I think it’s lingo to basically explain that Wilson thinks and communicates differently than how Payton likes. Russell Wilson is not Drew Brees.
As for the bolding, no idea.
I just searched on Drew Brees Russell Wilson and found this recent SI article
“I think Russell, to me, is not a timing/rhythm passer," Brees said. "Russell is one of the best deep-ball throwers in the league and has been for a long time. But it’s run game, it’s read/option stuff, it’s the RPO game, and then it’s the heavy play-action. ‘Man, let’s let him launch it.’ Or kind of give him these high-to-low reads. To me, that’s the best system for him.”
This is 100% true, and it’s a big reason why Jimmy Graham, who was very successful receiving passes from Brees for years as Brees tossed the ball like a programmed pitching machine, then struggled immensely when traded to Seattle and started receiving improvised passes from a scrambling Wilson.
It wasn’t a chemistry thing either, Graham and Wilson were great friends and Graham even went to Wilson’s wedding. But the style of play is so different.
I used to hear praise in Wilson’s later years that he was good at reading defenses. He has his flaws for sure but one of his biggest strengths is that he’s dedicated and works hard, even to a fanatical degree. And that includes the mental stuff in being able to diagnose a defense.
But I think that as Brees is alluding to, Wilson will read the defense then do his own wacky stuff anyway.