Russell Wilson has evolved as a QB and he's only getting warmed up!
Russell Wilson is god-like in Seattle. You can’t walk 5 blocks without seeing a #3 jersey and it’s with good reason. He has given the people of Seattle and Seahawks fans around the globe a reason to think, no matter the score, ‘we can still win’. That feeling is rightfully deserved, as well. Russ has 19 4th quarter comebacks in his 6-year career. I’d hedge that when it’s all said and done, Wilson sits atop that list of greats. He only has to do it 26 more times, after all.
He is fiercely competitive, undeniably positive but most importantly, he gets the job done. He can also chew gum with the best of them. To think the team picked him up in the 3rd round is cruel to the other 31 teams, given how many quarterback-needy teams there were back in 2012, Russell Wilson will forever be a ‘what if’ amongst team front offices who have paid hard for passing on him simply because he’s a couple centimetres shorter than a pro-typical QB. It’s ignorant at best and downright imbecilic at worst.
This year though, we’re seeing a different breed of quarterback. Sure, we still have the cliché quotes of “1-0 every week”, “championship opportunity” and “no time to sleep” but we’re also getting Russell Wilson cussing in game (cue Cussell Wilson) and becoming the biggest and strongest cog in the offense. Previously, he was merely another cog that needed other cogs in order to function. A master of sack avoidance, excelling under pressure and blitzes and just plain ol’ ‘making it happen’. It’s the rebirth of an already excellent quarterback who put a Lombardi trophy in the Seahawks cabinet early in his career, developing into a player that opposing teams and fans alike love and detest in equal measure.
He has grown as an adult, re-marrying music artist Ciara in 2016, having a child with her and still finds time to visit Seattle Children’s Hospital each and every week. We also get to see the fun side of Russell Wilson, air-fluting in the end zone with his teammates this past Sunday and doing the best damn impression of Pete Carroll, (sneakers an’ all) anyone has ever seen. No doubt he’s grown as an athlete, but he’s also grown as a human. Yet for all of his off-field interests, he is still getting better. The certified leader of the team. Teammate Doug Baldwin said it best when he said, “If you lead us into darkness we will follow you”. That’s a powerful statement and you can bet all the cocaine in the Dolphins practice facility that he meant it.
He is also ahead of schedule to blow his previous years statistics out of the water. Despite all his life changes, becoming a husband again, becoming a father, becoming the franchise quarterback, he is still getting better. In the words of Russell himself “fuck yeah, let’s go!”
Russ is 164 for 258 through 7 games, putting him on track to finish the season with 375 completions on 590 attempts. His closest in his professional year came last season where he finished the regular season with 353 for 546.
Given the fact he typically gets hot in November and December gives me confidence that not only will he stay on track, he will improve further and put up staggering numbers.Adding Duane Brown alone makes these numbers shoot in the air, think of Brown as Wilsons Robin to his Batman.
Completion percentage wise, Russ is ever so slightly down on previous years currently sitting at 63.6% on the year, 16th in the league (minimum 200 attempts). This is the one stat that keeps Wilson out of the top 10 in all recordable stats. All things considered, we can give him a pass just this one time.
Given the ineffective run game, it’s only obvious that his passing yards would jump up, and they have. He is currently 6th in the league with passing yards at 2008. Three of those quarterbacks are on bye weeks this week (Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady) so he has a game in hand against them, expect Russ to be firmly in 3rd place league wide behind only Alex Smith and Tom Brady come Monday. In 2016 he finished 10th overall in total passing yards and 12th the year before to give you an idea of his 2017 improvements.
Some other notable stats –
Average yards per pass – 8th in the league at 7.8
Yards per game – 2nd in the league at 286.9
Passing touchdowns – 5th in the league with 15
Interceptions – tied 4th (min 200 att) with 4
20+ yard completions – tied 7th with 27
40+ yard completions – tied 6th with 6
QBR – 7th with a 100.4 average rating
ProFootballFocus also has Wilson ranked second overall with their grading system behind only Tom Brady (90 overall vs 92.7 of Brady). These two receive the only ‘elite’ grades by PFF as well (score of 90 or more). Bobby Wagner is the only other player to receive an elite grade amongst Seahawks starters. With Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Doug Baldwin coming close.
Going forwards, the fate of this team is firmly in the hands of the man under center. When things aren’t going right, he rallies. When things are going as per the game plan, he continues to shine. It’s safe to say, and scary to think, that Russell Wilson is on an upward trajectory towards greatness and he isn’t stopping for anyone. It truly is a great time to be a Seahawks fan.
