For Russell still plenty to prove.

[HaroldSeattle]

You got to listen to the audio of Jeffri Chaniha with Brock. He's trying to make the case that Russell is a game manager in the Alex Smith mold. Brock did a nice job knocking his theory down.

Again you got to listen to this!

For Wilson, still plenty to prove after stellar debut - Blog - MyNorthwest.com

 

[Jikkle]

Wilson's 195 YDS/G stat is what hurts him. Alex Smith's 2011 YDS/G was 197 so that stat by itself puts Wilson in game manager territory

RGIII by comparison wasn't a whole lot better with a YDS/G at 213 but in RGIII's defense he had a bigger impact with his legs with 815 yards at a 6.8 YDS/A vs Wilson's 493 yards at a 5.2 YDS/A.

Throwing Kaepenick in the mix requires some math since ESPN list him at 130 YDS/G which means they are counting the games that he appeared and threw 1 pass. So going from the Bears game to the end of the season his YDS/G would work out to be 230.

YDS/A though is what damages the Wilson being a game manager argument because he was fourth in the league at 7.93 which means he was pushing the ball downfield and not just dinking and dunking. RGIII was tops at 8.14 and Kaepernick's small sample size he would've been a 8.55 YDS/A.

I personally wouldn't put Wilson as an Alex Smith type game manager. He's a much more gifted passer than Smith is and he pushes the ball more downfield than Smith did and just a more dynamic player.

I would say it's a fair to question if Wilson will ever be a top 5 elite QB but I think this season will be a good indication on the trajectory his career is going to take.

 

[WizardHawk]

If you are going to throw out the games Kaepernick didn't play the entire game, then also take into consideration that Wilson was not given the plays over the first half of the season to build his stats. What was his average over the last 8 games + playoffs? When Seattle fell behind in the Atlanta game they let Wilson open it up and air it out and he proved he could not only do it, but do it in the playoffs under pressure on the road.

Seattle is a pound it kind of team and Wilson may not get 30+ attempts a game every week. They have shown they will let him fly when needed, but as long as they can build a lead with a solid ground game they would rather control the clock and grind out the game.

Anyone only looking at his entire season stats isn't seeing the real picture. Whether it was right or not for the coaches to keep the play calling so vanilla while they let him get up to speed, that is the reality he was given. Now had he simply not played well because he was a rookie that's another story.

 

[blstoker]

If you are going to throw out the games Kaepernick didn't play the entire game, then also take into consideration that Wilson was not given the plays over the first half of the season to build his stats. What was his average over the last 8 games + playoffs?

213.3 over his last 14 games (including playoffs), and that includes games like NY Jets (188), Arizona (148), Buffalo (205) and San Fran (171) where the game was so lopsided that only Bill Belichek would have kept throwing the ball. The only bad game he had in that span was the one in San Fran.

 

[dude82]

He's never gonna be the Brady/Manning/Brees "throws the ball 40-45 times a game because he has to" type. Not in this offense with this coaching staff, anyway. I'd say he'll probably throw an average of somewhere around 25 times a game. There will be the odd exception when he throws it 35 times, but it won't be normal for him to do that. If throwing it that much is what it's gonna take to shake the "game manager" label, he's not gonna shake it any time soon, which is a shame. That's called holding the type of offense the team runs against him.

 

[Jikkle]

If you are going to throw out the games Kaepernick didn't play the entire game, then also take into consideration that Wilson was not given the plays over the first half of the season to build his stats. What was his average over the last 8 games + playoffs? When Seattle fell behind in the Atlanta game they let Wilson open it up and air it out and he proved he could not only do it, but do it in the playoffs under pressure on the road.

I only threw out the games Kaepernick didn't start. Wilson started all of his games which is why I would count those. For example it would be silly for me to count an 0 for 1 performance against the Jets when totaling his YDS/G.

And I agree that stats in football don't tell an entire story and you have to use the eyeball test as well but you can't cherry pick the good stats and dismiss the bad ones completely.

We don't know if he would've been as good in the first half as he was in the second half. He might've been great or he might have struggled. Either way I think Seattle was smart for leaning on a strong running game and defense early and slowly building up his work load.

As far as the Falcons game goes it's definitely a positive that he did what he did but the Falcons D was horrible at that time. Kaepernick lit them up badly the following week as well so I think you need more games like that before you can say that's how he really is.

Despite his numbers I think he's far from a game manager and a legit top 10 QB. I just question if he'll be a top 5 QB is all.

 

[WizardHawk]

I only threw out the games Kaepernick didn't start. Wilson started all of his games which is why I would count those. For example it would be silly for me to count an 0 for 1 performance against the Jets when totaling his YDS/G.

And I agree that stats in football don't tell an entire story and you have to use the eyeball test as well but you can't cherry pick the good stats and dismiss the bad ones completely.

We don't know if he would've been as good in the first half as he was in the second half. He might've been great or he might have struggled. Either way I think Seattle was smart for leaning on a strong running game and defense early and slowly building up his work load.

As far as the Falcons game goes it's definitely a positive that he did what he did but the Falcons D was horrible at that time. Kaepernick lit them up badly the following week as well so I think you need more games like that before you can say that's how he really is.

Despite his numbers I think he's far from a game manager and a legit top 10 QB. I just question if he'll be a top 5 QB is all.

Frankly I don't care if he is a top 5 or a top 10 QB as long as the Seahawks win. If they want to be a pound it run team and just throw now and then, but they win with it, then I'm as happy as can be.

As far as the Atlanta game goes, yes it is too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions, however in that setting and under that pressure to come back from behind on the road he performed as well as you could ask and at least it shows he has it in him. Might not do that every time he gets the chance, but at least we know he can.

There are a lot of people looking at him this coming season and many expect him to have a sophomore slump. One analyst from ESPN says Russel has the most to prove of all of the young QB's this coming year. Why anyone would think a 3rd rnd draft choice has more pressure to prove themselves in yr 2 than the first round guys is beyond me, but he knows that stuff is out there. They just need to stay healthy and take it one game at a time and not care about what others are projecting on them and I'm sure they will do just that.

 

[Kingdome fan]

I looked at RW's passing stats over the last 10 games (PO plus last regular season).
256 attempts...2187 yds or 218.7 yds/game and 8.54 yds/attempt.
He attempted over 30 passes in 2 games: total 73 attempts for 651 yds or averaged 36.5 attempts per game and 325.5 yds per game.

The first 8 games his numbers were: 137 attempts and 937 yds or 17.1 attempts/game and 116.4 yds/game.

I'm looking forward to RW"s progress next season with at least 25 attempts per game and his same second half average of 8.54 yds/attempt he winds up with 213.5 yds/game or an 83.4 % increase over last years first 8 games.

RW - WOW

 

[Jikkle]

Frankly I don't care if he is a top 5 or a top 10 QB as long as the Seahawks win. If they want to be a pound it run team and just throw now and then, but they win with it, then I'm as happy as can be.

As far as the Atlanta game goes, yes it is too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions, however in that setting and under that pressure to come back from behind on the road he performed as well as you could ask and at least it shows he has it in him. Might not do that every time he gets the chance, but at least we know he can.

There are a lot of people looking at him this coming season and many expect him to have a sophomore slump. One analyst from ESPN says Russel has the most to prove of all of the young QB's this coming year. Why anyone would think a 3rd rnd draft choice has more pressure to prove themselves in yr 2 than the first round guys is beyond me, but he knows that stuff is out there. They just need to stay healthy and take it one game at a time and not care about what others are projecting on them and I'm sure they will do just that.

I agree he doesn't have the most to prove out of the young guys. I would put guys like Ponder, Newton, and Dalton ahead of him in that regard.

You could argue he has the most pressure since the expectations for the Seahawks are sky high this season but that's pressure for the entire team and not just himself.

The sophomore slump is always a concern for every QB going into their second year and I'm of the belief Wilson will be fine but you never know what DC's are seeing on film on him and the offense in general. Because sometimes the sophomore slump falls on the coaches as well and not just the QB.

 

[blstoker]

The first 8 games his numbers were: 137 attempts and 937 yds or 17.1 attempts/game and 116.4 yds/game.

ummm, in his first 8 games RW threw 210 passes and 1466 yards or 26.25 attempts/games and 183.25 yards per game.