Russell Wilson Still Has a Long Way to Go

[blstoker]

It is now the offseason, and we as Seahawk fans have to pleasure of being the Super Bowl champions for the first time. It has been truly amazing to see this team come together, but now is the time for players to get better. Here's what I see Russell needs to get better at.

1) Accuracy. He's had some really great #'s completion percentage wise, but this season there were times when he just lost control of his passes. His passes just seemed to sail on him at times, and it started in week 1 and just didn't get better.

2) Recognition. I love that Russell is always looking for ways to get the ball into his playmakers hands, but sometimes he waits too long to have someone come open while scrambling. When the protection broke down, there were times when he didn't seem to even consider running as an option. He needs to learn that sometimes you need to just take the 10 yard run when the defense gives it to you, because he tends to forget that he IS one of this teams playmakers.

3) Progression. I would like to see him move through his progressions more efficiently. There were many times (especially the second half of the season) where Wilson just missed open receivers. No one's ever gonna be perfect, but he could be better at it.

4) Quickness. Russell holds the ball too long. He was sacked a lot because the line couldn't hold, but the last 2 years, he's been sacked plenty because he just doesn't get rid of the ball.

Russell has been the best QB overall in his first two seasons in NFL history. I think that he has a lot more potential than most outside Seattle give him credit for, but he's gonna have to continue to work on his game for the rest of his career, cause those who stop trying to get better will shortly retire.

 

[Ksfnslayer]

Sounds like you are extremely frustrated with Russell. When I look back on the history of QB's in Seattle he already stands near or at the top. He's doing quite well, no one is perfect out the gate and he has an incredible work ethic along with some of the best coaching. So he will be trending upward even with his advanced learning pace. I marvel at how few mistakes he makes and how calm collected he can be in the biggest of games.
Seattle has in the past been at a difficult place to get the most desired QB on the market. It may change though. Peyton didn't take the Hawks seriously in consideration before going with Denver I don't believe. Seattle will do quite well with Wilson and the Carroll staff I have no doubts.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

On the biggest stage in the football world Wilson was throwing dimes…. He was SO efficient and smart in that game... so I have no complaints that a second year qb makes a mistake here or there… The dude is a stud

 

[HaroldSeattle]

It is now the offseason, and we as Seahawk fans have to pleasure of being the Super Bowl champions for the first time. It has been truly amazing to see this team come together, but now is the time for players to get better. Here's what I see Russell needs to get better at.

1) Accuracy. He's had some really great #'s completion percentage wise, but this season there were times when he just lost control of his passes. His passes just seemed to sail on him at times, and it started in week 1 and just didn't get better.

2) Recognition. I love that Russell is always looking for ways to get the ball into his playmakers hands, but sometimes he waits too long to have someone come open while scrambling. When the protection broke down, there were times when he didn't seem to even consider running as an option. He needs to learn that sometimes you need to just take the 10 yard run when the defense gives it to you, because he tends to forget that he IS one of this teams playmakers.

3) Progression. I would like to see him move through his progressions more efficiently. There were many times (especially the second half of the season) where Wilson just missed open receivers. No one's ever gonna be perfect, but he could be better at it.

4) Quickness. Russell holds the ball too long. He was sacked a lot because the line couldn't hold, but the last 2 years, he's been sacked plenty because he just doesn't get rid of the ball.

Russell has been the best QB overall in his first two seasons in NFL history. I think that he has a lot more potential than most outside Seattle give him credit for, but he's gonna have to continue to work on his game for the rest of his career, cause those who stop trying to get better will shortly retire.

Yup, he's got a ways to go, but let me add my thoughts.

Accuracy will come with being able to plant his feet better, no doubt he throws high on a lot of passes.

Recognition of when to run, he's has hesiated running at times. I think this comes down to him wanting to be a passer rather then a runner, not sure how that works out, time will tell.

Progression will come with better pass protection.

Quickness will come with experience.

Better QB play will come from better OL. I think all things considered, he has been very good.

 

[blstoker]

Sounds like you are extremely frustrated with Russell. When I look back on the history of QB's in Seattle he already stands near or at the top. He's doing quite well, no one is perfect out the gate and he has an incredible work ethic along with some of the best coaching. So he will be trending upward even with his advanced learning pace. I marvel at how few mistakes he makes and how calm collected he can be in the biggest of games.
Seattle has in the past been at a difficult place to get the most desired QB on the market. It may change though. Peyton didn't take the Hawks seriously in consideration before going with Denver I don't believe. Seattle will do quite well with Wilson and the Carroll staff I have no doubts.

Not at all, I just know that he's just completed his second season and that he still has a lot he can improve upon. The areas I highlighted are not to be seen as a "Oh my God! He's terrible!", but more of a "What can he do to become better?". He is a hard worker, and a quick learner, but if Seattle wants to contend for more than the Super Bowl we just won, the players on the team can't get complacent with their success or they'll stop being competitive. I don't see that happening, but even though he had a higher QB rating and such, I thought that Wilson played better as a rookie than he did this year, not that he played bad this year, just that teams started to adjust to him and he was less effective overall (or at least he didn't perform much better). In the end, Russell Wilson is a major reason why Seattle won the Super Bowl, but he shouldn't be satisfied with what he's already accomplished.

 

[MrS]

I cannot remember any game in his career where he had more protection and more time than he did in the SB, and the results are obvious. He was great on 3rd down and with the exception of one or maybe two throws he was as accurate as anyone.

Once we build our OL into a beastly unit he is going to light the NFL on fire, I have zero doubt about that.

 

[Screamin12th]

Russell Wilson has some growing to do but i would not say he has a long way to go. I would say he will grow head and shoulders better as the seasons go by but he doesn't need to grow a lot to be an elite QB.

Long way to go to be elite? No
will he grow a lot? Yes

I found it interesting that Pete finally let the Media know about Russell's Hurt shoulder ( left shoulder) and i believe that was a big reason he wasn't running as quickly as he use to. It all made sense after Pete said that in the season end presser and explained why he wasn't looking to get out more often.

 

[FirebreathingMonkey]

Russell Wilson has some growing to do but i would not say he has a long way to go. I would say he will grow head and shoulders better as the seasons go by but he doesn't need to grow a lot to be an elite QB.

Long way to go to be elite? No
will he grow a lot? Yes

I found it interesting that Pete finally let the Media know about Russell's Hurt shoulder ( left shoulder) and i believe that was a big reason he wasn't running as quickly as he use to. It all made sense after Pete said that in the season end presser and explained why he wasn't looking to get out more often.

Did he say when the injury happened? Is that why they started changing the line against new Orleans in the playoffs because Bevell finally realized our QB was getting killed.

 

[STBR 27]

I cannot remember any game in his career where he had more protection and more time than he did in the SB, and the results are obvious. He was great on 3rd down and with the exception of one or maybe two throws he was as accurate as anyone.

Once we build our OL into a beastly unit he is going to light the NFL on fire, I have zero doubt about that.

They say he isn't a pocket passer, but he looked pretty good to me from the pocket in the SB, when he actually had time. Keep in mind, this should have been his sophomore slump season too.

 

[SonnyCID]

No player will ever be a finished product.

Peyton Manning still has a lot to learn.

 

[jakedog56]

I will take it from a different angle and state that while Wilson does have some of the issues mentioned in the original post, I blame a lot of these issues on the extremely poor OL play in pass blocking.

The Seahawks OL is the weakest unit on the team. While they are a good run blocking team, they were one of the absolute worst in the league in pass protection.

When Wilson has been given decent protection he has been extremely good. This was very apparent in the SB where the Broncos didn't pressure him a lot and he played a very good game. When he has to start runnning for his life right at the snap of the ball his performance has suffered but any QB would have problems under those circumstances.

 

[Screamin12th]

Did he say when the injury happened? Is that why they started changing the line against new Orleans in the playoffs because Bevell finally realized our QB was getting killed.

They did not say when it happened but by the way they said it, it sounded like some time ago in the regular season. I would guess it happened when he stopped trying to scramble and started more running backwards looking to throw it and not run. This from my point of view ( the less running for more yards and more just running behind the LoS ) was around the last regular season game against San Fran or the one before that against NO. I mean Wilson always runs around when he scrambles looking to pass but he seemed more reluctant to take off.

 

[Screamin12th]

Ok the report is he hurt it late in the TB game and started wearing extra padding on his left shoulder.

 

[FirebreathingMonkey]

Ok the report is he hurt it late in the TB game and started wearing extra padding on his left shoulder.

K thanks, that's a scarey thought, Wilson going down, man this season could have turn so quickly. To me there's no way TJack is able to beat the 49ners and I think he would have struggled against NO too.

 

[dude82]

Wilson is a tireless and hard worker. There's no doubt that he'll continue to work on his game because I don't think he'll ever be satisfied with his level of play, even though it's already at a pretty high level.

 

[octagondd]

Ok the report is he hurt it late in the TB game and started wearing extra padding on his left shoulder.

Unfortunately for Russell, this can be seen as a good thing in the long run because now I am more confident they will try to shore up the O-line in free agency this off season.

 

[Destroydacre]

They say he isn't a pocket passer, but he looked pretty good to me from the pocket in the SB, when he actually had time. Keep in mind, this should have been his sophomore slump season too.

Russell Wilson's numbers passing from the pocket are very good. Anyone who says otherwise (mostly 49ers fans) either doesn't have a clue or is desperately wishing for it to be true. But it's not.

I remember thinking about Wilson's sudden drop in weeks 13-16 and the first game of the playoffs and one of my first thoughts was injury. So to hear this is no surprise. However it also felt like the offense went even more conservative than it needed to over that time, and hopefully Russell's performance in the super bowl will give Bevell and Carroll the confidence to let Wilson play his game all the time, regardless of the situation. When they just let Russell do his thing, combined with Seattle's D, the Seahawks are nearly unbeatable.

 

[gohusk]

Harvin's going to obviously going to be huge next season. With his edge speed defenses aren't going to be able to stack the box like they have been. The book on Wilson is get a push up the middle and contain the edge, which by the way is the book on just about every other QB in the league. When teams go to 3 or 4 man fronts against him he picks them apart.

 

[Superdeluxe]

1) Accuracy. He's had some really great #'s completion percentage wise, but this season there were times when he just lost control of his passes. His passes just seemed to sail on him at times, and it started in week 1 and just didn't get better.

As you saw in the superbowl, Russell's accuracy gets much better when he has protection and is not running for his life.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Wilson didn't throw a pick the entire playoffs…. Threw 2 TD's in the Super Bowl and converted 7-8 on 3rd downs… He was awesome…