Russell Wilson

[madinsomniac]

...lots of talk about Fields these days, but lets face it, Wilson is going to be the starter, and there are a ton of potential positives there. Lets discuss them.

Full disclosure here, wilson has always been on my list of true franchise qbs, and Ive always felt he was likely headed to the hall of fame. That being said, im not certain if he is done in the league or not. He is 35 and many a franchise QB is done in their mid 30's...

First, though, lets look at the negatives that people talk about with him...

Obviously the age thing is big. Some guys of his style have played into their late 30's, but often have to adjust to a more pocket central mindset... Wilson did that a bit in 21 and 22... logging career low attempts those two seasons... while 21 was a good year for him, 22 was abysmal, and last season his rushing attempts rose to 80 again... the jury is out if he can keep scrambling 5 times a game in his later 30's.. and equally so if he can indeed adjust ...

The second thing is his size... at 5'11, he is really short for a starting qb... however.. he isnt a tiny guy... he plays at 215 and is stockier than a lot of small qbs... so he isnt injury prone...
he has been a very intelligent, instinctive and prepared passer... he has never had the interception problems most small passers have had... he is the rare exception of a small qb that can be an effective franchise qb.

The third critique sort of falls apart if you really break it down... that is the arguement that he doesnt challenge defenses with downfield throws the past few years. I think this point was driven by various media people with a bias against him. The league clearly went in that direction the past few years as defenses finally adjusted to modern passing games.. his YPA has dropped to around 7 the past two seasons, but that isnt bad.. his air yards per attempt was 4.3 in 22 and 3.8 last season... those are normal numbers for a modern passing game the past few seasons... those numbers are better than mahomes both seasons... its a bs criticism..

Now the one thing I am a bit worried about was that there were lots of examples of him acting entitled the past few seasons, as vet QBs are wont to do... it could be nothing... media haters lobbed stuff like that about Ben all the time... but it could be a sign that his competitive edge is dead and he is caught up in auxiliary matters that arent conductive to winning.... we will have to wait for the season and some adversity to hit to know where he lies

Now the good... when performing at normal levels for him, Wilson is an extremely effective player in a run first offense. He also excels with a primary wr to target downfield...

He is 4th all time in passer rating and has excellent TD and Int % numbers..
he is 8th all time in lowest int % and 15th all time in highest td%...

His career YPA is 12th all time
His completion% is 20th all time

Most importantly though his career 4th quarter comebacks is tied for 9th all time... this is critical for us

If we get a good version on Wilson, he is a winner and a great fit for us...
and there is a lot of incentive for him to do well here.. he has some magnificent numbers, but his passing yards totals are right in the borderline good but not great area... he is at 43,600. To get past that level of flaccos and palmers all he would have to do is play 3 more seasons and average his career low in passing and he would bypass Elway into sure thing hof guy.. really all he has to do is pass Warren moon and he is very likely in, which is basically two seasons of 3,000 yards for him...

Hopefully all the negatives are just bunk and we got a discount HOF qb here at least this season

 

[speedicut]

...lots of talk about Fields these days, but lets face it, Wilson is going to be the starter, and there are a ton of potential positives there. Lets discuss them.

Full disclosure here, wilson has always been on my list of true franchise qbs, and Ive always felt he was likely headed to the hall of fame. That being said, im not certain if he is done in the league or not. He is 35 and many a franchise QB is done in their mid 30's...

First, though, lets look at the negatives that people talk about with him...

Obviously the age thing is big. Some guys of his style have played into their late 30's, but often have to adjust to a more pocket central mindset... Wilson did that a bit in 21 and 22... logging career low attempts those two seasons... while 21 was a good year for him, 22 was abysmal, and last season his rushing attempts rose to 80 again... the jury is out if he can keep scrambling 5 times a game in his later 30's.. and equally so if he can indeed adjust ...

The second thing is his size... at 5'11, he is really short for a starting qb... however.. he isnt a tiny guy... he plays at 215 and is stockier than a lot of small qbs... so he isnt injury prone...
he has been a very intelligent, instinctive and prepared passer... he has never had the interception problems most small passers have had... he is the rare exception of a small qb that can be an effective franchise qb.

The third critique sort of falls apart if you really break it down... that is the arguement that he doesnt challenge defenses with downfield throws the past few years. I think this point was driven by various media people with a bias against him. The league clearly went in that direction the past few years as defenses finally adjusted to modern passing games.. his YPA has dropped to around 7 the past two seasons, but that isnt bad.. his air yards per attempt was 4.3 in 22 and 3.8 last season... those are normal numbers for a modern passing game the past few seasons... those numbers are better than mahomes both seasons... its a bs criticism..

Now the one thing I am a bit worried about was that there were lots of examples of him acting entitled the past few seasons, as vet QBs are wont to do... it could be nothing... media haters lobbed stuff like that about Ben all the time... but it could be a sign that his competitive edge is dead and he is caught up in auxiliary matters that arent conductive to winning.... we will have to wait for the season and some adversity to hit to know where he lies

Now the good... when performing at normal levels for him, Wilson is an extremely effective player in a run first offense. He also excels with a primary wr to target downfield...

He is 4th all time in passer rating and has excellent TD and Int % numbers..
he is 8th all time in lowest int % and 15th all time in highest td%...

His career YPA is 12th all time
His completion% is 20th all time

Most importantly though his career 4th quarter comebacks is tied for 9th all time... this is critical for us

If we get a good version on Wilson, he is a winner and a great fit for us...
and there is a lot of incentive for him to do well here.. he has some magnificent numbers, but his passing yards totals are right in the borderline good but not great area... he is at 43,600. To get past that level of flaccos and palmers all he would have to do is play 3 more seasons and average his career low in passing and he would bypass Elway into sure thing hof guy.. really all he has to do is pass Warren moon and he is very likely in, which is basically two seasons of 3,000 yards for him...

Hopefully all the negatives are just bunk and we got a discount HOF qb here at least this season

Nice post !

There's often a lot of criticism of a good/great player who has gotten to a certain age ( Cam anyone? ) and sometimes that criticism is warranted, sometimes not.
I don't think anyone is mistaking 2024 Wilson with 2017-2020 Wilson but he brings a lot to the Steelers, and is a huge upgrade (IMO) from our last few QBs.

 

[madinsomniac]

Nice post !

There's often a lot of criticism of a good/great player who has gotten to a certain age ( Cam anyone? ) and sometimes that criticism is warranted, sometimes not.
I don't think anyone is mistaking 2024 Wilson with 2017-2020 Wilson but he brings a lot to the Steelers, and is a huge upgrade (IMO) from our last few QBs.

Yeah, ultimately i dont know what we are gonna get from late career Wilson, but off peak vet qbs have a history of winning if tge team around them is good enough to let their vet knowledge carry the O behind a strong run game and capable d...

Manning, Brady, Elway, all adjusted their games and won super bowls over 35... Bwady probably juiced, but the other two didnt and I think Wilsons arm is in better shape than those other two's were when they won...

 

[slashsteel]

Yeah, ultimately i dont know what we are gonna get from late career Wilson, but off peak vet qbs have a history of winning if tge team around them is good enough to let their vet knowledge carry the O behind a strong run game and capable d...

Manning, Brady, Elway, all adjusted their games and won super bowls over 35... Bwady probably juiced, but the other two didnt and I think Wilsons arm is in better shape than those other two's were when they won...

I didn’t think his last season was horrible. I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised at his play.

 

[Steelmann]

...lots of talk about Fields these days, but lets face it, Wilson is going to be the starter, and there are a ton of potential positives there. Lets discuss them.

Full disclosure here, wilson has always been on my list of true franchise qbs, and Ive always felt he was likely headed to the hall of fame. That being said, im not certain if he is done in the league or not. He is 35 and many a franchise QB is done in their mid 30's...

First, though, lets look at the negatives that people talk about with him...

Obviously the age thing is big. Some guys of his style have played into their late 30's, but often have to adjust to a more pocket central mindset... Wilson did that a bit in 21 and 22... logging career low attempts those two seasons... while 21 was a good year for him, 22 was abysmal, and last season his rushing attempts rose to 80 again... the jury is out if he can keep scrambling 5 times a game in his later 30's.. and equally so if he can indeed adjust ...

The second thing is his size... at 5'11, he is really short for a starting qb... however.. he isnt a tiny guy... he plays at 215 and is stockier than a lot of small qbs... so he isnt injury prone...
he has been a very intelligent, instinctive and prepared passer... he has never had the interception problems most small passers have had... he is the rare exception of a small qb that can be an effective franchise qb.

The third critique sort of falls apart if you really break it down... that is the arguement that he doesnt challenge defenses with downfield throws the past few years. I think this point was driven by various media people with a bias against him. The league clearly went in that direction the past few years as defenses finally adjusted to modern passing games.. his YPA has dropped to around 7 the past two seasons, but that isnt bad.. his air yards per attempt was 4.3 in 22 and 3.8 last season... those are normal numbers for a modern passing game the past few seasons... those numbers are better than mahomes both seasons... its a bs criticism..

Now the one thing I am a bit worried about was that there were lots of examples of him acting entitled the past few seasons, as vet QBs are wont to do... it could be nothing... media haters lobbed stuff like that about Ben all the time... but it could be a sign that his competitive edge is dead and he is caught up in auxiliary matters that arent conductive to winning.... we will have to wait for the season and some adversity to hit to know where he lies

Now the good... when performing at normal levels for him, Wilson is an extremely effective player in a run first offense. He also excels with a primary wr to target downfield...

He is 4th all time in passer rating and has excellent TD and Int % numbers..
he is 8th all time in lowest int % and 15th all time in highest td%...

His career YPA is 12th all time
His completion% is 20th all time

Most importantly though his career 4th quarter comebacks is tied for 9th all time... this is critical for us

If we get a good version on Wilson, he is a winner and a great fit for us...
and there is a lot of incentive for him to do well here.. he has some magnificent numbers, but his passing yards totals are right in the borderline good but not great area... he is at 43,600. To get past that level of flaccos and palmers all he would have to do is play 3 more seasons and average his career low in passing and he would bypass Elway into sure thing hof guy.. really all he has to do is pass Warren moon and he is very likely in, which is basically two seasons of 3,000 yards for him...

Hopefully all the negatives are just bunk and we got a discount HOF qb here at least this season

Living in Vancouver,we get a ton of Seahawks games here and I have been to many. Russ at one point of his career was one of a handful of QB’s that could put a team on his back and win. We had one of those guys too.

Definitely one of the negatives is Russ running himself into Sacks. There will be lots of frustration from the Steeler faithful in this part of his game. He’s gonna worm his way out of a few,but there will be lots of drive killers.

On the positive…..he probably throws the nicest deep ball during his time. I am hoping Calvin really gets a few opportunities to fly down the field. It’s about time to see those burners we’ve read so much about.

 

[BLITZ]

I did not want Russ as the Steelers QB. now that he is here , clearly I want him to do well.

have not watched any of his games the last few years so I can not say how I think he has done

 

[madinsomniac]

Living in Vancouver,we get a ton of Seahawks games here and I have been to many. Russ at one point of his career was one of a handful of QB’s that could put a team on his back and win. We had one of those guys too.

Definitely one of the negatives is Russ running himself into Sacks. There will be lots of frustration from the Steeler faithful in this part of his game. He’s gonna worm his way out of a few,but there will be lots of drive killers.

On the positive…..he probably throws the nicest deep ball during his time. I am hoping Calvin really gets a few opportunities to fly down the field. It’s about time to see those burners we’ve read so much about.

He does take a large amount of sacks... that is anotger knock on him, but all the Afc North QBs do that anyway... its been the style here since Ben popularized prolonging plays lol

Burrow and jackson both are over 7 in sack percentage, wilson is over 8, and Watson is higher than he is... so again, he fits the style here ...

 

[stillwright]

Living in Vancouver,we get a ton of Seahawks games here and I have been to many. Russ at one point of his career was one of a handful of QB’s that could put a team on his back and win. We had one of those guys too.

Definitely one of the negatives is Russ running himself into Sacks. There will be lots of frustration from the Steeler faithful in this part of his game. He’s gonna worm his way out of a few,but there will be lots of drive killers.

On the positive…..he probably throws the nicest deep ball during his time. I am hoping Calvin really gets a few opportunities to fly down the field. It’s about time to see those burners we’ve read so much about.

Any truth to the point he doesn't like throwing to the middle of the field?

 

[madinsomniac]

Any truth to the point he doesn't like throwing to the middle of the field?

Hard to say. The Carrol offense was uber conservative and really only utilized the left side wr... last year in the payton O he only threw like 20% of his passes over the middle... but Payton's O is predominately middle short stuff ... so it could be true.. but you cant ever trust the first year of a new o scheme...

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

Doesnt matter we are used to that anyway.. i think he will be fine.

 

[stuntmanmike]

I wish the best for Wilson and the Steelers… but to be honest I think they made a huge mistake trading KP. But what’s done is done and what’s the point, as they use to say in WPA, of looking up a dead horses‘s *** to see what killed it. KP is gone GoSteelers! But for once if these moves don’t pan out heads need to roll!!

 

[Paul G]

I didn’t think his last season was horrible. I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised at his play.

He is a good QB that is approaching his mid 30's ...... He does not need to carry this team on his back .... I feel quite certain that we are in a far better place on Offense than we were last year. We have a tough schedule ...but I like that too .........
No QB instilled any confidence in me on last year's roster ........ Are we a Superbowl team ......not likely ......... can we play some decent football as a team ..... future looks brighter in my opinion. I have always loved watching a stout DEF, a team that can run the ball at will, mixed in with some highlight QB/WR play ..... I always have hope and think this upcoming season will be fun to watch ..........Go Steelers

 

[stillwright]

He is a good QB that is approaching his mid 30's ...... He does not need to carry this team on his back .... I feel quite certain that we are in a far better place on Offense than we were last year. We have a tough schedule ...but I like that too .........
No QB instilled any confidence in me on last year's roster ........ Are we a Superbowl team ......not likely ......... can we play some decent football as a team ..... future looks brighter in my opinion. I have always loved watching a stout DEF, a team that can run the ball at will, mixed in with some highlight QB/WR play ..... I always have hope and think this upcoming season will be fun to watch ..........Go Steelers

So Wilson doesn't need to carry the team on his back but our qbs of last year obviously didn't.....so what gives?

 

[slashsteel]

So Wilson doesn't need to carry the team on his back but our qbs of last year obviously didn't.....so what gives?

Different OC. A capable VS an incapable one can make it QB friendly.

 

[stillwright]

Different OC. A capable VS an incapable one can make it QB friendly.

Well until we see he is capable....hopefully he is. All the more reason I question the move to move Pickett. Oh well. I am sure Omar/Tomlin/Rooney know what they are doing. Don't ask me to hold my breath on that though.

 

[Paul G]

So Wilson doesn't need to carry the team on his back but our qbs of last year obviously didn't.....so what gives?

As Slash stated the OC is different ........ and I cannot envision anything that could have been worst than the CANADA era ....
Mitch, Kenny and Mason did not instill a comfort level in me that led me to believe at any point through the season that we were capable of being consistent in moving the ball down the field. Mason did well at the end of the season but it is not like he was going to throw for 4 tds in a game and overcome the inept offensive concepts being used.
We have drafted some pieces in the last 2 years to address the O-line, changed OCs, have a nice RB tandem in Harris & Warren, still have an emerging G Pickens at WR, brought in 2 QB's (one with alot of experience and a pretty good statistical career and the other a young mobile /dual threat type) and lastly a decent defense on the other side of the ball.
Stating all those changes or additions in the off season is why I believe neither of the new QBs on the roster need to be the end all or be all for some success as a team. If they are efficient, protect the ball, spread the ball around and can guide the Offense down the field with some regularity it will be far above what we witnessed last year. At least these guys have thrown for multiple TDs in a game..... but I don't expect them to have to throw for 300- to 400 yards a game with 3 to 4 Tds through the air for us to be successful.

 

[Drink IRON City]

I want STEELERS football as bad as anyone. I also wonder if that time has passed with the way the rules are in favor of the offense.

I think we can win with ground and pound enough to preserve the proverbial “non-losing season award”.

I don’t know if we will be able to ride that to a SuperBowl win. Anything is possible.

If we can get over the middle and occasional down field completions, we can go far.

This whole change should have been happening 5 to 6 years ago, when it would have benefitted our HOF QB, but maybe the Russ can lead us there.


Salute the nation

 

[Steelr4evr]

I want STEELERS football as bad as anyone. I also wonder if that time has passed with the way the rules are in favor of the offense.

I think we can win with ground and pound enough to preserve the proverbial “non-losing season award”.

I don’t know if we will be able to ride that to a SuperBowl win. Anything is possible.

If we can get over the middle and occasional down field completions, we can go far.

This whole change should have been happening 5 to 6 years ago, when it would have benefitted our HOF QB, but maybe the Russ can lead us there.


Salute the nation

They have to do something exceptionally well on offense. A talented nasty OL is the cornerstone for running and passing.

What they've lacked for a veeeeeery long time is the ability to be unpredictable. What you see is what you get. Which has been years of the same thing on defense and offense.

Physicality will never go out of style. It's certainly a benefit in a much softer pass happy league.

Setting up play action off of successful running should produce well,IF they do it.


I think they will have a ton of growing pains for the first half of the season and I hope I'm wrong about that.

 

[SojournerSteel]

but you cant ever trust the first year of a new o scheme...

Like the first year of a new model car line. Just a question of how long it takes to work out the bugs.

 

[SojournerSteel]

They have to do something exceptionally well on offense. A talented nasty OL is the cornerstone for running and passing.

What they've lacked for a veeeeeery long time is the ability to be unpredictable. What you see is what you get. Which has been years of the same thing on defense and offense.

Physicality will never go out of style. It's certainly a benefit in a much softer pass happy league.

Setting up play action off of successful running should produce well,IF they do it.


I think they will have a ton of growing pains for the first half of the season and I hope I'm wrong about that.

They really, really need a 6-2 or 7-3 type start with that backloaded schedule. Hopefully, they really take the preseason games seriously on O and come out as cohesive as they can to start the season.

 

[topseed]

I didn’t think his last season was horrible. I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised at his play.

I agree. Same thing with Fields, if he gets an opportunity. I think that he and Russ will complement each other very well, on and off the field.

 

[slashsteel]

I agree. Same thing with Fields, if he gets an opportunity. I think that he and Russ will complement each other very well, on and off the field.

If think Smith will reduce Fields turnovers (fumbles etc). I also think the competition is going to show itself closer than some perceive. Which will make it a hard starting decide with us. But not necessarily the Steelers. I think if the competition is close or equal in outcome they will go with Wilson due to him being there and done throughout his career.

 

[Poobah]

I agree. Same thing with Fields, if he gets an opportunity. I think that he and Russ will complement each other very well, on and off the field.

Russ' mentorship may well be the best thing for Fields at this point of his career. Fields can tap the brakes and learn. I can't imagine the pressure on a young man coming out of college and going to a fanbase like Chicago who expects him to carry/rescue a ****** team. Not many first round QB's get this kind of chance to learn under a potential HoF'er. My fingers are crossed for the young man.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

Justin Fields wants a mentor?

 

[Steelr4evr]

They really, really need a 6-2 or 7-3 type start with that backloaded schedule. Hopefully, they really take the preseason games seriously on O and come out as cohesive as they can to start the season.

That's for sure.