Scorpion05":21bw1zo9 said:
Spin Doctor":21bw1zo9 said:
Yes and no. Wilson is an enigma, an oddity at the QB position. This is why he is always bound to get criticism and second guessing thrown his way. Wilson's biggest issue is his lack of consistency. There are points in a game where he will miss the easiest 'gimmie' throws, or not see guys that are running wide open. This happens even if he gets good protection. When he is in these modes he may as well be Tarvaris Jackson.
The other side of Wilson is the terminator. God smiles from the heavens above, and grants Wilson the power to smite his foes with robotic like proficiency. When he is on he looks like the greatest QB to ever play this game. I would take Wilson when he is in the zone over Brady, Montana, Elway, etc. Nobody can stop the man in this mode, he looks almost as if he is possessed. He will make seemingly impossible throws, and he will look like Barry Sanders juking defenders in the backfield, as he throws a perfect pass with defenders draped over him.
This can be a bit jarring. In most games he will look like some back-up QB barely clinging to a job until the late third, and fourth Quarter. This, rightfully so leaves many fans confused, and wondering what exactly Russell Wilson is as a player. This may be why we brought in Schottenheimer. Bevell looked like a pushover, and punching bag for the players. People did not respect him or his schemes. Whenever I saw him he gave me the impression of a meek man that was unable to reign in his players. His authority was also greatly diminished by the co-coordinator set up he had with Cable. He was referred to as a passing game coordinator, and Cable as a running game coordinator. Schottenheimer on the other hand is known for being a hard a---.
This all goes back to Russ. He doesn't play within the confines of the offense. He has always been a QB that made up his own rules as he went. We like to view him as a rank and file guy, but in reality Russ bends every basic rule of playing QB on a regular basis. He is the biggest rogue in the organization on the field. This leads to interesting results that are both good, both bad. He can accomplish this due to his unique talents at QB. Unfortunately, because of this loose style he is lacking in fundamentals as a passer. He does not have the same internal clock that a QB such as Hasselbeck had. It simply does not exist for Wilson because of the miracles he is able to pull off in the backfield.
This bit is important for QB's becoming a consistent force. Wilson needs to learn when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. He will often forgo checkdown routes if they are available, because he knows he may be able to make something big happen. Unfortunately, Pete and Bevell encouraged this style of play. I like to call it hero ball. This style of play leads to awkward throwing positions, and less than ideal mechanics on a regular basis. This is why we see Russ consistently overthrow his receivers. Even if he gets a clear pocket, Russ tends to move around excessively. This is a recipe for bad throws. He doesn't need to be Brees, but he sure could learn a lot from the way he sets up his blockers, and manipulates the pocket. This will lead to more consistent play from Russ, and ultimately elevate his game to the next level.
Russ has developed some really bad habits, and I'm starting to think that maybe this is why a guy like Schottenheimer was brought in over some of the other big names on the market. Schotty is a no non-sense, old school style of coordinator. While I don't think much of his offenses and schemes, I do think he will bring a lot of value in taming our wild stallion of a QB. I think he was brought in more for this reason than his merits as a coordinator. He will demand much more out of Wilson than Bevell, and he will not sit back and be an "oh shucks" type of OC like Bevell was. He will demand accountability from his Quarterback.
So essentially what I said is, yes and no. He is both a top five QB, and not a top five QB.
Russell Wilson is the only QB that struggles at points during games...fascinating. Brady, Montana, Manning are always perfect all the way through.
I am not a simplistic Wilson homer blind to criticism. But Wilson's faults are no worse than other QBs faults. Brady struggles when he gets hit/is under pressure. Manning struggled in big time playoff games. I can go on and on. But your points are not rooted in facts. Wilson does play within the confines of the offense. The idea that he runs around every play is simply a stereotype of him than reality. We think he runs around every play because often that ONE time he runs and spins around he scores a TD...ORRR there is a defender already in his face. I will respect Wilson critics more when they support their arguments with film and statistics. Otherwise this is nothing
Also, Tavaris Jackson was a pathetic comparison. The only thing they have in common is the box they might check off on the Census
You're getting the wrong idea here. Wilson is a good QB, in fact when he is in his zone there is no other QB I would rather have on my team. That being said, Wilson is a QB that will go three whole quarters without doing anything on a regular basis.
For example if you look at his first half stats vs his second half stats they tell a very different story:
http://www.nfl.com/player/russellwilson ... ionalstats
Wilson has a 78 rating in the first half and only completes 59 percent of his passes. He also only averages 6.1 yards per completion here while throwing for only 8 TD's and 6 interceptions. His passing through the first three quarters of last season looked very mediocre when you look at the charts by quarter. The fourth quarter however is a different story entirely. In the 4th Quarter Wilson completes close to 70 percent of his passes, threw for 19 touchdowns, which is more than in his entire three quarters combined, and only threw 1 interception.... He does all of this while averaging 9.4 yards in the air.
This is what most people are confused about. The story of four quarters -- Wilson is utterly mediocre if we look at his first 3 Quarters. Other QB's do not have that kind of differential in their play:
http://www.nfl.com/player/tombrady/2504 ... ionalstats - averages a 100 QB rating in each quarter with similar yards per completion, and completion percentage. The big outlier here is the TD numbers in the second quarter, which is 16 -- much more than any of his other quarters.
http://www.nfl.com/player/carsonwentz/2 ... ionalstats - In all four quarters he is pretty consistent, the interceptions are all evenly spread, and the rating never dips below 90 except for when he is within 7 points.
http://www.nfl.com/player/drewbrees/250 ... ionalstats - First quarter is dismal, but he is pretty consistent from then on going forward.
http://www.nfl.com/player/philiprivers/ ... ionalstats - First quarter he does nothing, but then proceeds to have a fairly consistent three quarters
http://www.nfl.com/player/matthewstaffo ... ionalstats - A QB that some may call streaky. He never has a QB rating dip below 89, interception totals are spread out evenly between first and second half, numbers are pretty consistent.
http://www.nfl.com/player/benroethlisbe ... ionalstats - Okay first quarter, most of his interceptions happen here, but he goes on to be consistent throughout the entire game.
You can get where I'm going here. Most of these QB's are pretty consistent throughout the game. Russell Wilson on the other hand doesn't really get going here until the third quarter, and even his third quarter statistics are not that great. His fourth quarter statistics on the other hand are on the next level. In all of the other Quarters he struggles to even complete 60 percent of his passes, in the fourth quarter he completes a whopping 67 percent at 9.7 yards per clip. He only throws for 1 interception here, and he throws for more TDs than all of his other quarters combined. In fact, he is only 300 yards away from throwing for more YARDS in the fourth quarter than he does in all of his other quarters combined.
This right here is what I'm talking about.. Wilson is a completely different animal in the fourth quarter. Even his third quarter is not that special. This goes to show you what his potential is and how he is not quite living up to it. When I was looking at these stats it blew my mind. No other QB performed like this in the fourth quarter, those numbers were godlike, it especially become perplexing when we compared it to his other three quarters.
Looking at this stats really confirmed what I saw in game, Wilson really takes longer than most QB's to ramp up.
Another interesting tidbit is that Wilson held the ball for the second longest amount of time out of any QB last season:
https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/stats/pass ... e-to-throw
The longest being Watson, whom is a rookie, and has a much smaller sample size due to his injury.
Wilson is an oddity when you pry deeper in to statistics. It goes into what I was saying about being inconstant. Yes, every QB has had their bad days, and stretches, but what we can surmise from the numbers is that he has long stretches in games where he isn't very effective. I chock it down to not playing disciplined football. On the flipside of things, he also has some of the best fourth quarter stats I have ever seen. He has the ability to be one of the greatest, it is just that he is not living up to his potential. In the fourth quarter he enters another zone. All of the sudden it is like he gets hyper awareness. He starts stepping up in the pocket more, gets rid of the ball quicker, and navigates the pocket better. It is like we see two different quarterbacks playing during every game.