brimsalabim":1zjiscvm said:
One of the topics on this mornings NFL AM show on the NFL network was "What does Russell Wilson have to do to get better?" The consensus among the panel was nothing. I think it was Shawn Merriman who pointed out that the players around him needed to be more consistent and some one else added that the offense could allow him to take more chances with his throws but every one allowed that Russell is running the offense exactly as he has been coached.
I'd even take that last comment further.
Russell is playing the position exactly as every team in the league should WANT to play it. It's not a knock on him in my mind at all that he doesn't put up ridiculous passing stats. It's on all of the other teams that they don't build their teams to play this way to begin with.
And it's not even about talent around him. It's starts and ends with the will as an organization to commit to a balanced attack. So few teams seek to achieve that balance. They talk about it all the time but in almost every case they are merely empty words. Even when they do infuse talent on the offensive line and at the running back position. Where the rubber meets the road -- team's falter in their will to run the ball.
Winning at the QB position is significantly founded on the principle of 'not losing'. We see it stressed all the time that he's careful with the football. As if that's some kind of retardation of his progression as a QB. But the game is replete with players -- even great players -- who very often times don't master the art of not losing games. I was fortunate to live in Wisconsin during Favre's SB runs and even a HOF player of his caliber would frequently lose games of his own accord. Other than the Cards game at home last season, I can't recall a game where I felt like Russell lost a game we should have won. And even in that game, he put us in a position late in the game to win.
From the outside, people tend to blame his lack of statistical success on 'how he's coached'. As if it's a question of restraining the play calling to not expose his deficiencies. I don't see that at all. He's playing the game as I would expect we'd demand even if he were a 10 year veteran.
And quite clearly, I see outsiders cite his mobility and scramble throws as some deficiency of his as a pocket passer (yes I'm looking at you Kurt Warner). But the reality is, it is merely a pressure avoidance measure. It is no different than a stoic immobile pocket passer simply throwing the ball incomplete early to avoid sacks. Something that one can't really measure like you can scrambles. The difference being that Wilson's scrambles to extend plays more often results in positive gains. Whereas throw aways simply show up as incompletions on a stat sheet indistinguishable from other forms of incompletion.
Even here many of us, I believe rightly, will cite incidents where Wilson's lack of height does come into play in the form of missed open receivers. But when you look at other tall QBs, they miss open WRs all the time. Even in the SB, Peyton missed close to 10 big plays -- not seeing open guys. Kaepernick's play to lose the NFCCG was another example of missing wide open receivers. It simply happens. Wilson's ability to make completions on the move more than compensates for the instances above the NFL average where he misses WRs because of sight limitations. It's a component of 'what he can do' that separates and elevates his production above and beyond his physical limitations.
Overall, I would agree. I don't see him needing to remake himself in order to get better. He plays the game as it should be played right now. While I still expect him to really blossom this year -- the reality is he just needs to keep doing what he's already doing. He doesn't *have* to get better. And yet I expect he will get a lot better. But I don't expect him to take more chances. Merely capitalize more on the chances he's already being afforded.
