Fade":2oza1zqi said:
Russ probably won't be a 600-800 yd rusher in his 30's, he will still be mobile, and slippery as hell in the pocket though. I watched an old ass Doug Flutie play amazing for the Bills and lead them to the playoffs. Flutie rushed for 476 yds at age 37 in 1999.
Russ is a bigger, faster, better version of Flutie. Russell Wilson is actually more like Steve Young, with wicked Fran Tarkenton elusiveness.
Concern trolls, or casuals who haven't been watching football very long think mobile QBs begin to suck, or slow down when they hit 30. That is simply not the case. Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, Doug Flutie, Fran Tarkenton, Mike Vick, etc.
Most of these QBs, if not all of them got better after they turned 30. The best years of RW still lay ahead of him, he is entering his prime. Now get him a running game, and rebuild the defense, so the Hawks can start winning some Super Bowls.
Concern Trolling should actually be the title of the thread.
Russ plays nothing like Steve Young did, he is more Tarkenton. One thing to keep in mind about Tarkenton is that he played in a completely different era. The athletes were also much different. Today they're bigger, faster, and stronger than in Tarkenton's time. He also adapted as he got older. Tarkenton was most consistent from a statistic point of view from ages 23-30. In his older years he was injured more, and he had many years where he threw more INTs than TDs, which is something he didn't do once from ages 23-30. He had his best season when he was older, but there was some crap in between that.
Young spend most of his 20s on a bench, or in relief duty. He was considered a bust, and went on to back up Montana. He hadn't started a whole season outside of Tampa until he hit 30. His legs were fresh -- he also learned to play QB from Walsh, and Montana. Young was a traditional QB that happened to be able to run. His athleticism was more of a garnish. Young was more in the Aaron Rodgers mold of QB. A guy that can play the traditional role, but was able to let loose once in awhile.
Cunningham completely changed how he played when he got older. Once again Cunningham had his best stretch of seasons in his younger years. He had his best season when he was older, but he was also playing with Randy Moss. We must also note that his playing style in that season was more in line with the traditional pocket QB. He had lost a lot of his mobility and was forced to change. Just look at his rushing stats compared to his younger years once he got older.
Vick was the only one I can really think of from this list that kept his same style when he got older, and was still effective. He also spent a few years in prison, and was away from the game -- plus he spent one year on Philly's bench.
Flutie only had two good seasons, and spent a good portion of his 20s being out of the NFL or on benches. Wear and tear matters.
Each of these players had to adapt, and evolve. Most of them had a few years of struggling before they were successful again as Quarterbacks. Each of these guys went through an evolution of sorts. Wilson is approaching the time where he will need to undergo that evolution. Wilson succeeds because of a mix of savvy and elite athleticism. He is a smart QB, and he knows what his job is, he just goes about it in an extremely unorthodox manner. He knows how to go through his progressions, and he has demonstrated he can work the LOS like any other QB.
The thing that should be worrying you as he ages is his lack of development as a pocket passer. He can pocket pass, he just does it in the weirdest way I've ever seen. He breaks all rules here, again he can get away with it due to his elite athleticism. He has happy feet, he doesn't step up into the pocket, he doesn't really have an internal clock that tells him he needs to throw the ball, he doesn't know how to manipulate the pocket, and his footwork is horrid when he actually climbs the pocket. He retreats back instead of going forward making his offensive linemans job very hard.
He is the most flawed elite QB as far as passing fundamentals that I have ever seen. The angles he can pass from, the jumbled up footwork, and the baseball release. Despite all of this he is a top 2-3 QB. The problem with all of this is I don't think he can make this style work without elite athleticism and agility. This will become a problem as he ages. Even the greatest of athletic QB's have had to rework their style. The problem is I see little interest from Pete in developing his line, or nurturing Russell Wilson's growth as a passer. Here we are in year 6 of Wilson's career, and Pete is still using the training wheels, and sticking to ridiculous dogmas on the offense that died in Tarkenon's era.
(just an FYI personal attacks, and calling people a trolls because they don't adhere to you view on things is no way to get your argument across)
