Let me preface this with the idea that you can't change people too much from their latent abilities BUT you can make better choices to get the best results from them. I don't think Just Play Better is a valid reply to the why of the struggle. It glosses over the complexity of the game and the various moving parts.
1. Wilson is risk averse and won't give the opportunity to the receiver to make plays versus giving them opportunity to simply catch. That being said, he still makes occasional mistakes like the throw to JFG in double coverage which got tipped up. It was the wrong spot to throw regardless of outcome because of coverage.
When the complaint is he holds it too long, I think it's off the mark - he isn't willing to throw at receivers unless its very likely the completion will be made. He is unlikely to throw 50/50 balls especially compared to his peers. There are upsides and downsides to this, obviously.
Stats bare this thought out.
The Eye Test bears this thought out.
Despite his shortcoming as a QB he's still technically proficient - he's made in stride TD passes, he's taken free plays and made TDs out of them, he's gone through progressions and found the open man. If his worse problem is that he's not Aaron Rodgers then have fun being mad for the rest of your life.
In situations where he takes a sack instead of throwing on a 3 or 5 step drop on 3rd and less than 5 it's not sufficient to yell at the TV to throw it without qualifying who he has the opportunity to throw to. It's also a fundamentally different problem than him not taking risks. In my mind, the difference between a sack and an incomplete isn't very important to the core criteria of getting a 3rd down conversion or not.
Which leads me to...
2. Our receivers are not getting open to the comfort level of Wilson and/or are not making plays when they do get open.
What can be done about that?
As I alluded to Wilson can take more risks and trust his receivers more to make the play. If this is the direction the Seahawks go you have to ride the tiger that there is more risk, downside risk. But we can also look at why they aren't getting open...
3. A more realistic offensive scheme that takes our deficiencies into account. Fans are much faster to react and want to tinker but I am seeing the following constantly - every single goddamn eligible receiver is running a route that takes more time to development and has no lateral movement across the field, nor has the receiver looking for the ball the moment they get off the line and creating advantages in that laterally moving space until they make a break on the route. Put simply - we have receivers running curls and outs trying to find holes in zones or simply trying to beat their man in coverage and they aren't doing it with any regularity.
Where are the drags and clearing out space in man coverage with crossing routes etc? It is aggravating to watch other games on Sunday Ticket where QB talent on par with Wilson has an OC who is giving the receivers ways to get open.
Anything that takes time to develop is usually failing barring RW scrambling and the WRs getting open that way.
4. Offensive line can barely provide protection on passes that take any time to develop.
5. Talent Gap at passing
JS and PC have purposefully spent very little on the passing game both in FA talent and Draft Picks. We didn't resign Tate, a genuine talent at the position. That chicken appears to be coming home to roost. JFG and Harvin are outliers to the overall business decisions and seem like quick fixes that have dubious opportunity to pan out. The line is the most hair raising experiment in team building in sports.
6. One position group is failing on most passing downs
Short: Wilson not pulling trigger and taking a chance, receivers not getting open
Medium: Line not holding up, receivers not getting open, Wilson not pulling trigger
Long: Line not holding up, Wilson not hitting the pass, receiver not making the play.
Now I'm sure everyone has their whipping boy who deserves the lion's share of the blame but I'd rather focus on what is most able to change and have an impact:
1. Play Scheme - Bevell does a better job of identifying what is working and isn't with the passing talent after 5 games. More lateral movement to create space and varying routes by depth and area of the field. No more empty backfield sets that force a risk averse passer to take a risk with receivers that aren't getting separation.
2. Wilson should take more risks with single coverage, period.
3. Offensive line finds a way to protect longer developing plays.
4. Try harder pedestrians WRs (and JFG too)
5. Spend money on passing game in less "shot in the dark" ways.
I'm trying to lend my ears to all the criticisms and I think it's too easy to just lay this on Wilson or Bevell or Cable or JS and PC because as I said in point 6, I'm seeing at least one group doing poorly almost every passing play. I'm a bit of a Wilson apologist in the overall picture but that's because he's not going anywhere before his contract is up and it's a waste of time theorizing about roster transactions involving him.
That's the way I see it from my TV and All-22 gifs at home - thoughts beyond "They just need to play better" cause duh, we all know that.
1. Wilson is risk averse and won't give the opportunity to the receiver to make plays versus giving them opportunity to simply catch. That being said, he still makes occasional mistakes like the throw to JFG in double coverage which got tipped up. It was the wrong spot to throw regardless of outcome because of coverage.
When the complaint is he holds it too long, I think it's off the mark - he isn't willing to throw at receivers unless its very likely the completion will be made. He is unlikely to throw 50/50 balls especially compared to his peers. There are upsides and downsides to this, obviously.
Stats bare this thought out.
The Eye Test bears this thought out.
Despite his shortcoming as a QB he's still technically proficient - he's made in stride TD passes, he's taken free plays and made TDs out of them, he's gone through progressions and found the open man. If his worse problem is that he's not Aaron Rodgers then have fun being mad for the rest of your life.
In situations where he takes a sack instead of throwing on a 3 or 5 step drop on 3rd and less than 5 it's not sufficient to yell at the TV to throw it without qualifying who he has the opportunity to throw to. It's also a fundamentally different problem than him not taking risks. In my mind, the difference between a sack and an incomplete isn't very important to the core criteria of getting a 3rd down conversion or not.
Which leads me to...
2. Our receivers are not getting open to the comfort level of Wilson and/or are not making plays when they do get open.
What can be done about that?
As I alluded to Wilson can take more risks and trust his receivers more to make the play. If this is the direction the Seahawks go you have to ride the tiger that there is more risk, downside risk. But we can also look at why they aren't getting open...
3. A more realistic offensive scheme that takes our deficiencies into account. Fans are much faster to react and want to tinker but I am seeing the following constantly - every single goddamn eligible receiver is running a route that takes more time to development and has no lateral movement across the field, nor has the receiver looking for the ball the moment they get off the line and creating advantages in that laterally moving space until they make a break on the route. Put simply - we have receivers running curls and outs trying to find holes in zones or simply trying to beat their man in coverage and they aren't doing it with any regularity.
Where are the drags and clearing out space in man coverage with crossing routes etc? It is aggravating to watch other games on Sunday Ticket where QB talent on par with Wilson has an OC who is giving the receivers ways to get open.
Anything that takes time to develop is usually failing barring RW scrambling and the WRs getting open that way.
4. Offensive line can barely provide protection on passes that take any time to develop.
5. Talent Gap at passing
JS and PC have purposefully spent very little on the passing game both in FA talent and Draft Picks. We didn't resign Tate, a genuine talent at the position. That chicken appears to be coming home to roost. JFG and Harvin are outliers to the overall business decisions and seem like quick fixes that have dubious opportunity to pan out. The line is the most hair raising experiment in team building in sports.
6. One position group is failing on most passing downs
Short: Wilson not pulling trigger and taking a chance, receivers not getting open
Medium: Line not holding up, receivers not getting open, Wilson not pulling trigger
Long: Line not holding up, Wilson not hitting the pass, receiver not making the play.
Now I'm sure everyone has their whipping boy who deserves the lion's share of the blame but I'd rather focus on what is most able to change and have an impact:
1. Play Scheme - Bevell does a better job of identifying what is working and isn't with the passing talent after 5 games. More lateral movement to create space and varying routes by depth and area of the field. No more empty backfield sets that force a risk averse passer to take a risk with receivers that aren't getting separation.
2. Wilson should take more risks with single coverage, period.
3. Offensive line finds a way to protect longer developing plays.
4. Try harder pedestrians WRs (and JFG too)
5. Spend money on passing game in less "shot in the dark" ways.
I'm trying to lend my ears to all the criticisms and I think it's too easy to just lay this on Wilson or Bevell or Cable or JS and PC because as I said in point 6, I'm seeing at least one group doing poorly almost every passing play. I'm a bit of a Wilson apologist in the overall picture but that's because he's not going anywhere before his contract is up and it's a waste of time theorizing about roster transactions involving him.
That's the way I see it from my TV and All-22 gifs at home - thoughts beyond "They just need to play better" cause duh, we all know that.
