Russell4Prez
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Long time listener, first time caller...
I'm curious what you all think is Russell Wilson's greatest strength? His size *should* be more of an issue than it has been. There are clear physical disadvantages to being 5'10", but obviously, he is able to compensate for his lack of height in other ways. Clearly, his mobility is one of his assets that compensates. His leadership, work ethic, preparation are all keys to his success, but here's what I think really separates him from his peers.
Situational awareness.
Dude always does the right thing at the right time, and that's not an accident. He's "clutch", but that's only part of it. You can see it in everything he does, on and off the field. In fact, I think this was one aspect that he outplayed the great Payton Manning in the Super Bowl. Manning had the better numbers, but Russell played to the situation much better than Manning, IMO.
There are so many examples I can think of but let me give you a few to illustrate what I mean. To contrast Wilson's situational awareness with Colin Kaepernick's all you have to do is look at the NFC championship. Both QB's decide to take a shot at the end zone in that game. The one time Kap takes a shot against Sherman is late in the game, at a time where a mistake would literally cost the game. Horrible situational awareness. Any other time in the game, there are opportunities to overcome that mistake. 4th and 15, 10 seconds left in the game. OK, you take that shot. Wilson's shot at the end zone came on an encroachment call, where there is zero risk. Zero risk, high reward.
Another example that really jumped out at me was only seen on the the Special FX video. Near the end of the first half, less than a minute on the clock, every Seahawk fan is wondering, do we try to score one more time before they head to the locker room? Wilson as I recall seemed to be hoping they would try to score. PC decides not to take a chance and head to the locker room. He communicates the decision to RW and you can see his body language and everything about him lock into the situation, and then make sure everyone else locks in with him. His quote was something like, "Guy's we need prepare ourselves to have big second half. Get your minds ready for that.". That's RW not only understanding the situation, but he also understood how important it was that the entire team lock into the situation with him.
The best example, though, is the way he handled the entire season. He understand that he's in a situation where the defense is so dominant that the role of the offense is to control the ball, don't take unnecessary risks and score 2-3 TD's per game. Early in the season I found myself getting frustrated with Russell, asking him to let loose a little bit. Don't be so conservative. Finally I started to realize that he's playing to the situation. He'll take a risk when the situation calls for it, but that's not when you have a lead, and that's not early when your behind. Could he throw more? Could he run more? Could he take more chances? Yes, we all know he could because we've seen it....when the situation calls for it.
Anyway, so many more examples I'd like to cite, but I want to get everyone's thoughts on this. Do you agree with me? Is there something else that you think stands out above this in terms of Russell's makeup as a player? Maybe you have other examples of this that jump out at you, too?
Sorry for the long first post, but it's something that I've been giving a lot of thought, and not something I've seen discussed.
I'm curious what you all think is Russell Wilson's greatest strength? His size *should* be more of an issue than it has been. There are clear physical disadvantages to being 5'10", but obviously, he is able to compensate for his lack of height in other ways. Clearly, his mobility is one of his assets that compensates. His leadership, work ethic, preparation are all keys to his success, but here's what I think really separates him from his peers.
Situational awareness.
Dude always does the right thing at the right time, and that's not an accident. He's "clutch", but that's only part of it. You can see it in everything he does, on and off the field. In fact, I think this was one aspect that he outplayed the great Payton Manning in the Super Bowl. Manning had the better numbers, but Russell played to the situation much better than Manning, IMO.
There are so many examples I can think of but let me give you a few to illustrate what I mean. To contrast Wilson's situational awareness with Colin Kaepernick's all you have to do is look at the NFC championship. Both QB's decide to take a shot at the end zone in that game. The one time Kap takes a shot against Sherman is late in the game, at a time where a mistake would literally cost the game. Horrible situational awareness. Any other time in the game, there are opportunities to overcome that mistake. 4th and 15, 10 seconds left in the game. OK, you take that shot. Wilson's shot at the end zone came on an encroachment call, where there is zero risk. Zero risk, high reward.
Another example that really jumped out at me was only seen on the the Special FX video. Near the end of the first half, less than a minute on the clock, every Seahawk fan is wondering, do we try to score one more time before they head to the locker room? Wilson as I recall seemed to be hoping they would try to score. PC decides not to take a chance and head to the locker room. He communicates the decision to RW and you can see his body language and everything about him lock into the situation, and then make sure everyone else locks in with him. His quote was something like, "Guy's we need prepare ourselves to have big second half. Get your minds ready for that.". That's RW not only understanding the situation, but he also understood how important it was that the entire team lock into the situation with him.
The best example, though, is the way he handled the entire season. He understand that he's in a situation where the defense is so dominant that the role of the offense is to control the ball, don't take unnecessary risks and score 2-3 TD's per game. Early in the season I found myself getting frustrated with Russell, asking him to let loose a little bit. Don't be so conservative. Finally I started to realize that he's playing to the situation. He'll take a risk when the situation calls for it, but that's not when you have a lead, and that's not early when your behind. Could he throw more? Could he run more? Could he take more chances? Yes, we all know he could because we've seen it....when the situation calls for it.
Anyway, so many more examples I'd like to cite, but I want to get everyone's thoughts on this. Do you agree with me? Is there something else that you think stands out above this in terms of Russell's makeup as a player? Maybe you have other examples of this that jump out at you, too?
Sorry for the long first post, but it's something that I've been giving a lot of thought, and not something I've seen discussed.
