The opening line of that article is ridiculous. Russ signing with Pittsburgh wasn't a notable seismic event.
What I don't understand about Russ's situation is that we've heard he has an elite work ethic—first in, last out. What the heck is he doing with his time at team facilities if not studying plays and learning verbiage? I could understand failing to read defenses or seeing over the line in games. But not knowing play calls? Does he have a learning disability? Or is his work ethic actually an issue, and we've been spoonfed a lie for a decade?
Back before our SB appearance in 2014, our local newspaper here ran an article on Russell Wilson. One summer, he played baseball here in the Tri Cities for our Class A minor league team and stayed with a host family along with a couple other teammates. The lady said that the other guys would go out when they didn't have a game the next day, but that Russell would stay at home. She said that one night, she got up at 3am and found Russell in their living room studying his "North Carolina (State) stuff", meaning their playbook.
In 3 successive seasons, Russell had to learn 3 different playbooks: NC State, Wisconsin, and the Hawks. Contrast that with Cam Newton. In Newton's second full season with the Pats, he had trouble learning the playbook and a rookie QB named Mac Jones had to help him out. The Pats cut Newton and gave the job to Jones.
My point is that I don't think that there is any question that Russell was both smart enough to learn playbooks and had the work ethic required to quickly master them. That doesn't mean that the present-day Russell has changed, only that at the very least, he was a smart, hardworking QB early in his career.