Is Seahawks’ Russell Wilson now on downslope of his career?

Is it time to throw chum in the water?

Brees figured out how to operate from the pocket in spite of his height, but it was out of necessity and early in his career. Can Russ get better at that in the middle of his career? And again, while learning a new offense?

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I’m not ruling out the possibility that someone who grinds the way that Russ does can adapt his game. He certainly can become a better pocket passer. And on top of all that, the athleticism that he still has dwarfs what Brees and Brady brought to the table for the entirety of their careers. It’ll always be a weapon. But in a season last year where the Seahawks gave him more offensive weight to lift, Russ turned the ball over more than he ever had in his career and simply struggled down the stretch.[urltargetblank]https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1403234/gallant-seahawks-russell-wilson-downslope-career/[/urltargetblank]

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I think Russ can adapt, but he is who he is at this point. I don't think that means he's on the downslope.

By this, I mean that greater emphasis can be put on say short passing routes. Not every ball has to be deep. I think we all agree that more of them have to be quick.

Now, if you tried to make Russ a strict pocket passer, like the 9ers did with Kaep, I doubt that would work.

What's going to work with Russ is nudging him to do more of the short passing routes and stuff people here talk about. That's not of course the hard part. Like another poster said, ultimate success comes from having a franchise QB AND a stellar O-line and/or d-line. Brady threw three interceptions in the SB and STILL won because KCs OL was decimated and Tampa's basically ate them for lunch and came after Mahomes.

Of course, train Russ in more things continuous with his ongoing development. No one's talking about teaching that dog any radical new tricks. But the more there are any deficiencies with blocking in general with that o-line, it's going to a) affect game performance negatively and b) get the franchise QB hit more often.

There's been no decline in Russell's stats, work ethic or commitment to football so I have no idea how anyone can say he's now on the downslope.

Has he struggled at times to transition his style to thinking he can still spin out of the pocket and extend plays? To a point, yes I'd say he still has those instincts that have begun to fail him the past couple of years as he slows down.

Takes more hits, more sacks and the turnover and big negative plays have reared their ugly head for stretches of games.

But on the other hand Russell has a much better command of the offense, schemes and how to read defenses. Which has resulted in his efficiencies and stats remaining at an elite level of QB play.

Long story short, no. I don't see any signs of downslope.

I dont think he has hit his prime yet. Bevell and Shotty ukeface:

It's pretty obvious to me Russ has lost some of the quick twitch burst he had in 12/13. Can experience make up for that? Yes, to a degree. But time stops for no one, Russ included. I suspect we've seen his best. Could we see his best again? Maybe, but I'll believe it when I see it, and I hope I do.
Go Russ. Go Hawks.

Funny how there are 5 that say yes only one say why and of course it is opinion based not fact based. Hmm

Wilson is not on the downside at all. despite an increase in ints, lets remember he also had several positive career highs and was one of only 3 QBs to be top 120 in tds, yards, comptl % and Qb rating.

Troll alert!

brimsalabim":32mak04w said:

Troll alert!

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the whole article was clickbait and it found someone who took the bait, adn posted it here.

John63":15cwrp5h said:

brimsalabim":15cwrp5h said:

Troll alert!

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the whole article was clickbait and it found someone who took the bait, adn posted it here.

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The chum was for you 63. And you took it hook line and sinker.

Jville":tzu70es7 said:

John63":tzu70es7 said:

brimsalabim":tzu70es7 said:

Troll alert!

Click to expand...

the whole article was clickbait and it found someone who took the bait, adn posted it here.

Click to expand...

The chum was for you 63. And you took it hook line and sinker.

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Be Kind!
Intern wellbeing matter!!!

I think he's capable of adapting his game in certain areas where he's weaker than other quarterbacks of a similar caliber, but I'm not sure that he will. His strengths are extreme strengths, and most high-level individuals devote more time to their unique strengths than they do their weaknesses. His height makes it difficult - he'll likely never have complete command over the middle of the field. Where he can adapt is beginning to throw tighter windows and stop looking off players that are open underneath.

I think he's at a plateau in his career right now that'll turn into a downslope in the next 2-3 years. That's just a fact of age - most players start winding down around here. A winding down Russ is still a starting quarterback.

I wouldn't say his game is in decline,
But that he just needs to adjust like Michael Jordan did when he started aging. And I'm not worried, because he such a focused and positive thinking competitor.
I think he's not individually as dangerous, and those Houdini moments will become a distant memory. He still has the best touch of any QB however. Still has nerves of steel. Just needs to figure out how to work out of a collapsing pocket better(recognition, looking for hot reads, pocket positioning adjustment while looking downfield, not rolling into trouble) . Wilson use to pick up a ton of chunk yardage in crunch time by utilizing read option, which he set up defense on earlier in game. I think that weapon is gone

Hotchy":2hgaodpd said:

I wouldn't say his game is in decline,
But that he just needs to adjust like Michael Jordan did when he started aging. And I'm not worried, because he such a focused and positive thinking competitor.
I think he's not individually as dangerous, and those Houdini moments will become a distant memory. He still has the best touch of any QB however. Still has nerves of steel. Just needs to figure out how to work out of a collapsing pocket better(recognition, looking for hot reads, pocket positioning adjustment while looking downfield, not rolling into trouble) . Wilson use to pick up a ton of chunk yardage in crunch time by utilizing read option, which he set up defense on earlier in game. I think that weapon is gone

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There's little point to rehabbing Russ' training to make him beyond what he is, an excellent scrambler with ball accuracy. I would like him to release the ball faster, for instance, but he's gotten the team to the playoffs every year but one doing it the way he does it.

SF is favored to win the divisional. Our best chance would be a wild-card. Here's a guy whose technique has gotten us there for every year but one. If the team fails to accomplish the wild card, then that'll accelerate discussions of a trade as versus an extension.

At this point, we just have to let Russ be Russ because that's our best winning formula to get to the playoffs. I'd be happy enough to do that for this year.

Jville":te8as66r said:

John63":te8as66r said:

brimsalabim":te8as66r said:

Troll alert!

Click to expand...

the whole article was clickbait and it found someone who took the bait, adn posted it here.

Click to expand...

The chum was for you 63. And you took it hook line and sinker.

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Well played.. :irishdrinkers:

he took hook, line, sinker, chum, and boat.

Wilson will be 33 this season and has been mostly healthy his career , so he should be still be in his prime but probably at the end of his prime . Mobile scrambling type QBs seem to lose ground faster at the end of their careers than QBS that had very good OLs, could stay in the pocket and not take so many sacks . Brady-Manning-Brees-Rivers come to mind . Rodgers is an example of a mobile QB that wins MVP at 37 years old , but he can be quite effective in the pocket as well . Wilson will have to become more effective as a pocket passer to extend his prime career . IMO

Maybe a year late with this question.

Of course he is in the downslope, but that doesnt mean he's still not highly effective. He's 32, heavier, and slower, but still thinks and tries to pull off his magic show and its not near as successful as it used to be.

pittpnthrs":1roz92qv said:

Of course he is in the downslope, but that doesnt mean he's still not highly effective. He's 32, heavier, and slower, but still thinks and tries to pull off his magic show and its not near as successful as it used to be.

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2020:

- Highest completion percentage in career
- 2nd highest yards in career (by 7 yards)
- Highest number of TD's in career
- over 100 QB rating

So how you can come to the conclusion that Russell's on the downslope when his stats show that he had one of his best years ever, if not his best year ever I have no idea.

Yep he needs to adjust his risk taking resulting in more and more negative plays as he ages, but other than that I see no signs of diminished play.......and Wilson's stats prove that out.

Sgt. Largent":353a3fey said:

pittpnthrs":353a3fey said:

Of course he is in the downslope, but that doesnt mean he's still not highly effective. He's 32, heavier, and slower, but still thinks and tries to pull off his magic show and its not near as successful as it used to be.

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2020:

- Highest completion percentage in career
- 2nd highest yards in career (by 7 yards)
- Highest number of TD's in career
- over 100 QB rating

So how you can come to the conclusion that Russell's on the downslope when his stats show that he had one of his best years ever, if not his best year ever I have no idea.

Yep he needs to adjust his risk taking resulting in more and more negative plays as he ages, but other than that I see no signs of diminished play.......and Wilson's stats prove that out.

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That's exactly what I'm saying. Russ still is an excellent QB by anyone's standards on stats. Of course work with him on ball release and the various angles we are screaming about and try to adjust that, but in the end, he is what he is and as an individual isn't showing serious decline.

What I'm saying is that we have our best chance, this year, by at best tinkering with the formula versus attempting to do more. But for now, he's the guy. And as we know who all of our day 1 starters are probably going to be (I see the KJ question as the main one extant), we're pretty much set on that too.

For this year, we do like we did the last 10 while figuring out the soft reset and all that.