Russell Wilson led NFL in check down rate over the past two seasons

Did you see how Happy Russ seemed to be after his 1st practice in Pittsburgh. He was just smiling through this entire interview. Getting out of an abusive relationship seems to have given him a whole new outlook on life.

Russell Wilson, Justin Fields on Day 1 of OTAs | Pittsburgh Steelers - YouTube

I live in Colorado and I saw all the Denver Russell Wilson interviews here where he was always in Football Mode and all serious about being with the Broncos. Put me on the Russell Wilson bandwagon, as he has never looked happier; it is like a giant weight has been lifted off his shoulders freeing him up to just be happy and play football. I think the Steelers and Wilson are going to be the perfect fit.

I just can't help but smile when I watched that post practice interview on how happy Russell looks. Russell is here to have fun and Win a Super Bowl.

 

I wouldn't be too sure about the QB situation being better with Wilson. I thought Pickett was showing signs of improvement right before he got injured. Not saying that Pickett would've been anything great if they kept him, but I feel he could've been a pretty good game manager type of QB. We should see more splash plays with Wilson compared to Pickett, but more interceptions too

 

Wilson isn't the guy who played in those Super Bowls. He has been in decline for a while. He rebounded a little last year, but the great quarterback of his prime is gone.

 

You're assuming Wilson never did that. Did you watch the Broncos much the last two seasons?

 

Imagine being at a new job and not performing well enough that the company is willing to get rid of you but is still going to pay 97% of your salary to go to a competitor. I’d say he is laughing all the way to the bank.

 

You’re comparing the two QB’s? Really? I get he had two bad years with a bad team but to compare a Super Bowl winning QB to a guy that had the lowest amount of offensive production in history is either completely stupid or a complete lack of common sense. The guy went to two super bowls and easily could have won two. Maybe he’s past his prime, no one knows, but what we do know is that you can’t compare him to a never has been. Sean Peyton’s offense was never going to mesh with that QB and I don’t think he wanted it to. The broncos were a mess.

 

I'm talking about what Wilson is now, a 35-year-old in decline, not what he was four years ago. I thought about being offended by your personal attack on me, but that you don't even know that Wilson is past his prime shows you aren't worth the effort.

 

Ok thank you.

 

He also had Gronk to use for those checkdowns and that worked out very well for him. Maybe Arthur Smith will find a use for our tight ends. I know a lot of people have said that he really likes to use them on these boards.

You also have to look at why he did those checkdowns IMO. I think that Kenny Pickett did his check downs because he could not see the field. He would miss open players and take his comfortable option which happened to be the guy standing 10 yards away from him to the side. So was Russell Wilson the checkdown king because he wasn't seeing the field, nobody was open, his line was collapsing, or something else?

I have never been a Russell Wilson fan and actually gave my niece a lot of ribbing about him because she is a Seahawks fanatic. I have always thought that he is overrated. I still think that, but I hope for the best since he's now with the Steelers. From a money perspective, I do think that he is a great acquisition. His skill and experience are worth far more than what we are paying him. Now I just hope that his desire for success and to stick it to Denver and Seattle drive him to have his best season ever. How sweet would a super bowl victory be for Russell Wilson when Denver's paying his salary after kicking him to the curb? Lol

 

I agree with your assessment. Time will tell with him and obviously the team isn’t 100% sure given that they went after Fields as well. But either way, it’s an upgrade from Pickett and Coach Smith will bring a far different perspective.

 

Fields is the one that I haven't really been able to guess the strategy on. If he had been brought on to be the number one, I'd be in tears based on Fields past record. I'm not sure if they brought him in as purely a backup to Russell Wilson or if they're hoping he will be the future for the Steelers after Russell Wilson is gone.

Either way, as things sit right now I don't think we have our franchise quarterback in sight. I think that they're going to have to draft a quarterback in the first round next year. Wilson's going to be too long in the tooth to go much longer and the stats that Fields has put up so far won't get him a franchise spot.

 

He checked down because he can't read defenses. I don't think Wilson suffers the same affliction

 

That's one interpretation. Another is that he checked down because he had a coaching staff telling him not to take risks. The truth is likely a mixture of the two.

 

Happens all the time in the Workplace, where a company decides to support the boss, and then pay the employee a lot of money to go away. The NFL may have went to the Broncos and asked them to choose between keeping Wilson or Peyton.


I still believe the NFL and maybe NFLPA forced the Broncos to Release Russell Wilson.
1) The Verbal attack on the sideline in front of millions may have just been the tip of the iceberg for the abuse Wilson was taking from Peyton. Sorry, it is 2024 and you can't treat your employees like that anymore. Treat an employee like that and your company will end up paying a lot of money for that employee to walk away.

2) Punishing Wilson for not removing the Insurance GTD for 2025 may be against League or Union Rules. Not sure what Union Policy would be on a signed contracts when the Team tries to get a player to remove items from a contract. The Broncos Benched Wilson for not removing an injury clause from him contract, not sure you can punish an employee for following his union contract. The whole "We are going to make your life a living hell if you don't do this" thing really doesn't work in the workplace. Firing Maybe, but you can't really punish someone for following the rules of his employment contract.

Your post suggests that Wilson was benched last year for poor play, but the fact is Wilson was told by Denver last year that if he didn't remove the injury guarantee from his contract they would bench him.

 

if Wilson was playing lights out for Denver he would still be with them. They would have told the coach to check his ego at the door. The Steelers got him for 1.2 million dollars. That is the deal of the century with hardly any risk to take. Win win situation for the Steelers and a big fat fudge cake for the Donkeys.

 

Here you go 86. Russell explains his benching. Funny, just coming off a win against the Chiefs is an excellent time to bench your starting QB.

It sounds like he did file a complaint with the NFLPA, so this may be one of the reasons why Denver was forced to release him.

 

The NFL and the NFLPA get involved with the Sean Payton threat to make Russell Wilson inactive for the rest of the season, if Russell does not remove the injury guarantee from his contract.



I wonder if Payton's threat to put him on the inactive roster was to not even allow him to go to games?

 

I admit I haven’t been following the situation very closely and don’t really know what the injury gaurantee even means. All I know is the Steelers win in this situation even if it backfires somehow. Really gave up nothing at all.

 

Some of the play I saw last year Russ was running for his life… that check down te ds to happen in those scenarios. Don’t want him forcing anything but it’d be nice to play to move the sticks

 

if nobody is there to check down to then he can't do it. maybe that is the new thinking with this group of wr's we have. they all can fly, so maybe they just run deep and let it fly. keep the rotation going play after play and tire out the DB's quickly. makes it easier to hit one and they won't be in the box to tackle the run game either.

 

You're right all of our WR's can really fly. Scottie Miller ran a 4.28 at the combine the year he came out of college. Miller was Tom Brady's safety net at Tampa Bay, he always seemed to be open whenever it was 3rd down. No coincidence that when Brady retired Miller's productivity greatly decreased. But now he has another veteran Superbowl winning QB that can hopefully utilize his talents better than the last couple of years.

 

Wilson was a great player in his prime, but he was never Brady. There are receivers who can produce no matter who is throwing to them, but in some cases, it is all the quarterback. Miller's 500-yard season in 2020 was all Brady.

 

Wasn't Brady there in other years too?

 

He was there for three years. I guess even he couldn't prop Miller up in 2021 and '22.