It’s increasingly clear some Seahawks fans have been itching to get on the ‘trade Russell Wilson’ bandwagon.
They’ve been building up to it for a while — they just needed the green light to put their foot down and race forward.
It felt like a few were hoping Geno Smith would play well and ‘do the things Wilson won’t or can’t’ to validate their opinion — but Smith played poorly. They missed their chance.
Now Wilson’s had a bad game in Green Bay, on the day Aaron Rodgers also had a bad game, in his first outing since having a serious finger injury, with the likelihood that he isn’t remotely close to 100%.
They can’t resist. It’s all coming out.
They’re using any evidence they can find to build a case. The confirming of priors is underway.
Some of these fans are the same people who warned ‘be careful what you wish for’ if you want to move on from Pete Carroll because ‘it could send Seattle back to the dark days of the 80’s’.
Now they’re openly advocating trading the reason Seattle has made the playoffs year after year since the LOB was disbanded. They’re ignoring that Pete Carroll himself recently admitted he wouldn’t have been in Seattle as long as he has without Wilson.
They pitch moving on without feeling obliged to offer any reasonable plan at quarterback moving forward.
‘Just draft a QB’ isn’t an answer. It’d be like me saying we ‘just need a boat’ to cross the Atlantic and producing a bath tub and an oar.
The rest of the fan base should hold their feet to the fire on that topic. These fans seemingly haven’t studied the quarterbacks in college. I’ve even been sent suggestions like trading Wilson for picks and one of Jalen Hurts or Daniel Jones.
Presumably these same fans will be the first to complain when they’re watching the Hurts, Jones or Mitchell Trubisky ‘era’ next season — or watching one of the frankly awful 2022 draft eligible QB’s.
There’s often a refusal to acknowledge that having ‘picks’ might be great right up until the point you have to use them on actual players. It could also be the same people who spent first round picks on Rashaad Penny and LJ Collier and traded the house for Jamal Adams making those selections.
Guarantee Kayvon Thibodeaux, Derek Stingley Jr and the top left tackle in the class — plus present a viable starting quarterback replacement — and we can talk. This is impossible though. You’d need three top-five picks, including the #1 overall pick.
Simply collecting mid-first rounders over one or two drafts and hoping for the best at the most important position in sports? That’s not a coherent position.
You have to actually turn your picks into good players, which has proven challenging for Seattle, to justify any of this. That’s a huge gamble.
Neither is blowing things up and desiring a major rebuild logical. This is the exact scenario some of these same people warned about. Returning to the dark days. Nothing will bring that closer to reality than shedding the roster in the hope of a long rebuild. Ask the Dolphins or Lions how challenging that is.
Go further and speak to Broncos fans about life without a franchise quarterback. Are you ready to run through the cycle of QB’s they’ve gone through over the years? Do you want to join the collection of teams endlessly searching for a signal caller of the caliber Seattle already possesses?
Teddy Bridgewater one year. An expensive trade for Sam Darnold the next. Needing to consider giving up everything for Deshaun Watson.
The Panthers model is attractive, is it?
It’s never acknowledged this is one of the worst looking draft classes in years in terms of the first round, either.
I’ve seen people claim Wilson is ‘done’.
Presumably these people also felt Patrick Mahomes was ‘done’ as he threw 10 picks in half a season and grimaced his way through ugly game after ugly game before returning to some degree of form against Las Vegas?
Drew Brees threw 48 interceptions between 2012-14. Turnover machine.
Aaron Rodgers missed half a season in 2017 and had a 16/6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. When he returned in 2018, he threw only 25 touchdowns and Green Bay won just six games. Finished? He was the MVP two seasons later.
People are writing Wilson off during a season where he’s missed time due to injury for literally the first time in his pro or college career, he has a 104.5 quarterback rating and a 66.7% completion percentage. Prior to the Green Bay game he’d thrown ten touchdowns in five games and just one pick.
How dreadful.
Nobody thinks Wilson is flawless. Even his staunch defenders would acknowledge he hasn’t played his best football since the second half of last season, or that third down conversions haven’t been good enough.
Perhaps some of his biggest critics should be more willing to acknowledge how poor the O-line has been (his guards are graded at 54.2 and 63.6)? Or accept that despite passing on a series of talented running backs (tweet #1, tweet #2), the Seahawks retained too much faith in Chris Carson (and his embarrassing use of Joel Seedman as a personal trainer) and have now been left relying on Alex Collins for a running game.
A running game, by the way, that the Seahawks seemingly don’t trust anywhere near enough and that leaves Carroll admitting almost every week that he wished they’d ‘run more’.
There’s also a lot of fingers going in ears regarding some of the long lasting issues with the Carroll-led Seahawks, such as the way resource has been wasted, how the same issues keep reappearing year after the year, how the Seahawks have become increasingly desperate and seem to start every season with glaring needs, that the roster rebuild since 2018 has contradicted the preferred philosophy of the decision maker in Seattle or how difficult it is to draft a QB early successfully.
Some of these issues were addressed here.
They also appear to be willing to ignore the similarities between Seattle now and the final years of the Mike McCarthy era in Green Bay and are unwilling to acknowledge there’s precedent for a fairly straight forward path to return to contention by following the Packers’ lead.
For the sake of a Head Coach and VP of football operations who has overseen a terrible reset since 2018, you really don’t want to at least see what Wilson can do with an offensive-minded Head Coach before throwing everything away?
Really?
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The least convincing argument for trading Russell Wilson is the ‘he got in the way of Seattle’s success and forced Pete Carroll to abandon his preferred style of play to keep him happy’ argument.
If that is truly, honestly the way it went down, Pete Carroll deserves to be fired out of a cannon.
You have a player standing up in your locker room, TELLING you that you have to change everything you’ve ever done (and got to Super Bowls with!) and you acquiesced to him? Instead of shipping him out on the next train out of town?
If he truly is such a cancer to your team structure, why not send him to Cleveland for Josh Allen and be done with him? Some fool team can pay the #1 pick for him and you could toast to your incredible fortune and return to building the team the way you want.
But no, instead they gave him an extension with…wait for it…a full no-trade clause! Pete KNOWS what that means. Wilson traded some contract dollars for control of where he plays. And Pete said OK to that, knowing that he is somehow FORCING you to abandon your precious style of play? And that he’ll likely continue to force this awful brand of football on the team?
If any of that is true (I don’t believe for a second that it is), that is on Pete for ever letting it get this far. Not Russell.
People are reaching for reasons to validate their argument. Wilson ‘isn’t letting Carroll be full Carroll’ is pretty desperate.
Well to be fair, Russ did put a gun to Pete’s head and forced him to draft Malik McDowell instead of TJ Watt, Rashaad Penny instead of Nick Chubb, and spend millions on Cedric Ogbuehi, Brandon Shell and Jacob Hollister instead of on Jack Conklin.
So yeah those are on Russ.
I bet Russell also insisted on them signing Brandon Shell, Cedric Ogbuehi and BJ Finney instead of Jack Conklin.
And jolly well pushed for the pass rush to be inadequately addressed a year ago, plus center and cornerback this year.
And Russ was behind the defensive gameplan against Buffalo a year ago. The real reason Carroll said he expected the Bills to run a lot was because Russell left a note in his office saying so.
Also, after he said on TV he is getting hit too much, they choose Eskridge with their first pick instead of a center in a center rich draft….It’s almost like they want RW gone.
The part i failed to understand is, the coach who wants to run the ball 50+ times the game and ignores Oline. And the funny part is he is going with this patch up OLine (especially center) and failing from number of years.
Someone has to pull his ears (literally) and show his mistakes.
I absolutely hate it when people say ‘let’s trade RW for y and z and pick up a QB in r2 or r3’. Like it’s that easy. Anyone can pick up a QB in any round. Doesn’t mean it’s going to work out, and the chances of it actually working (even to 50% of the success of drafting RW has been) is are so slim.
The way some people speak, you’d think they never witnessed life before Wilson.
‘Just get any QB, provided they’re cheap’
It doesn’t work that way
Rob,
Look at Tom Brady. It’s easy. Just find any old guy at the bottom end of the draft. Then pair him with a great defense. Then add a coach who can change his scheme for every season and sometimes every game. Then add a TON of weapons. Then get lots and lots of FA’s to play because you get to nearly a third of all superbowls in twenty years…easy peasy.
Oh. And make sure your late round QB is the best to do it.
Right, there are so many Tom Brady available now and will be available in future. Sure let us trade all remaining few good players like Russell.
Remember, good skill set player is one thing and having good ethic is another. Classic example is DK Metcaf and Tyler. DK may be more talented than Tyler but i will take 100 out 100 Tyler if i have choose between them. Same with Russ, he is just guy who gives 100% . Another bad choice will be Adams, will not pick him vs Ryan Neal.
Unfortunately many didn’t. And if they did, it was Hasselbeck and that wasn’t too bad either. This would be an interesting study actually. When some posts the idea of moving on from RW, it would be interesting to know when they began rooting for the Seahawks. So many became fans surrounding SBXL, which is fine of course. But they missed the post-Krieg era of Friez, McGuire, Mirer, Stouffer, etc… Man that was painful to watch.
I am flying to Seattle this weekend to root for the Hawks, hopefully get a better product than last week!
In some cases I think people have lived through those years and they’ve seemingly just forgotten how difficult it is to find even a ‘good’ quarterback let alone one destined for the HOF.
I think they’ve been consumed by the idea of a cheap rookie contract without actually remembering that you actually have to draft a good player for that to work and the percentage stats on QB hit rate in the first two rounds is so poor.
A lot of these same people warn about life after Carroll, which is also a major contradiction and a failure to register what Carroll said recently about his own tenure in Seattle being tied to RW
“the post-Krieg era of Friez, McGuire, Mirer, Stouffer, etc… ” Oof those were some rough years indeed.
Not as bad as this:
1999 Tim Couch (14) / Ty Detmer (2)
2000 Doug Pederson (8) / Tim Couch (7) / Spergon Wynn (1)
2001 Tim Couch (16)
2002 Tim Couch (14) / Kelly Holcomb (2)
2003 Kelly Holcomb (8) / Tim Couch (8)
2004 Jeff Garcia (10) / Luke McCown (4) / Kelly Holcomb (2)
2005 Trent Dilfer (11) / Charlie Frye (5)
2006 Charlie Frye (13) / Derek Anderson (3)
2007 Derek Anderson (15) / Charlie Frye (1)
2008 Derek Anderson (9) / Brady Quinn (3) / Ken Dorsey (3) / Bruce Gradkowski (1)
2009 Brady Quinn (9) / Derek Anderson (7)
2010 Colt McCoy (8) / Jake Delhomme (4) / Seneca Wallace (4)
2011 Colt McCoy (13) / Seneca Wallace (3)
2012 Brandon Weeden (15) / Thad Lewis (1)
2013 Jason Campbell (8) / Brandon Weeden (5) / Brian Hoyer (3)
2014 Brian Hoyer (13) / Johnny Manziel (2) / Connor Shaw (1)
2015 Josh McCown (8) / Johnny Manziel (6) / Austin Davis (2)
2016 Cody Kessler (8) / Robert Griffin III (5) / Josh McCown (3)
2017 DeShone Kizer (15) / Kevin Hogan (1)
Some need to accept that we caught lightning in a bottle when we drafted Wilson in R3, in a QB class that was heralded as historic. Can you imagine where we’d be had we not drafted him or chosen to stick with Flynn? That’s the direction people are advocating for?
It’s the same people who love to cite Dilfer, Flacco, Foles, Delhomme, noodle-armed Manning as reasons you don’t need a top QB to get to or win a Super Bowl.
you just need a top-10 defense of all time or extreme luck! It’s that easy!
thing is, RW is an ideal quarterback for PC’s ‘system’… run the ball to set up explosive plays, protect the football, and all that. But to play that way you have to be nasty in the trenches, consistently get pressure with four, generate takeaways, and complete the circle of toughness, etc. I still think that kind of football can win games in January (provided there’s some creativity on offense). How PC/JS managed to botch the reset so badly given that preferred identity is confounding. That they’ve seemingly alienated their HOF QB in the process is completely baffling.
It would be interesting to know if Wilson has more of a problem with the “system” or the simply the team management/building ability of Pete/John.
This is the brand of football Tenn has been playing and they have had more playoff success than Seattle recently
Yet Tannehill is a fraction of the player that Wilson is…
Come on, swedenhawk, that’s not fair to Tannehill. He is a good QB and is playing within his abilities. Is he better than Russ? No, but he is better than a lot of other starting QBs.
I agree 100% with this statement. Pete’s preferred style will always be successful I believe but you have to have the roster for it. I think the LoB team was a perfect storm of Pete’s style that as time goes I think was aided immensely by Pete having just spent a decade in college. He had incite into the players coming out of college for about 4-5 years that you can’t replicate once you’re out of that window. While it’s damn near impossible to have the success they had early on every year they’ve come nowhere close to it since. When you look at those late round studs they found one thing they all had was a competitiveness and chip on their shoulder that I think they’ve failed to find since. All of the major players on the two SB teams felt wronged in someway shape or form and channeled that energy onto the field. Had they found a way to get one more yard against the Pats I think that team would’ve stayed together for a couple more years at least and got to at least 1 more SB. Instead the leaders on D, along with Beast, resented both PC and RW who became the focal point of their fire fracturing the team and setting us on the path we currently toil on.
Rob, you forgot my personal favorite (which I see thrown out often)
“Wilson is our most valuable player and he’ll never be worth more than he’s worth right now. We should sell high.”
The only complete rebuild needed is in the FO and entire coaching staff.
Get a dynamic GM who has final say over any and all trades, picks and coaching hires.
Get a dynamic, young coach who adapts on the fly and isn’t afraid of tweaking his scheme every single week.
Offload bloated contracts, while taking a possible major one year hit. Trading overpaid vets for picks or simply releasing them. Extending the workhorse players, like Diggs.
The Seahawks would look like a completely different team, and that’s a damned good thing. It wouldn’t even be close to a complete rebuild and would set them up for years of success.
This has all been trumpeted many times by Rob and so many in here that it is comical when anyone brings up a complete rebuild.
.
Put another way, in the 30 YEARS since the playoff format changed, there have been 360 teams that qualified for the playoffs. Five of those 360, or 1.38% of those teams, started 3-6.
1.38%
And you’re saying “the Seahawks have hope.”
Thanks, you picked me right up there Gregg.
……”do you’re saying there’s a chance,”…….
Come on Cha! Don’t let math get in the way! Pin to Win Baby!!
Please. No.
Why no?
If the price is reasonable, sign him yesterday.
No, No, No.
Why would we want someone who actually can play the SAM position, we have Benson Mayowa for that!
And best of all, he keeps Alton on the bench.
Yes, please!
Hey, wonder who else has been talking about this for just as long…
Only difference is that he appears to think PC can save the situation with a great OC.
https://twitter.com/TheHerd/status/1460683469328105474
Summed it up nicely.
I don’t believe he really thinks PC can do this. He just gave examples of other defensive minded HC’s who did.
Cowerd knows PC is incapable of giving up all the contol it would take, he’s said it before.
But it does some up what Rob’s been saying for 3 years. Poor roster building around a Franchise QB.
Definitely time for a change. Some fans will just never see it’s PC regardless of how obvious it is.
I don’t believe PC is capable of doing it either.
It feels like Hawkblogger is really pushing this narrative without actually saying he wants to trade Russ outright.
A lot of what he tweets seems to have an underling tone of defending Pete and blaming Russ. I generally enjoy his work, but I feel like there’s definitely a bias against Russ going on.
Russ definitely has flaws, but I still feel like it’s hard to completely separate some of those flaws from the circumstances surrounding him and would much rather try to see if those can be fixed/mitigated with an offensive minded HC and better Oline than starting over with a completely unproven talent instead.
I know you’ve done a podcast with Hawkblogger in the past, Rob. Maybe it’d be worth doing another to go over this more directly? I’m sure it would be entertaining and informative to the fan base.
Appreciate all the work you do.
Brian’s perspective, and I think I agree with him, is he doesnt see Russ as transcendently good that he can elevate a flawed roster to SB contention on his own, he needs help. I agree with that assessment. However I do not agree with moving on from Russ for the reasons Rob has laid out: there is no path to replace him. We just moved through multiple years of top QB prospects, and now we are in a rut, there is no path forward to replace a QB right now, for any team.
Why are you, or anyone else for that matter, framing it this way???
You don’t have to be a ‘transcendently good’ quarterback or else you better clear off and embrace a massive painful rebuild.
Those are not the only two options.
Neither do the Seahawks need to create this unreal ‘non-flawed’ roster to succeed. Please read my article on how they can mimic the Packers.
I agree with that article Rob, and I am not really framing the argument that way. I just dont put Russ at a Brady/Manning level of greatness, where they could elevate the people around them to higher levels. I dont believe they need an unflawed roster, but it needs to be a little better than this one, (cough-cough) looking at you OL.
Who has said he is?
And why does he need to be??
So Wilson hasn’t elevated players on this team over the last few years?
Seriously?
Come on
I feel this would be so much easier not typing, especially between meetings at work.
Yes Russ makes this team better, but a QB who can’t/refuses throw quick timing routes that can get a first down, completely ignores a third of the field, and refuses to take a check down that can gain yards is not doing the things that can elevate his team beyond the limitations of 1) yet another shitty OL 2) only two weapons at WR 3) am ineffective running game 4) possible scheme limitations.
So I 100% agree with on keeping Russ, ditching Pete, drafting better, not trading picks for a S, not spending $$$$ on LBs, investing in the trenches. I pretty agree with you on most roster/team philosophies. However I also agree with Brian that this QB while great, is playing a massive role in the team’s failing currently. I also don’t think that means we should get rid of him.
It’s amazing how a QB who does all the things you accuse him of is on a sure fire HOF projection, has set records in his career constantly, is widely viewed as one of the best overall players in the league and has carried the Seahawks for years.
People are consumed by their priors
Part of me wants RW to go so you are forced to watch a year of Trubisky or Bridgewater as a punishment
With all due respect, Rob, I don’t think this is a fair response to Gerry’s comment. He’s agreed with the other points you’re raising but also asserts that:
“this QB while great, is playing a massive role in the team’s failing currently”
Multiple things can all be true at the same time, right? Anyone watching Wilson play this year knows he is contributing to the Seahawks’ losses (and Gerry listed the examples – again, all of them are on tape so it’s really not disputable. We’re all watching the same games).
I thought perhaps last year was a fluke and we would see Russ bounce back. He hasn’t. You make a good point about other quarterbacks having lulls so perhaps that’s what this is. But we have yet to see a game from him that sparks any confidence things are going to change anytime soon.
This saddens me but perhaps we won’t get to see the HOF Wilson from years past anymore. He’s older now and doesn’t scramble nearly as much as he used to. I think people underestimate how huge a factor his running was to his game – take that away and Russell Wilson is just not as special.
He slipped out of the top 10 in the last NFL Top 100 list. And I can’t believe that players would think more highly of him this year given his lackluster performance so far. We need to judge him based on recent performance not on his reputation. It really doesn’t matter what he accomplished in years past. What matters is how he is playing now.
Dare I say it but a quarterback like Daniel Jones is at least keeping his offense on the field and moving the ball. Almost every other NFL quarterback is moving the ball! Even Colt McCoy had a good game last weekend. Colt McCoy!! Watching the Seahawks on offense is just downright depressing.
There’s no doubt other factors are at play but we are burying our heads in the sand if we don’t acknowledge that Wilson has been hurting his team this year by not doing things a quarterback SHOULD do even when he has a horrible oline -like taking the dang check down.
And at the same time – yes – I would love to see him under a different coach. Pete needs to go.
It’s a perfectly fair response, Pavlos.
When people refer to Wilson as: “a QB who can’t/refuses throw quick timing routes that can get a first down, completely ignores a third of the field, and refuses to take a check down” they aren’t saying ‘Wilson has had a few issues at times this season’ or ‘Wilson hasn’t been at his best since the second half of 2020, contrary to what he’s shown in his HOF career until that point’.
They are being massively unreasonable for the purpose of confirming priors.
You seem to be doing the same.
It’d be just like me labelling Patrick Mahomes a cooked turnover machine because of what he’s shown this year and in the Super Bowl last season. Or looking at Drew Brees’ 48 interceptions in a three year spell at the start of the last decade and saying all sorts of horrible words to describe him like, ‘he refuses to throw to players on his own team’.
In your own response you almost seem to be implying firstly that people haven’t acknowledged when Wilson hasn’t played well (which I/we have, constantly) and then you start making silly comparisons to Daniel Jones ‘being able to keep his team on the field’. Jones has eight touchdowns and five picks this year. He had 11 touchdowns and 10 picks last year. He has 25 fumbles in two-and-a-half seasons.
In 2020 and 2021, a season and a half, he has 22 total touchdowns and 28 total turnovers.
Keeps his team on the field? Moves the ball?
The only worthy comparison between Wilson and Jones is that they play the same position. Otherwise you show your exposed behind in this kind of discussion.
A quick reminder again that prior to his injury, Wilson was leading the NFL in QB rating and had a 10/1 TD/INT ratio. Furthermore, the defense was total garbage, the run game nowhere to be seen and the O-line sucked.
He played badly in Green Bay after a month recovering from a serious finger injury. Shocking, right?
In a game where Aaron Rodgers, the reigning NFL MVP, also struggled returning from his absence.
But you seem to think that qualifies the following: “Even Colt McCoy had a good game last weekend. Colt McCoy!!”
Actually, Colt McCoy threw zero touchdowns and one interception, throwing for 107 yards, in a 34-10 blowout home loss to Carolina.
The fact he played in one game prior to that seems to mean more to people like yourself than Wilson’s career 2012-to-date.
So let’s talk about this properly and honestly here. Because some of the stuff I’m reading is laughable.
What is so bizarre about that is, it doesn’t support that position that trading Russ is the way to success, it’s an argument that PCJS have so badly failed to adequately surround Russ with talent that THEY should be the ones to go.
Yes. And I want them gone. I have been as adamant as anyone on here I think about the numerous roster building blunders, I am so sick of it.
You’ve summed up exactly my feelings on it. Russ’ issues that we’ve seen are really annoying and maddening sometimes, but I can’t separate those issue from the offensive system/circumstances so I have no idea if those issues can be fixed given better/different coaching. I’d love to see Russ play with a modern offensive philosophy.
TEF. Sparq. Desired RB traits. DB wingspan. Etc. And now this.
Maybe the thing I love so much about this site is all the little data points that go into posts and a lot of comments.
Everyone with a brain respects Rodgers play. But if you pull up his stats and game logs there is at least one and maybe two times where he was “cooked,” or “done.”
If people come on here and say: “i just don’t like Wilson. I hate his goofy internet persona. The ‘go hawks,’. The nano bubbles.” I’d actually respect that more than what’s going on now.
Posters saying he’s done after his subjective and perhaps objective best season? Get real. “Bad drafting aside….” hold up. Drafting is everything. Though I would love to see wrinkles and changes in scheme, I actually think pete ball is an almost timeless strategy. However it’s not incumbent on Russ to “be the bully,”….”close the circle,”…and most importantly aquire the players needed to run to set up the pass and not let your defense slide to the bottom half of the league.
I hate defending Wilson so much because he is brutally annoying. But Seattle sucks right now because PC lost how to build a PC type team. Five drafts and FA periods since the end of the LOB.
💯💯💯💯💯
It really seems like a group of hawks fans, hawkblogger definitely included, hold Russell ultimately responsible for the end of the LOB era. Even though, the final game for each key member of the LOB ended with them sustaining a season(in Kam’s case career) ending injury. They can’t separate that grudge from any criticism regarding Russ.
I hate almost everything about RW that he’s become. I appreciated the nerdy interviews and over top go hawks way more than the cringeworthy hey Seattle we got a deal garbage from bed on social media. He’s become way too obsessed with his celebrity for my liking. That said I don’t want him traded , unless we’re getting mahomes or Allen back. What I’d like is for him to have someone calling plays who can maximize his strengths and find a way to get our top two wr’s easy touches.
I think you nailed it with this Rob. That is exactly how I feel. I have always thought he was corny, fake and annoying but the team was winning so I just sucked it up and did not listen to is clips or anything. Now with the team not winning and stuck in 11-5 /10-6 with a first round playoff loss purgatory for the last 5-6 I am just ready to move on.
For me it is not a Pete / JS or Russ choice I want the whole thing blown up and start over like when Pete came in.
Could they suck for a couple of years? Sure I actually hope they do so they can load up on quality picks for a couple of years to rebuild the entire roster. They just need a new GM and scouting department that actually drafts talented players.
Is there a great QB option currently? No but they have a couple of years to figure it out. I am not kidding I would have preferred a 2-14 season with a ton of early picks to look forward to this off season than what we are seeing on the field this year or the last 2-3 years in fact.
As for the comparison to GB it makes a ton of sense and perhaps they could bring in a dynamic HC and turn things around quick. The one big difference is Wilson never was and never will be Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers vs. Wilson first 10 starting seasons:
Rodgers: 30.5 td/year
Wilson: 27.7 td/year
Rodgers: 6.6 int/year
Wilson: 8.4 in/year
Rodgers: 3793 yards/year
Wilson: 3503 yards/year
Completion percent: Tie 65.1%
Rodgers: 21 rushing td’s
Wilson: 22 rushing td’s
Rodgers: sub 2500 rushing yards
Wilson: 4606 rushing yards
So Rodgers is good for a +3 td, nearly 300 yards, -2 ints. So it’s not really that far away coupled with Wilson plus a bunch of availability and 10 more wins.
Interesting statistically. I wonder if you polled every player in the NFL who would they prefer as their QB what % of the vote Russ would get? My guess is less than 10%.
Thats probably true. Again i think Wilson is super annoying. Though i think the number might be slightly higher than 10%. I ran these numbers because even i think of Rodgers as a level above Wilson because I hear it all the time. When in fact since Rodgers’ stats are set and Wilson hasn’t played out 10 full seasons yet he can actually improve his numbers still making him much closer to Rodgers in ten full seasons than most of us realize.
I don’t have a Twitter account, but some days I’m really tempted to get one just so I can retort to some of the baloney that is being peddled out there about Russ.
Yes Brian, let’s take a *very* small sample size and compare that to years-long careers of other quarterbacks. That makes a ton of sense.
How’s about we do an apples to apples comparison of those very same QBs in their first year with their shiny new offensive coordinators?
Aaron Rodgers w LaFleur
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/gnb/2019_splits.htm
Kirk Cousins with Kubiak
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/2018_splits.htm
Hmm. Big dips against their career averages on third down in the first year with a new coordinator. It’s almost like there is some kind of commonality with quarterbacks…adjusting to their coordinators.
I’d also like to point out that those QBs have benefited greatly from pass-catching running backs.
Rodgers completed 88 passes to Jones & Williams for 34 first downs that year.
Cousins completed 62 passes to Cook & Murray for 22 first downs that year.
Who does Russell have to throw to out of the backfield to boost his numbers? Travis Homer?
Cherry picking stats to support a narrative is a time honored trdition in sports media.
Nothing says “lazy” like an apples to potatoes comparison.
It gets the clicks.
Apple pie, potato pie, same difference.
No offense but you seem to be missing the point, I don’t care about the comparisons to other QBs, I care about the very real and undisputed piss poor numbers on 3rd downs. This is a boom or bust offense and Wilson’s struggles on third down are a big reason for it.
Im not sure of a fix, I would hazard to say better oline protection and Wilson taking available check downs would be helpful, along with your suggestion of getting some good pass catching RBs, but that again would rely on Wilson using those options, instead of scrambling around the pocket hoping for a big play.
100%
I don’t know Troy.
Every time Russell does not have a lights out game, this narrative gets trotted out that all Russ wants to do is hit home runs and he is blind to the easy opportunities.
He was hitting at a 72% completion rate before the broken finger. Without a solid running game. Without good protection. Without the defense or special teams giving him short fields to work with. I’m not sure how good he has to be for this narrative to go away.
I don’t know that he’s scrambling around trying to make big plays, but at times he is skittish, hesitant. People try and guess why 🤷♂️
In fairness it’s probably not right to say he is always looking for the big play, but can you think of any other QB in the league who holds the ball as long as he does and has as many deep shots down the field? I would argue the narrative has legs for a reason. He is basically the complete opposite of a classic west coast offense QB.
I’m not a Wilson hater (except when it comes to his imo phony personality), I think he is still a top 5-8 qb, but his weaknesses seem to be getting more pronounced with age. Maybe it’s his injury/runninggame/coaching but from what I see he does share a portion of the blame, how much I am not sure. I would guess he is at least half responsible for those poor 3rd down numbers?
Allen holds the ball longer, Mahomes and Rodgers almost the same, There are quite a few who hold the ball longer. Wide receiver separation in the middle is also below league average. Theres a lot more here than deep shots.
For sure I’ll grant that RW can at times be more decisive and take what is given to him Troy. I think there is no way to argue otherwise.
I just think we all (myself included) have to careful to not ignore the very high level of success RW plays with in favor of picking at things that may not be a deal-breaker when it comes to his play. The team is poor in so, so many other areas that when I hear people are frustrated with RW when he’s smashing the league with a 72% completion rate with big TDs and minimal INTs I just have to snort.
To me it also highlights one of the fundamental reasons PC needs to gracefully step aside.
You’ve got a HOF talent with a proven track record. He’s played at MVP-level for stretches. He is as invested in winning as anyone out there – to the point he spends 20 hrs a day rehabbing to get back on the field.
He may have this one issue where he is trying too hard and holds the ball too long on occasion.
And yet every single time PC is asked about this poor shambles of an offensive line, he pivots to “we’ve got to get the ball out quicker.”
You simply cannot just accept that this may be a minor ‘fault’ that RW has and just work around it?
Like I said above, there are SO many low-hanging fruits to be plucked and fixed. A real running game. A defense that can get off the field and not allow so much pressure on the offense. Deploying your massive strong safety investment effectively enough that he is not a liability out there. Acquiring some cornerbacks. Putting together an offensive line that isn’t a mixed bag of success and comically awful failure from game to game.
But no, let’s talk about the best player on the team by a wide margin and what we perceive HE is doing that is holding the team back.
I mean you bring up fair points but you sort of make it seem like it is “off the table” to criticize Rus, and I just disagree with that.
I never said Rus is the biggest problem, in fact in other replies I have said i think Jody is the biggest problem (complacency), followed by Pete. But the fact that you “snort” when people bring up issues with Rus is bizarre to me, it’s fair to criticize every other thing on the hawks but not their starting QB? Who is the most valuable player on the team and who they rely on to do well?
That just doesn’t pass the sniff test to me. This article is about the QB, hence the qb criticism.
I never said Russell shouldn’t be encouraged to improve. In fact I even acknowledged that he does need to improve in that area.
But I do think, as I said, that Russell is such a focal point, and a driver for these kinds of discussions by the noise he made this winter that it topically bulldozes the very real issues that this team has.
If you get a Twitter feed Cha let us know and I’ll get an account to follow you!
Very kind but don’t hold your breath. You can find anything relevant I’m thinking about the Seahawks here.
My biggest critique of Wilson is this: He’s too neutral.
I respect his discipline and balance to his life, but right now he needs to be pissed off and play pissed off. We’ve seen pissed off Rodgers win an MVP, pissed off Brady won a Super Bowl.
Those two also have become more authentic leaders as they’ve gotten older by playing more emotionally. I’m not saying Russ doesn’t share emotion in the locker room or on the field, but I’m also saying I don’t really see it or hear it. Being neutral might be what helps him win close games and stick to the plan, but I think most players want to see and play with more passion from their QB. Without that leadership, other players on the team will fill the void.
Rodgers and Brady have mastered the art of using anger to fuel their competitive spirit into controlled performance. It doesn’t mean RW has the personality traits to do the same thing. It almost seems that anger is anathema to RW and thus his attempts to channel it constructively might just be a disaster.
On the surface level I see their point. After all, rookie QBs seem to come out and break or tie the passing TD record every other year. It’s easy to imagine the seahawks drafting a Justin Herbert type and setting the league on fire, and people with this viewpoint are ok waiting 3-4 years to find him. But lets not forget that before Herbert, it was Mayfield that set the record. I loved Baker Mayfield coming out of school. I thought he had the fire and competitiveness to succeed, and felt validated by his play as a rookie. Yet there is a reason we take 3 years to evaluate a QB. I readily admit Mayfield isn’t it. He’s average at best. Carson Wentz set the league on fire his first three years. So did Jared Goff. Jameis Winston was everyone in the media’s favorite breakout pick for years on end, but he still can’t hack it.
What I am trying to say is that even the most promising rookies are not guaranteed success. The NFL is not about doing something for one year, or two, or three. It’s about doing it year in and year out. I like Herbert, he’s a PNW kid. Yet the hype around him is unbearable. He’s been very good so far. But in some ways that doesn’t even matter. He has to do it again and again, and do it in the playoffs. He has to stay healthy. He has to continually elevate his team. And if he does all of that, maybe he gets to be elite. Because to be in that category, you have to make championship games and super bowls. Ask Phillip Rivers.
As Rob laid out, even the best QBs have a few down years. But you can’t ignore their overall body of work. You can’t ignore the second best passer rating in NFL history. Regardless of if Wilson is past his prime (I seriously doubt he is), you still try it again. Because if he isn’t, you have a top 3 QB in the league.
Russell Wilson equalled Payton Manning’s record in 2012. Baker Mayfield broke the record in 2018. Then Justin Herbert broke it again in 2020.
Since Wilson was drafted nearly a decade ago, only two rookies have broken the record.
My mistake. I thought Mariota had 26 tds, but I just checked and I was wrong, that was his second year.
Cowherd is killing it again. Russ apparently made some comments on a podcast about wanting to play 10 more years and then become an owner of an NFL team.
He segued into the current situation. He listed only 12 QBs he wouldn’t trade away and pointed out the other 20 teams would trade their guy for one of the 12 in a heartbeat. Talked about Denver and their forever search for a QB, and how Green Bay’s transition from Favre to AR is the exception not the rule, etc.
Another segment upcoming about how RW has been holding the Seahawks together coming up on FS1 shortly.
Please post a link to it if you find it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au8u-HOmX1I
Did he already do that segment about RW holding the team together cha? I saw the 12 QBs segment but was watching last night’s Jeopardy after that.
I don’t think so.
Thanks. I’m watching again
Anyone wanting to keep Carroll over Wilson must be delusional. For years now, he’s put off building in the trenches and it shows every year. Russell Wilson knows it. We all know it. I’m curious to see what JS wants to do. We’ve seen PC look glum all year and he sure seems like he’s on his way out, but how about JS? We don’t see him talk nearly as much so we can’t read his body language as easily. We really don’t know how involved the ownership will be this coming offseason and I’d like to know who would be choosing the next head coach should PC do the right thing and step down.
Love this about the Peacock. Rodgers saying he threw it right to Adams. I guess Rodgers doesn’t realize us Seahawks fans were expecting it to bounce off his facemask.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/popculture.com/sports/amp/news/aaron-rodgers-responds-jamal-adams-seahawks-player-mocked-touchdown-celebration/
Just had a look at some defensive stats
Seattle at 4% sack percentage — second worst in the league
22.7% pressure percentage, one of the lowest in the league
As you have said for 3 years now the Hawks may have the worst OL / DL combination in the league. Can’t rush the passer and can’t protect the passer. Not a good thing in the NFL
This, in a nutshell, is source of most of Hawks’ problems.
Doesn’t sound like good news on Carson. I assume done for the year at this point. If hawks cut him after the year or he retires from what I can tell it looks like $4.5 million in dead money next year.
https://overthecap.com/player/chris-carson/5835/
$3 million?
Joel Seedman will sort him out in the off-season
Behind the neck lifts using a grand piano, while balancing on one leg, with your shoe laces tied to a real life tiger
My grandma use to watch this exercise show called “Sit and Be Fit”. Maybe I can find a VCR recording in the boxes of her stuff I have and send it to Carson.
real life tiger LOL… now that will be some exercise for running back.
First, you got to get drunk and “borrow” it from Mike Tyson.
the fact he is always hurt, is carrol baskin’s fault
🐅
I do NOT want to trade Wilson. For me there are only 2 scenarios where Wilson is traded and only one of those is in any way justifiable.
Trade Scenario 1 – Carroll is staying. By gum, he’ll win every 2022 game 9 to 3…you just watch! Wilson says “have fun with that” and a trade is prepped quietly or he has to go public with a new list saying that he’s out. I would be livid if ownership allowed this to happen. Carroll, Schneider, most any Seahawk personnel is expendable if it means keeping Wilson.
Trade Scenario 2 – Carroll (smartly) rides off into the sunset. Schneider also leaves and the Seahawks are ready for a whole new leaf with Wilson’s input taken at the highest levels. And his response is that he’s still done in Seattle. He wants a change, a team change, a location change. This is the ONLY trade scenario I view as justified (and you can still condemn the Seahawks for letting a franchise QB reach that point).
I find it entertaining that some of the same voices who were so determined that there was nothing to Wilson’s off season dissatisfaction are now calling for an ill-advised trade.
Trading Wilson shouldn’t even be an option. If Wilson demands to be traded, then you start to consider trading him. And still you must control as much as possible and be willing to not trade him if the return isn’t good enough. The Seahawks should never actively seek to trade Wilson.
As far as all the talk of scheme and personnel and whether Wilson is good enough…. It falls on Pete that he (and Schneider) haven’t built a good enough roster. It certainly falls on them that they haven’t built around Wilson’s strengths. It’s up to Pete to figure this out and build it, and he hasn’t. I’m not going to try and guess why, but it’s clear he hasn’t.
The 1980s was actually a somewhat decent decade. AFC Championship Game after the ’83 season and several playoff appearances, including the first ever division title in ’88. What is pathetic and full blown worthlessness was the 1990s. So many horrible QBs were recycled through and they remained worthless because of that despite some players like Cortez Kennedy, Kevin Mawae, Walter Jones, Chris Warren, Chad Brown.
I’m thinking well over 90% of the “trade Russ” people are ones who did not watch the Seahawks in the 1990s. They’re incapable of realizing how terrible life can be with Stan Gelbaugh, Dan McGwire, Rick Mirer, Teddy Bridgewater, Fitzmagic, or Andy Dalton. Since they don’t know any better, it’s easy to think there’s an easy solution to replacing a franchise QB. And since they just blurt out stupid answers/opinions – it doesn’t matter if they’re wrong because they have no accountability. They just think you rub a bottle and a genie comes out.
That being said, Russ has looked like crap for a year now. I’m not going to lie and say I’m not worried about that. But if I had to choose between a coach and player – I know who is more important on the field.
I’ll meet you in the middle and say Wilson has looked off this year. I’m not ready to say like crap when the last half of last year he threw two games back to back with 10 tds to one int.
The problem for me going forward is if he lets it rip and it works it’ll look great. But if he plays like last week then i get a bit worried.
I am concerned that Russ hasn’t been right since he got hammered in the Arizona game last year. I can’t believe he or the team would cover up a full on concussion but his processing seems slower and his play more anxious ever since. Genuinely worries me that something got knocked out of place.
First let me say that that being a regular reader of SDB has convinced that keeping RW is a must. But,
“Some of these fans are the same people who warned ‘be careful what you wish for’ if you want to move on from Pete Carroll because ‘it could send Seattle back to the dark days of the 80’s’.”
this could indeed happen. I’ve seen enough bad Seahawks head coaches to know we can definitley do far worse than PC. While I hope that PC moves on and RW stays aboard, I am also concerned about who replaces PC and what happens with JS. At this point its hard to get excited one way or the other because theres simply no way of knowing what ownership would do if this scenario comes to fruition. I would say the odds are very good given their lack of football knowledge and interest in the team that they make a poor choice/choices… And it could very well be back to the dark days of the 80’s, even with RW.
Whether it could happen or not is beside the point.
I’ve admitted myself that the next appointment would be critical and getting it right will be challenging.
The point, however, is you can’t say ‘careful what you wish for’ and warn of ‘a return to the dark days’ in one breath and then advocate for a full and total demolition of the roster and rebuild the next.
It’s like saying ‘don’t go in the water’ then jumping in head first
As you’ve written about the analogs to green bay are pretty astounding. But fans need to look no further than this teams recent past. To the holmgren era. That was a well constructed time piece when it worked. But time and hubris caught holmgren and the team stumbled.
Wilson is younger than hasselbeck and this team has a few young players on d and two almost great WR’s.
I’m a broken record but it’s the talent aquisition that doesn’t mirror the words that has us in this spot. The defense was very solid maybe good against green bay and that’s a positive. But that’s one game. I would hardly say the defense is formidable this entire season and the run game is stalling all year. Wilson sucked on Sunday. But who did anything of note against the steelers and saints both winnable games as well.
My prediction: no one goes this off season and the seahawks try to make nice with Wilson. He can talk trade but if he has a list and the team doesn’t acquiesce then what? If he says trade and it’s all open that’s a whole different game.
Yes I can advocate for and want change while at the same time having concerns that ownership won’t get it right. While I’m sure everyone wants a great hire to replace PC, there’s a very good chance it won’t be. Getting it right for this ownership group will be challengeing.You yourself even voiced concerns that they might hire Dan Quinn. Just to many unknowns at this point and unfortunately were all spectators. Unless of course you forward some of your very well thought out recommendations directly to Jody Allen!
Just figure out how to keep Wilson. I’m not convinced he would flourish in any system without a strong run game, but whatever it takes short term to get him to stay and keep his agent from meddling throughout the offseason is the most we can hope for.
“I’m not convinced he would flourish in any system without a strong run game…” Totally agree!
Look at Patrick Mahomes. He doesn’t have much of a running game these days and his numbers are suffering because of it, even with the likes of Kelce and Hill on the receiving end of his passes.
Brees looked a little washed up before a later resurgence because his running game got better. Rodgers is definitely benefitting from the running game.
I believe Russ is like every QB – needs a good running game. We saw what happened to those extremely talented run and shoot teams of the 1980s – they couldn’t/didn’t run. That Houston team had a couple All Pros on the OL, great receivers and backs, including a HOF QB. How do you now go to a Super Bowl with that (they had a somewhat decent defense)? It’s because there was no run game. Or one they couldn’t count on.
McVay was at his best when he was handing it off to a Gurley who was in his prime.
I am most definitely a believer in a good running game.
💯
Not to bring up old names but one of the strongest failimgs of this FO is not being able to shore up a run game in years.
Benefits everyone. Wilson. And the terrible time of possesion.
69 yards and 75 yards in the last two games. Unacceptable.
not shoring up the run game? I think the only shoring they did well in the last few years was getting Dickson lol
Seems the offense goes 3-and-out early and too often. Then our defense generally will give up a bunch of yards (the opposite of a 3-and-out) before holding the other team to a FG or stopping them in the red zone. The score may be 0-0 or 3-0 but the TOP is already starting bad for the Seahawks and it happens over and over. It’s not an isolated thing (to always suck at TOP for these guys).
The problem is Rob, Pete Carroll is the only guy willing to keep Russell Wilson in Seattle. If Pete retires after the offseason and Schneider gets control of personnel decisions, what is to stop him from trading Russ in the offseason? He was willing to trade him last offseason for 3 1st rounds, Akiem Hicks, and Kyle Fuller. In order to keep Russ, Schneider would need to leave the building as well, but if ownership don’t want to be you know actual owners, then Schneider can’t leave for the sake of stability. So RW will be gone in the offseason if PC retires and Schneider will get five years for a rebuild (contract expires after 2027 draft).
You know what JS wants? You were in on all the meetings between him, PC, and perhaps Jody? We have no idea what went on behind the scenes. Perhaps PC wanted to see what he could get for Wilson, and decided the offerings were too low. Maybe it was Jody. Who knows? We sure don’t.
JS wanted Josh Allen. That is all the info you need my man.
Keep the QB. Trade the coach. And maybe the GM.
Let’s assume that the only way Russ agrees to show up in 2022 is if Pete agrees to walk away (at a minimum: he will probably also demand input on Pete’s replacement). Does it take a private ultimatum from Russ? Does Pete hear it but think to himself ah, that’s just an empty threat, posturing? We can’t presume that Jody Allen will step in and fire Pete when she’s been incommunicado this entire time.
Off-topic, but interesting.
I’m going to the Senior Bowl this year and for the first time, they are going to be having a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) combine at it. So I was wondering, if you are invited to play at the Senior Bowl, do you compete at the combine or just go to the practices? Does it count as a Pro Day? Can you go to the regular combine as well?
The first name on the invite list on the Senior Bowl’s official site is Joshua Williams out of Fayetteville State. This is what Jim Nagy had to say about him on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/JimNagy_SB/status/1446884357717831681?s=20
https://twitter.com/JimNagy_SB/status/1461085899526225920?s=20
https://twitter.com/DeAntaReese/status/1447198101031112711?s=20
Sounds very Seahawky.
I’m wondering if this is an event I can attend. It might be more worthwhile than going to crowded practices.
The goal for 2022 should be keeping RW, at whatever cost. Trading him for draft picks with the current regime will likely result in such first rounders as one from a Big 12 defense, another from a Big 12 defense, the WAC rushing champion, or (most likely) trading down, down, down and accumulating 12 picks in rounds 4-7.
If Pete is stepping down, it should happen Jan 10. No lingering about and forcing the issue. If he’s unwilling to let go, Jody Allen has to make the call because the next step down the football ladder is JS and JS doesn’t have Pete’s permission to fire Pete. Jody Allen is the end-all, be-all in the ‘Pete refuses to leave’ situation. That’s very, very bad, but let’s pretend she cares for the purposes of this post.
The New Guy should be introduced by Jan 13 and sit down with RW that day to talk about how great the future can be with RW the focal point of a modern offense while asking what and who RW wants to make it go. This means there should be action behind the scenes right now identifying who’s next.
The New Guy cannot be Dan Quinn. The New Guy cannot be Jeff Fisher (I know, I just threw up a little in my mouth, too.) The New Guy cannot be anyone currently on staff. It almost has to be a football nerd/savant millenneal to please RW. Not Doug Pederson. Not Pete’s kid.
I don’t trust that Jody Allen is particularly wrapped up in Seahawks’ football. Her last public action was extending Pete. Has anyone ever even seen her at a game?
We’re trusting Pete and JS to realize that it was a good run, but it’s over. Pete either steps aside or watches Mitch Trubisky/Geno Smith play 17 games next year. It should be a no-brainer – no one should have to endure that. But, he’s giving up more power than any other individual in the league. It’s got to be tough to let go.
Most likely, we’ll know no later than Jan 10.
Why not Doug Pederson? He was innovative in Philly…………RPO, Philly Special, etc.
One of the reasons he was let go in Philly was because his offense had become stale. There are only so many times you can run the Philly Special. – once, I think. He was also there for what was seen at the time as the Wentz regression.
Doug Pederson is not of the LaFleur model – the guy that Rob correctly sets as the guy the Seahawks should aspire to replicate. Again, this is about keeping RW, not potentially disastrous hires as head coach. I could be wrong, but I’m just not sure Pederson moves the needle in a positive direction when it comes to keeping RW.
I think managing the relationship with Russell Wilson would be my biggest question with Pederson.
When I did my post for the Philly game last year, I was absolutely stunned to discover what the Eagles were doing. Their offensive line was enduring incredible stretches of injury and was an absolute mess. I think at one point they had ran out a different OL combo like 11 or 12 weeks in a row.
Miles Sanders provided a great running game. And yet they chose to pass it at one of the highest percentages in the NFL. The results were predictably disastrous. Carson Wentz had some of the worst single-game performances in modern NFL history.
Why did Peterson run that out? Was it because Wentz had taken over the direction of the team, as had been reported? Or did Peterson think that was the best way to go? And if so, why?
Can he win Wilson’s trust and build a good working relationship with him?
Agreed. And that’s the kind of thing you want to know beforehand to avoid the “thanks, but no thanks.” I just can’t see the Pederson mojo being a plus factor for retaining Russ.
on reading many fan/websites regards Seattles plight there is a complete divide on which way to go forward, probably meaning Seattle is currently broken. Are you going to use Gorilla Glue or Loctite and dispose of the trash in a Ford Pickup or Silverado and then when all’s done drink a Samuel Adams or a Bud.
We need a new owner to make these decisions otherwise in-fighting, juggling for power will push us further back. So for me ownership is the number one riding issue here once that is in place Seattle Seahawks then have a new clear path to go down with whoever..
Poor Niners…
Panthers and Broncos look pretty stupid now, too. Letting a franchise QB pass them by to draft a CB. I don’t care how good your CB turns out – it’s absolutely nothing without a franchise QB. Makes you wonder how stupid a team with a franchise QB would have to be to trade their guy for a few No. 1 picks, especially if no pick turns into a good QB.
Preach!
https://mobile.twitter.com/geoffschwartz/status/1461333433876205571
See, a rebuild does not have to take years, especially if we keep the QB in the building.
Great article again, Rob. That said, I am concerned that the offense worked best when Russ ran a lot in his younger years. Without the dual threat, his height may be an issue that prevents quick passes over the middle (especially to convert on 3rd down) and escapability from the pocket. I think we are seeing defenses adapt to the long passing QBs by going with two high safeties. Seattle hasn’t had an answer for that change (just like KC). In that formation, you need to be able to run it down the defense’s throat with less men in the box and hit on short passes over the middle. Seattle can’t do that because they lack the personnel up front on the line, at the RB position and (I’d argue) at the QB position. Had they gotten Chubb and Creed Humphrey and TJ Watt with the picks that were available to them, this might be a very different team. But, we have to look forward and project whether those additions can be made to change THIS team, or if it would be better to find a true dual threat QB who is also tall enough to throw short passes over the middle, can step up in the pocket to buy time (and still see) and has the speed to escape when things collapse or the mental awareness to throw the ball away and avoid drive killing sacks.
I believe that’s the question we need to answer. I fear a new offensive minded coach may find the same challenges that we’re facing and that KC is facing. But, I agree 100% that if you’re going to move on from Wilson while he still has value, you need to have a clear plan for the QB position. Deshaun Watson could work (leaving aside his issues and only focusing on the player). Could Jalen Hurts? I doubt it. But, that’s probably the real question they’re facing).
Totally. I mean it’s either the Herculean task of trying to find better a RB and some OLs, or simply replace the team’s ONLY HOF caliber QB with a unicorn QB, a “true dual threat tall enough to throw short passes over the middle” because, c’mon that kind of QB is a dime a dozen. Every team has one 🙄
BTW “those additions” – improve RB and OL – absolutely can be made to “THIS” team. Is there an argument that they couldn’t (beyond the argument that the current PC/JS braintrust wouldn’t)
Who is that taller dual threat QB though?
Lamar jackson is a better runner. Not a better passer.
Mahomes, sorry folks, had a singular blistering white hot year and stat wise through the air has been positively Wilson-esquemas. Plus he’s currently not on pace to be a better runner than Wilson.
Kyler murray is shorter, Wilson level passer might get better rush stats as it goes on.
So it’s josh allen. Who might best Wilson in the air and ground in 10 years. That’s one guy.
Finding that kind of player is such a crap shoot and Seattle already did it once.
Perhaps Wilson can not throw over the middle. I don’t know. I know he’s not doing it now. But i do know Seattle can not run on anyone regardless of whether this is Wilson’s fault or not they are still going to have to address the oline moving forward. A true dual threat player is going to be pretty hard to find and if the team gets into hurts, trubisky waters ala whitehurst, jackson tjis current oline is going to get someone killed.
Cowherd is calling the team outdated. Calling the hawks out for being helpless without Russ.
Pete should step down and maybe John should go too. Bring in an offensive minded coach and a veteran defensive coordinator. Russ is the last on the list to trade away.
Albert Breer on Cowherd: ‘Can anyone say the Seahawks are better now than they were in Jan-Feb this year when Russell Wilson was making noise about the second half of his career? What do you think is going to happen in Jan-Feb next year?’
💯
And another 💯
Sooo…200?
Or are we multiplying, cuz then you’re talking 10,000, which seems more appropriate.
Cardinals have a bye next week so I’d guess there’s a decent chance AZ sits Murray this week so he has more time to fully heal for the stretch run, especially considering the Rams loss the other night.
Before you get too excited that he might not play, remember that Colt McCoy is the backup and we all know what happened against the Giants last year when he started.
I am all for seeing what Russ can do with a offensive minded coach.
at the same time, I am not convinced on what is holding him back since the middle of the last season, his play is very bad not like a top 5 QB. May be mentally is not all-in with Pete!
Something mught be off with Wilson. And he does have three crappy games this year.
But here is how spoiled we are with Wilson: he’s “sucked,” since the last half of last season….Six wins to two losses. 28 td’s to 8 ints. And now he sucks. In 8 games throwing what he used to throw for a full season. If you take last half of last year plus this year which is down don’t get me wrong it goes:
38 td’s to 11 ints for 3898 yards.
To me, the only way we were going to be competitive at a high level this year is if we were about a top 5 offense throughout the season and at least an average defense as the season progressed. Our defensive shortcomings, though improving of late, I can somewhat understand. It’s our offense that has been the bigger disappointment to me as it stands now. We are performing way below our potential, and that includes the games Geno started. I get much more frustrated watching our offense play than our defense.
100%. There was hope that this season the offense would carry the load and now short of a miracle it looks pedestrian. I made a prediction that seattle would have it’s first losing season in a decade and currently i think that happens still.
I’m so done with PC. PC has always frustrated me from an offensive standpoint. Even during the years when we had better personnel, we played as if points scored in the first half only counted for half as much. We are slow to adjust when something isn’t working, and now, without a strong running attack, he still can’t devise a more ball control, move the chains, quick strike passing game together that utilizes all of our weapons and the entire field of play.
The last game was so typical. We start PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT not even sniffing a FG almost the entire half. He’s the head coach. I blame him for that. I just hate the way he thinks about offense.
And this is before you even get into his neglect of adding more quality to the OL in recent years which was there to be had.
PC is an offensive dunce.
“ An offensive dunce …”. Truer words never spoken. The Seahawks are doomed to continuing frustration until PC is relieved of command. He’s a fast-talking, charismatic con-man with a great line of B.S., who has successfully cultivated a cult of personality. If he had a beer gut and round face like Mike McCarthy he would have been fired years ago. Hell, Jack Patera had a far greater offensive vision than Pete.
I’m with you, Rob. But with a caveat.
Maybe even with Pete gone, Russ may not want to play for the Seahawks next season. Maybe he wants to go to a better market. Of the “acceptable trade destinations” for Russ, there are Las Vegas and Chicago.
If Russ forces his hand on a trade, getting Fields or Carr back is not the ideal plan, but at least we have a decent Quarterback. Fields started ugly, but he’s finding his footing. Carr is above average, not much more than that. If Russ considers Miami, Tua may work (if he stops getting injured, of course). These are the only trade partners that would give us a good, not-under-criminal-investigation QB in return.
And even if we get rid of Pete, will the defensive philosophy change quickly enough to be competitive? Pete wants both sides of the ball to stay on the field for long. Yes, it’s better that the defense gets out quickly, but if they don’t, no biggie. The offense will let them rest. But the offense is not capable of doing so right now. Either it’s 3 and out, or a under-2 minute drive ending in a FG, a TD if we’re lucky. We could win with this offense and a better Russ season for sure, but the defense must have a different strategy. And changing the defense takes time. Adams has been on the team for more than a year now, and still doesn’t command the rugby tackle, and regardless of what you think about his trade, he is a player that is really smart.
Yep, that’s very plausible.
Justin Fields is a turnover machine.
I have no idea why he gets such favourable reviews from fans.
Carr? Just doesn’t excite me at all. I’d almost rather have the picks than be average with Carr.
I don’t rate Tua at all.
Sure, it’s possible to turn things around quickly. See the 2020 Dallas defense and the 2021 Dallas defense.