Why It Would Be Wrong To Start Russell Wilson Week 1

Yesterday, Scott made the case for starting making Russell Wilson the starter. Today I thought I’d play devil’s advocate a bit and follow that up with a counter point just to keep the debate going. Besides, this debate is only worthwhile until Pete Carroll announces his plan on Tuesday, so if we’re going to have fun with this debate, it has to be done now.

So, why would it be wrong to start Russell Wilson week one?

It’s certainly not about talent. Wilson has talent to spare.

It’s not about pre-season results. Wilson has been extremely impressive over the first two preseason games.

It’s all about getting him prepared.

The jump from college football to the NFL is the single biggest jump of it’s kind. The difference in both talent and the the complexity of schemes is unlike anything else in all of sports. This is especially true for QBs and offensive linemen. Wilson simply hasn’t been given the reps in camp necessary to prep him for everything that the Cardinals will throw at him in the first week of the season.

Not that this is in any way Wilson’s fault. He’s done everything that the Seahawks have asked him to do. It’s simply the nature of being in a QB competition. In order for Flynn, Jackson, and, more recently, Portis to get their reps in, Wilson’s were limited beyond a point where he could properly prepared to begin the season as the starter.

During camp, Wilson has averaged around 30 reps per day in 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills. Contrast that to Andrew Luck with the Colts, who has averaged just under 60 reps per day, or about twice as many. Even with all those extra reps, the Colts will still go into their week 1 game with under 20% of their playbook available and an extremely limited gameplan. How little would the Seahawks have to work with considering how little work Wilson has been given up to this point?

Such is the nature of rookie QBs in the NFL. Training camp and the preseason just isn’t enough to get them fully ready to play in the NFL. Teams have to bring them along slowly. It’s why NFL teams prefer to sit rookies for at least half a season before starting them.

Wilson wont be ready to start this year until at least week 6 with his current workload in practice.