12th Man Rising
FanSided

Stop calling Dak Prescott the new Russell Wilson. It’s simply wrong.

By Todd Vandenberg

SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 15: Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field on November 15, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 15: Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field on November 15, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /
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Russell Wilson can't be stopped
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 14: Russell Wilson of Seattle Seahawks in action during the NFL International series match between Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders at Wembley Stadium on October 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images) /

Going beyond year three, Russell Wilson gets better and better

We can only speculate what Dak Prescott’s career will look like over the next four seasons. I don’t see much that points to him progressing like Russell Wilson. After three seasons, Prescott had one passer rating over 100, and a career average of 96.0. Wilson had two such seasons and his average was 98.7. Prescott ranked third, 18th and 14th in his first three years. Wilson ranked fourth, seventh, and 10th. Prescott made the top ten once, while Wilson never missed it.

Of course, when comparing Prescott to Wilson most people aren’t putting on blinders and thinking only of the Seahawks quarterback’s first three seasons. They’re thinking of the Russell Wilson we see on the field now. The comparison is bad enough over the first three seasons, but this is when we get into really dangerous waters.

In 2015 Wilson had a great season. He threw for over 4,000 yards and had 34 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. His passer rating hit a new high, 110.1, which lead the league. Wilson’s stats fell off in 2016, but he still posted a passer rating of 92.6 and helped the Seahawks back to the playoffs. 2017 was Wilson’s biggest challenge as Seattle’s running game disappeared. Let’s take a closer look at that.

Prescott had his toughest year in 2017 as well. There’s no way around it, and no excusing it. The first person that says, “But he didn’t have a supporting cast” is going to get slapped with a herring. It’s true, Ezekiel Elliott was suspended for six games that year.  It’s also true that Alfred Morris started five of those games. Check their stats.

Elliott averaged 98.3 yards per game in his 10 starts. Morris had five starts, and another game with 17 carries. In those six games Zeke missed, Morris had 99 runs for 432 yards. Elliot averaged 4.06 yards per carry on the season, while Morris averaged 4.36 yards in his absence. The Cowboys running backs had 1,813 yards on the ground. I’d say that’s a strong supporting cast.

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