Russell Wilson is an elite generational talent at QB, but how do the Seahawks avoid wasting his talents and allow him to bring success and build his legacy? And to be sure, Wilson cannot be expected to win a Super Bowl on his own. Patrick Mahomes showed that cannot be done in the big game this past February.
As I have mentioned in a previous piece, Russell Wilson comes in at tenth on my list of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, so how does coach Pete Carroll make the most of this rare gem in 2021?
Wilson has been very vocal in expressing his understandable frustrations recently, this seems to me to be a manifestation of a guy who sees his prime years being underutilized and maybe even squandered.
Russell Wilson and Seahawks should win future Super Bowls
So the first step is making Wilson believe he is part of a roster capable of winning Super Bowls (plural) rather than merely being a perennial playoff team. Some of this is psychology, but ultimately requires the talent on the roster and a schematic plan that is capable of achieving Wilson’s lofty goals.
In my previous piece, I discussed how the O-line would be better in 2021, which is the area Wilson has been particularly vocal about. I will cover the other areas of the roster in later articles, but let’s concentrate on Russell Wilson and what he and the Seattle Seahawks can do to make future seasons extremely successful.
Russell Wilson’s greatness
Having already pronounced Wilson as the tenth greatest QB of all time, it is obvious he is an exceptional QB and the Seahawks need to aspire to reach the levels required by such a superstar. Using ratings from PFF.com for the past five seasons, Wilson ranks third amongst current QB’s, the top ten, with average rating is below.
- Tom Brady 90.36
- Aaron Rodgers 86.88
- Russell Wilson 85.58
- Patrick Mahomes 85.32
- Matt Ryan 84.9
- Josh Allen 83.46
- DeShaun Watson 81.15
- Matt Stafford 80.52
- Justin Herbert 80.1
- Baker Mayfield 79.73
Some of these QBs have not been in the league for five years, so this is an average of their time in the league, but again it indicates the elite class Wilson is in.
GOAT Tom Brady has appeared in four of the last five super bowls winning 3 of them, so his success keeps him happy, but irks those like Wilson who want to be seen in the same stratosphere.
Second in the list, Aaron Rodgers has had a similar record to that of Wilson in the last five seasons with 3 divisional titles but no Super Bowl appearances, at times he has been similarly antsy as Wilson seems to be currently. Although the recognition that comes via regular-season MVP awards like last seasons makes him feel more appreciated.
Fourth-ranked Mahomes has had two super bowl appearances in his four-year NFL career including one win, so he is pretty content with his lot.
Even fifth-ranked Matt Ryan has a super bowl appearance in the last five years, although he probably wants to erase the memory of it in many ways. He was also league MVP that season.
It would be understandable if Wilson’s envy of his contemporaries turns to irritation that he cannot contain. Especially if you see others such as Lamar Jackson and Cam Newton who are not even in the top ten QBs, reaching heights or receiving the recognition that Wilson rightly thinks he is worthy of and more.
Legacy level players want to leave an unforgettable imprint and Wilson is one such player, so he rightly wants to be on a team capable of helping him achieve the performance levels he desires. So the Seahawks and coach Carroll need to pander to Wilson’s psyche in order for him to deliver the success he and they want.
Future Seahawks success
To make Wilson believe he can build his legacy in Seattle, and to out a salve on those prodigious but itchy feet, we need to look at what has worked in the past.
Wilson’s super bowl appearances with Seattle came in 2014 and 2015. Indeed but for the much-questioned play call that led to the Malcolm Butler goal-line INT, Wilson’s legacy may already be in place as a multiple Super Bowl winner, and one of the rare ones to defend an NFL title successfully. So what was in place in 2014-15 that is not now?
Let’s look at Wilson in those years, in the victory over Denver in 2014, Wilson recorded 232 scrimmage yards and passed for two TD’s. In the loss to the Pats the following year he had 286 scrimmage yards, passed for two touchdowns again and that oh-so-unforgettable last-second INT.
So lesson one is don’t scheme for Wilson to have 300 scrimmage yards and a high number of TDs. Last season’s average of 295 scrimmage yards and 2.62 TDs per game last regular season is not the route to success as history tells us. As reinforced by Tom Brady having 199 scrimmage yards and 3 passing TDs in the Bucs Super Bowl success.
Whilst it may be counterintuitive to ask for less from your best player, we are looking for the scheme that works here.
Chris Carson and company
For those that do not recognize him, that is Marshawn Lynch, AKA beast mode pictured above with Wilson. So do the Seahawks need a power running game as part of their scheme? No, but it helps. In the super bowl winning season, Lynch averaged 104.5 scrimmage yards per regular season game, 81.6 yards per game rushing, and just over 1 TD per game. In the Super Bowl, he only recorded 39 rushing yards and 1 TD.
In his four seasons to date, Chris Carson averages 89.8 scrimmage yards per game and 0.62 TD’s per game. Whilst the yardage is a bit down on Lynch’s production in the super bowl season, the more notable difference is in TD production. Which might bring us back to that passing play against the Pats, rather than being able to punch it in on the ground.
So for me, opposing teams feel they can too easily defend running plays in the red zone against that Seahawks and this is something that needs to be addressed as part of a revised scheme for 2021.
Russell Wilson was 2nd in red zone passing stats behind Aaron Rodgers last season, whereas the first Seattle RB you find in the red zone rushing stats was Chris Carson at 51st!
The Seahawks have to find a way to run the ball in the red zone in 2021. One alternative to a red zone running game into use tight ends as receiving weapons, this is even more the case in 2021 than it was in 2014/15 with the greater emphasis on the passing game.
Whilst I may not be the biggest fan of the Gerald Everett acquisition cost-wise, maybe the Seahawks will scheme him plenty as an athletic red zone threat.
The leading receiver for the Seahawks in the 2014 regular season and also in the Super Bowl victory over the Broncos, was Doug Baldwin. Whilst Baldwin was a threat all over the field, his is primarily remembered as one of the best slot receivers the game has ever seen.
Also on the Super Bowl-winning team was Percy Harvin, both Baldwin and Harvin presented a different type of threat to the typical wide receiver. Harvin was a threat on gadget run plays and kick returns, the latter being another strength of Doug Baldwin’s. Whilst the current roster contains two excellent wide receivers in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, both of whom are more of a typical style of wide receiver than Baldwin and Harvin.
This is why I have been an advocate of the Seahawks using their second-round pick in the upcoming draft on Marques Stevenson out of Houston.
Stevenson is a slot receiving threat to provide a different option and provide scheming issues for opposing D’s that are asked to cover Metcalf, Lockett, Everett and Stevenson. And if the opposition choose to cover all of them it could open up opportunities on the ground.
Stevenson is also an excellent kick returner and has the sort of elusiveness that Harvin showed, so he may be an option on end-arounds and other gadget plays too, I really believe adding a player of this type would be a massive plus in 2021.
Will the Seahawks defense lead the way?
The Legion of Boom were in their prime from 2010-2015 and you could easily make an argument for them being as much a factor, or more of a factor, in the Seahawks success during that period as Russell Wilson.
Re-creating such a formidable unit containing the likes of Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Marcus Trufant in the embryonic stage of the LOB is no easy matter and probably a once in a lifetime thing. However the defence has not been good enough, particularly in the last couple of seasons.
Improving it would once again gain take pressure off Wilson to score on every drive, and maybe reduce some of the overly risky passes that crept into his game last season that resulted in a single-season career-high of 13 interceptions.
Some data to support this downward trend is provided by the points allowed per game by Seattle compared with that years super bowl winners.
2013 – 11.6 as Seattle won the Lombardi Trophy.
2014 – 12.1, New England allowed 19.7 per game
2015 – 13.2, Denver allowed 18.5 per game
2016 – 14.5, New England allowed 15.6 per game
2017 – 15.7, Philly allowed 18.4 per game
2018 – 16.5, New England allowed 20.3 per game
2019 – 24.9, KC allowed 19.3 per game
2020 – 23.2, Tampa allowed 22.2 per game
It should be noted that Tampa allowed 18.75 points per game for their final four regular-season games and 19.5 per game in the playoff run last season.
Until a slight reduction last season the upward trend over the previous 7 seasons is clear. and alarmingly so post 2018.
Yes, some of this is due to the general trend in the NFL, but the average points allowed by a super bowl winning team over the last eight seasons is 18.2, and if we take the improved end to the Bucs season last year then a successful team needs to allow 20 points or less per game.
Coach Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr need to find a way to have 3 points per game minimum off of this number in order for Russell Wilson to construct the legacy he is undoubtedly worthy of.