Russell Wilson can’t be this bad, can he?
He’s playing this poorly. That isn’t in dispute. He’s completing just 59.4 percent of his passes this season and has just four touchdowns — against three picks — in five games. Thursday, Denver dropped to 2-3 after failing to score a touchdown in a 12-9 overtime loss to a hapless Indianapolis team.
It ended when Wilson apparently didn’t notice (pre- or post-snap) a wide open K.J. Hamler and instead, threw into traffic on fourth-and-1. It was batted down.
“I could have walked in,” Hamler said.
Maybe most telling is that at the end of the game, Hamler slammed his helmet in frustration in the end zone. That means a 23-year-old playing in his 20th NFL game had no problem showing up and then calling out a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and nine-time Pro Bowl selection with a $245 million contract.
That’s how bad Russell Wilson is, mired in the worst stretch of play of an otherwise impressive career. It’s possible his own teammates don’t respect or believe in him.
So yes, he can play this bad. But he can’t be this bad, can he?
As in, is this — or not much better — what he is going to be the rest of this season or, perhaps, even in future seasons?
Or to flip the question, did Pete Carroll and Seattle Seahawks recognize Wilson was on a career slide and rather than just hope he would return to form as he entered his mid-30s (he turns 34 next month) just decided to unload him while his name could still fetch a haul?
If so, quarterback-desperate Denver, perhaps believing this would be another Peyton Manning late-career jolt of talent and leadership, was the perfect unknowing mark. The Broncos sent three players and five draft picks, including two firsts and two seconds, to Seattle in exchange for Wilson and a fourth-round pick. They then signed him to a quarter-billion dollar contract.
What they have gotten so far is a shell of what they envisioned.
This is the worst completion percentage, touchdown-to-interception ratio and the second-worst adjusted completion percentage (accounting for drops) and yards-per-attempt of Wilson’s career. In a sign of his difference-making ability, just 3.8 percent of his passes rate as “Big Time Throws” per Pro Football Focus, by far a career low and down from 8.5 percent in 2018.
Seattle, meanwhile, is 2-2 with journeyman Geno Smith, who is completing 77.3 percent of his passes and has tossed six touchdowns against just two picks. He currently grades out as the No. 1 quarterback in the league per PFF (Wilson is 26th), and while no one thinks that will hold, it’s still something.
Additionally, the two draft selections from the Broncos that Seahawks have already used look good — first-rounder Charles Cross is already a starter on the offensive line and second-round defensive end Boye Mafe has a sack and 10 solo tackles in four games.
If the trends continue, then Carroll pulled off one of the great trades in recent history.
There certainly were signs that this was possible. Most notably, Wilson had struggled of late with deep balls. The first eight years of his career, his season completion average for passes over 20 yards was 44.7 percent and was at 50.0 as recently as 2018. The last two in Seattle it was down to 38.7, and sits at just 34.5 this year.
That severely limits the offense, as does his diminishing ability to run the ball, a major weapon early in his career. Both his yards per carry (4.3) and total rushes more than 10 yards (9) last season in Seattle were the second-worst of his career. (He’s averaging 4.3 yards per carry again this season.)
In Seattle, he complained about protection and usage and all sorts of things, but eventually Carroll soured on the concept of letting Russ cook and clearly decided the franchise was better off without him.
There is also the issue of age. Tom Brady (45), Aaron Rodgers (38) and a few others, such as Manning and Drew Brees, have changed the perception of just how long someone can be an elite quarterback in the NFL. Historically though, just reaching the mid-30s is an accomplishment and a slow fade in production is not uncommon.
It’s not Wilson’s fault that he may be like most players and not some of these freaks. If so, however, then Denver bought a quarterback that they may have assumed had six to eight years in him, but really doesn’t.
Who knows, though.
This is still Russell Wilson and we are just five games into him joining a new team with a rookie coach. As bad as he has played so far, and no matter how many boos that Bronco fans have rained down on him and the offense, it can always turn around.
Wilson has talent. Wilson has history.
Denver has to hope that both are still in him, which remains, no matter the early season struggles, a reasonable expectation.
Because Russell Wilson can’t really be this bad. Can he?