DANNY AND GALLANT

What’s the most correctable issue for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson?

Jan 14, 2021, 11:33 AM

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson...

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson's production took a dive over the last half of 2020. (Getty)

(Getty)

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is under more scrutiny going into the offseason than perhaps any point of his career.

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Aside from perhaps Wilson’s interception in Super Bowl XLIX that allowed the New England Patriots to clinch the win in the championship game, he’s never been in a position like he is now following a decline in the second half of the 2020 season, which culminated in a brutal showing in Seattle’s playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams last Saturday.

During what ultimately was the Seahawks’ last game of the 2020 season, Wilson completed just 11 of 27 passing attempts, was sacked five times and threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown. He threw two touchdown passes to DK Metcalf, but the second came late in the fourth quarter while Seattle was down 17 points and the game was seemingly out of reach.

Wilson’s struggles in that game were evident, and after establishing himself as the MVP frontrunner early in the season by setting a record-setting pace in terms of touchdowns, Wilson and the Seattle offense slowed down dramatically. The big plays in the pass game dried up as opposing defenses grounded what had been one of the best high-flying offenses in the league through the Seahawks’ first eight games.

After the season concluded, head coach Pete Carroll told reporters he wanted to get back to running the football more, and on Tuesday, Carroll fired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer after three seasons due to “philosophical differences.”

Now, eyes are focusing on the offensive coordinator search, but there’s still concern among NFL analysts as well as Seahawks fans regarding Wilson’s drop off in production over the last half of the season.

Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard, who calls NFL and college games for FOX Sports, thinks there’s one area that Wilson struggled with late in the season that should be fixed easily.

“The most correctable is for Russell to get the ball out of his hands,” Huard said Thursday morning on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant.

During the second half of the season, with defenses playing two-high safeties and with Seattle’s defense improving dramatically, the Seahawks started to run the ball more than they had to start the year, but they were still looking for deep plays downfield, many of which failed to materialize. As such, Wilson took a lot of sacks.

Opposing defenses brought Wilson down 28 times from Week 9 to Week 17, and the Rams sacked Wilson five times in Seattle’s playoff loss.

Huard cited a stat tweeted by Curtis Rogers, producer for 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake and Stacy, that explained Wilson is on pace to be sacked more than any quarterback in NFL history by a wide margin. Naturally, getting the ball out faster both in designed quick passes as well as finding checkdown outlets would assist in limiting sacks and quarterback hits.

“Of those 45 or so sacks a year that Russell has had, whoever this new coordinator is going to be, I think you need to have a legitimate sit down and say, ‘Hey, you need to protect yourself,'” Huard said. “Even in that (playoff loss to the Rams) with the number of sacks, just get the ball out or throw it away.”

Huard pointed to an upcoming NFC playoff game this weekend between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Those two starting quarterbacks are Drew Brees and Tom Brady, who are 42 and 43 years old, respectively. Huard said it’s clear when watching them why they’ve been able to play for so long.

“They get the ball out of their hands. They get hit a little bit, sure, but man, there are a lot of checkdowns,” he said. “… Getting those outs, getting those checkdowns, getting those completions, even though (Wilson) still has a really high completion percentage, that thing can be north of 70 (percent) easily if there are more checkdowns in play.”

Huard and Danny O’Neil pointed out that some of those sacks come as a trade off for Wilson’s ability to make plays with his legs, but Huard noted that eventually, that ability will go away.

“I think in time, Father Time is going to (force Wilson to utilize a quicker passing attack) anyway because some of the burst and legs and explosion is going to continue to diminish with age, but I think that is the most correctable,” he said. “Those sack numbers are just off the charts.”

You can listen to Huard’s full comments in the Blue 42 segment in the podcast at this link or in the player below.

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