Nine games into his Broncos tenure, Russell Wilson is on pace to have the worst season of his 11-year NFL career in nearly every major statistical passing category.
Wilson’s 57.4 percent completion would be the only time he’s dipped below 60 percent. He’s on pace to throw for a career-low 15 touchdowns, along with a career-low passer rating (81.4) and QBR (33).
But No. 3 isn’t going anywhere after the Broncos gave him a five-year, $245 million extension just before the start of the season.
So, is this year an anomaly, or should there be significant concern about Wilson’s future in Denver?
The DNVR Broncos Crew debates.
All odds below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
On a scale of 1-10, what’s your long-term concern level with Russell Wilson?
Zac: 7.5 — How can you not be very concerned? I get it, learning a new offense takes time. Working with new teammates takes time. I didn’t expect Wilson and the Broncos’ offense to click immediately without any struggles.
But no one could have thought it would be this bad. And that’s why I can’t put all of the blame on Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive line or injuries. A great quarterback elevates everyone. So far, that’s been tough to see.
In fact, in the past four games, Wilson has regressed as he’s only thrown three touchdowns to four interceptions on 54 percent completion for a 72.2 passer rating. The signs of hope have been few and far between.
The biggest concern is if Wilson wants to play at a high level throughout his new contract, he’ll have to learn to win from the pocket more than ever. So far, that’s been very difficult for him.
What you can cling onto is Wilson has still come up clutch when it’s mattered the most at the end of games. His three game-winning drives is the fourth-most in the NFL. However, in order to not be down on Wilson, you have to rely heavily on the success he had in Seattle.
RK: 8 — It’s hard not to put this at a full 10 given how things have gone thus far but there are two small things given little glimmers of hope.
- There is a slim chance that it simply hasn’t clicked for Russ in this offense yet. There are still plenty of games left in this season to see if this is the case. The west-coast offense is certainly not a simple one to learn or teach. The problem with this theory is that we have seen zero improvements with the offense over the course of the season. In fact, you could make the case that they have regressed since Week 1.
- It’s also possible that the problem is Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett certainly hasn’t shown himself to be proficient in his duties yet and that gives us reason to believe that he is the main anchor for the offense. This is probably the best-case scenario for the Broncos because it’s more than likely that they will be making a change in the offseason and everyone will be crossing their fingers that the new staff can turn him around.
In the end, we’ve all seen the quarterback on the field this season and he simply does not look anything like the guy we saw set the record for wins during the first 10 seasons of a quarterback’s career. If either of those two things above were the problem, it’s fair to expect we would have seen more of Russ being Russ this season.
Hank: 9 — Russell Wilson has virtually zero positives to point to this season.
His passer rating is 81.4. This would be the first sub-90 passer rating of his career.
His quarterback rating is 33.1. He’s never finished a season below 50.
He’s completing less than 60% of his passes, and he’s on pace for 14 passing touchdowns.
Oh, and the mobility that defined the 33-year-old for the first half of his career seems to be drying up; he’s on pace to take the most sacks of his career and rush for the second-fewest yards. The only season he ran less was last year. Feels like a trend to me.
The most positive stat might be his five interceptions, which put him on pace to tie for only the fourth-most in his career.
Maybe next year will be better? Here are the Broncos’ options:
- Ditch the West Coast Zone Run scheme, start over with something totally new and accept another season of growing pains.
- Keep the scheme, expecting the offensive line to improve with some continuity, and ignore the fact that Russ is a poor fit.
The Russell Wilson Experiment isn’t doomed but it’s getting gloomy in Denver. How could you not be concerned?
Picks Picks Picks
Russell Wilson passing yards over/under 229.5
Zac: Under.
RK: Over.
Hank: Under.
Will Russell Wilson or Derek Carr have more passing yards?
Zac: Russ.
RK: Russ.
Hank: Carr.
Josh Jacobs rushing yards over/under 78.5
Zac: Over.
RK: Over.
Hank: Under.
Courtland Sutton receiving yards over/under 56.5
Zac: Under.
RK: Over. Gets one big one.
Hank: Under.
Davante Adams receiving yards over/under 75.5
Zac: Under. Pat Surtain.
RK: Under.
Hank: Under.
Greg Dulcich receiving yards over/under 37.5
Zac: Over.
RK: Over.
Hank: Over.
Will Davante Adams have 100 receiving yards + 1 receiving touchdown? (+250)
Zac: Nope.
RK: No.
Hank: No.
Broncos total touchdowns over/under 2.5
Zac: Under.
RK: Under.
Hank: Under.
Broncos total points over/under 21.5
Zac: Under.
RK: Under.
Hank: Under.
Broncos-Raiders total points over/under 41
Zac: Under.
RK: Under.
Hank: Under.
Raiders @ Broncos (-3)
Zac: Raiders cover.
RK: Raiders.
Hank: Raiders cover.
Chiefs (-6) @ Chargers
Zac: Chargers.
RK: Chiefs.
Hank: Chiefs
Leaderboard
Last week
Hank: 6-5
Zac: 4-7
RK: 4-7
Overall
Zac: 50-44
RK: 45-49
Hank: 38-56
