The Pittsburgh Steelers hitched their wagon to QB Russell Wilson this season, and everyone is wondering how far they go. Well, they’re not all wondering so much as wildly speculating. In case you haven’t noticed, everybody happens to have a podcast and an opinion to go with it.
That includes former offensive lineman Mark Schlereth, who has voiced his opinion on Russell Wilson numerous times on his Stinkin’ Truth podcast. In a recent episode, he came close to actually paying Wilson a compliment before turning hard left.
“I will tell you that Russ [Wilson] is still very athletic. He can still move”, Schlereth said. “All those reports of him losing athleticism and that’s why he wasn’t playing well, those are just incorrect reports. But I don’t believe that Russ wants to become a zone-read quarterback. I believe he still has that thought in his mind that he could end his career very much like Drew Brees ended his”.
Let’s pause for a moment and recall how Brees ended his career. He went 17-6 his final two seasons in 13 games. He went 556-for-768 passing for 5,921 passing yards, 51 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Breaking that down to 17-game averages, that translates to 4,376 yards with 38 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. That all sounds pretty great. The only problem is, that’s not Russell Wilson, according to Schlereth.
“I think when you’re delusional, you think you can point the finger at eight million different places that say ‘This is why this happened. This is why’”, he said of Wilson, based on his belief that Wilson believes he is capable of playing in a way that he is not. “That toxic positivity and surrounding yourself with people that basically [tell you], ‘It’s not your fault, man’ [. . .]. I mean, that’s not even derogatory. That’s just a fact”.
There’s another thing that begs for an explanation, “toxic positivity”. A quick Google search defines it as “the belief that people should maintain a positive mindset no matter how dire or difficult a situation”. Wilson does surround himself with “positivity”, and exudes it himself, quite possibly at toxic levels. Reports have followed throughout his career about how teammates grew fatigued at what they saw as a façade of leadership.
But what is Schlereth really saying about Wilson on the field? What does it mean that he thinks he can end his career like Drew Brees, yet cannot? How did Brees end his career? Well, not incredibly dissimilar from Ben Roethlisberger, who reduced his intended air yards. He averaged about 33 pass attempts per game, similar to his two previous seasons but a significant step down from earlier.
The Saints became more and more balanced as an offense, though, and that’s what the Steelers are trying to do. The only question is, can Rususell Wilson be that accurate rhythm passer? That hasn’t been his modus operandi throughout his career, at all. And Brees’ head coach, Sean Payton, didn’t turn him into one last year. But his reality doesn’t match the slander, either.
