The Pittsburgh Steelers added a pair of quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, and they have one thing in common – they both take a lot of sacks. Wilson took the fourth-most sacks last season with 45, and Fields was just behind him with 44. Their offensive lines weren’t always great, but they both held onto the ball too long with the slowest time to throw in the NFL for qualifying quarterbacks last season.
So how many of Russell Wilson’s 45 sacks last season were simply because he held onto the ball too long or drifted into pressure while trying to escape the pocket? Former Broncos offensive lineman Mark Schlereth had some words about this very thing on his most recent episode of The Stinkin’ Truth.
“Historically, you look at the amount of sacks he takes. He probably, on average, he’s taken 45 sacks a year. Now you think about how that limits you as an offense, okay? This is a big issue for Russ and the Steelers,” Schlereth said. “When I talk to guys in Seattle, they’d say 35, 40 percent of all the sacks we give up are on Russ. And if you talk to Sean Payton, he would tell you the same thing.”
Let’s fact check that assertion looking at the 2023 season in isolation.
After reviewing all 45 of Wilson’s sacks taken, I came away with 13 that he was responsible for. This is slightly subjective by nature, so it is worth mentioning that Pro Football Focus had him down for 16 sacks that he caused on himself. So Schlereth was close in my calculation (28.9 percent) and right on the money with PFF’s charting (35.6 percent).
Below are all the sacks that Wilson caused in 2023.
Week 1 – Las Vegas Raiders
You are going to see a common theme with a lot of these sacks. Russell Wilson loves to extend plays with his legs. Sometimes that sets up a play that very few quarterbacks are capable of making, but other times he gets himself into trouble. This instance may have been more of a coverage sack than anything, but he could have let it rip to Courtland Sutton over the middle and had plenty of time to make a throw before he bailed out of the pocket and stumbled into pressure.
Week 2 – Washington Commanders
He had plenty of time and Jerry Jeudy was open while Wilson still had a window to throw. I think he was caught looking for the first down ball rather than taking the yards. In this situation, it could have been the difference between field goal range and three points for his team.
He had the right idea here but was a full second too late. He had nothing but room to scramble to his left and hesitated his way into the sack.
This play was designed for a 50-50 jump ball in the corner of the end zone. It was covered pretty well, but you have to take the chance. Instead he got himself sacked and nearly threw a goal-line interception.
Week 5 – New York Jets
Wilson had a guy wide open in the flat with a solid chance at converting on third down. He held the ball too long and took a sack to kill the drive.
We, of course, have better vision than Wilson does on the field, but he had nothing but room to his left to step over that way and buy himself time to make the throw. Instead, he stepped over to his right into multiple defenders.
Week 6 – Kansas City Chiefs
There was no real reason to bail out of the pocket here. He just got a little antsy waiting for the play to develop.
Week 7 – Green Bay Packers
Another case of stepping the wrong way. The defensive end twisted and was coming free, but he had room to step to his right and check down to FB Michael Burton.
Week 8 – Kansas City Chiefs
Wilson was right to escape the pocket to his right, but once you gather your feet you have to make that throw as soon as possible. He hesitated and took a punishing hit as a result.
He didn’t really need to escape the pocket as early as he did and certainly not right into the corner blitz.
Week 10 – Buffalo Bills
He was right to step out of the pocket initially. I have no idea why he then tried to work his way back into the pocket for an easy sack.
Again, there was no urgent reason to step up in the pocket. The biggest threat fell to the ground and Russell Wilson had more time to wait back there.
Week 16 – New England Patriots
Everybody was blocked up and it was a fairly clean pocket. He sensed pressure that wasn’t really there and started dancing around until he got sacked.
