It wasn’t that long ago that Russell Wilson was viewed among the cream of the crop at the quarterback position. He was firmly in the MVP conversation in both 2019 and 2020 when he totaled 8,322 passing yards and an absurd 71 passing touchdowns. He passed for over 4,000 yards in both seasons and had 40 passing TDs in 2020 as the Seattle Seahawks attempted to “let Russ cook” with a pass-heavy attack.
He rightfully received a massive contract extension with the Denver Broncos after they gave away a significant trade haul to acquire him, and he largely disappointed in his two-year tenure there. So much so, that the Broncos decided to move on from him while carrying close to $100 million in dead cap space over the next two seasons.
He now gets a fresh start with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He told the media during spring practices that he feels “revived in every way” as he finds the fountain of youth at 35 years old. According to Pro Football Focus’s Sam Monson, Arthur Smith can help him get back to top form as they both begin their Steelers tenures this season.
“The Steelers upgraded at quarterback for pennies on the dollar and paired Wilson with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in the offseason,” Monson wrote. “That Smith-Wilson dynamic has a very broad range of possible outcomes. On one hand, Smith’s offense does a lot of things to protect quarterbacks, taking the burden off their shoulders and letting them excel on the opportunities they do have by being more efficient.”
The prime case study for that is QB Ryan Tannehill during the two years he spent with Smith in 2019 and 2020 with the Tennessee Titans. Just by glancing at Tannehill’s adjusted net yards per passing attempt, he has had his far-and-away best two seasons under Smith. After having an ANY/A of 5.29 in 2018 with the Miami Dolphins, that number jumped to 8.52 in 2019 and 7.90 in 2020.
Once Smith left, he never regained that level of play. He went from a middling quarterback to one of the best in the league during their time together and made his lone Pro Bowl in 2019.
This was achieved by relying on a Derrick Henry-powered running game and setting up play-action passing. That is something we can definitely expect to see with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in 2024.
“That approach should create echoes of prime Russell Wilson in Seattle, where the public narrative was “Let Russ Cook!” but the Seahawks coaching staff seemed permanently reluctant to ever put the game in his control as much as other quarterbacks throughout the league,” Monson wrote. “Arthur Smith could well be the key to rediscovering the best form of Wilson as a starting quarterback.”
He does caution that there are potential ways in which Wilson and Smith are incompatible. One of the big issues that could arise is Wilson avoiding the middle of the field. At 5-11, he has never excelled in that area, and Smith likes to utilize that area more than most. As defenses continually find ways to take away the deep ball outside the numbers that Wilson has been known for, it is more important than ever to attack the middle area.
The Steelers don’t need prime Russell Wilson to be a competitive football team. Almost by default, he will be an upgrade over what they have had the last two or three seasons. The team has found ways to stay competitive even with poor quarterback play. If Wilson can reclaim even some aspects of his prime form, the Steelers’ offense should be leaps and bounds ahead of where it was a season ago.
