Russell Wilson could make or break the rest of his career with how he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Once a Super Bowl champion, Wilson’s reputation took a serious hit during his two-year stint with the Denver Broncos. Wilson actually wasn’t terrible last year, but he wasn’t good enough for what the Broncos were paying him. However, analyst Nick Wright believes that Wilson’s mediocre level of play last year was actually much worse than it seemed on paper.
Speaking on his show First Things First on FS1, Wright explains why he has such a negative opinion on Wilson’s 2023 season.
“I think last year was smoke and mirrors,” Wright said. “I think Russell Wilson in 2023 was Daniel Jones in 2022. Like, ‘Oh, that looks okay,’ but then when you dig into it, you’re like, ‘Huh?’ It’s 200 yards per game, for both of them, passing the football.
“Russ had more touchdowns than Daniel Jones did, but also a few more turnovers, so it’s not apples to apples, but they were both exactly 200 yards per game.”
That’s a fair comparison for Wilson in some respects, but it isn’t as clear cut as Wright makes it seem. Jones has been the quarterback for the New York Giants since 2019, and right now he looks like one of the worst contracts in all of football. That’s similar to Wilson’s situation with the Broncos, and Jones did have similar passing stats in 2022 compares to Wilson last year, but that’s about where the similarities end.
Comparing Wilson to Jones is tough because they’re in vastly different parts of their careers. Wilson has proved that he can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and while he might not be able to reach those heights anymore, that experience still remains. He’s a Super Bowl Champion. That trumps any of Jones’ accolades.
On the other hand, Jones was still playing under his rookie contract in 2022. He’s a young player that the Giants were hoping could develop into a franchise quarterback. In 2022, he threw 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, while also rushing for 7 touchdowns and fumbling 6 times. Do those sound like franchise quarterback numbers?
Compare that to Wilson in 2023. At age 34, Wilson threw 26 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, while also rushing for 3 touchdowns and fumbling 10 times. The numbers are similar, but when considering the context of where they’re at in their careers, Wilson was better. A fourth-year guy that was drafted in the top half of the first round should easily outplay most 34-year-old quarterbacks, but that wasn’t the case with Jones and Wilson.
At best, Jones in 2022 was as good as Wilson in 2023. Really, both players are infinitely better than any of the quarterbacks the Steelers have had since Ben Roethlisberger retired. No one is seriously saying that Wilson can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league again. The general consensus is just that he’ll be more efficient with the Steelers, and that he’ll raise their ceiling from the last few years.
If the worst thing that can be said about Wilson right now is that one of his worst seasons is as good as Jones’ best season, then the Steelers should be happy. It’s not like he’s on a massive deal. He took the veteran minimum to come to the Steelers. He wants to be in Pittsburgh, and he’s been working hard to earn the starting job.
Wilson will play in the upcoming preseason game, so we’ll see if he can prove the doubters wrong. If the Steelers can use those same smoke and mirrors to get Wilson to throw over 25 touchdowns and less than 10 interceptions again, then they should be pretty satisfied. This is a team that got to the playoffs using three different starting quarterbacks that were all below-average last year.
