Russell Wilson has been one of the more polarizing sports figures over the past few seasons. That is what happens when a team sells the farm to trade for you, gives a record-breaking extension, and then fails miserably for two years before moving on with tens of millions of dollars turning into dead money. But there is a reason why he was that highly sought after in the first place. He was on pace for a Hall of Fame career.
That status as a future Hall of Famer was put at risk after the two-year stint with the Denver Broncos. Just look at most of the luke-warm opinions on Wilson back when the Steelers acquired him. What should have been a big, exciting move for the organization was tamped down by analysts saying he would never return to his Hall of Fame form with the Seattle Seahawks.
A lot of people are eating crow right about now.
“Russell Wilson’s getting his gold jacket back,” Emmanuel Acho said via FS1’s The Facility. “Based upon how he is playing right now, he is absolutely earning that gold jacket status. Think about this. The last time the Steelers won a game without even attempting a field goal, you gotta go back four and a half years. The last time the Steelers averaged this many points over a three-game stretch…you gotta go back to 2020.
“Russell Wilson has allowed the Steelers football team to ascend from being competitive to elite. Russell Wilson, people thought he was left for dead as it pertained to his football career. Sean Payton, he left him for dead. But no, Russell Wilson, based upon his play, is absolutely earning that gold jacket back.”
It is hard to argue with anything he is saying. Wilson has a lot of the accolades, achievements, and statistics to warrant an eventual Hall of Fame induction. Look at the preseason article I did on the various stat categories that Wilson was poised to climb this year. He is high up on several of the major all-time lists. For one, Wilson notched another game-winning drive and fourth quarter comeback, which moved him up a spot within the all-time top 10 list for both categories.
He just needed to force the bad taste from the last two years out of voters’ mouths. In just three games this season, he is already making big strides towards doing that.
If Wilson manages to play the rest of the season, he is on pace for 183.3 completions on 311.7 attempts for 2,702.3 yards, 22 TDs, and 3.7 INTs. That is an 11-game pace. Extrapolated out to a full 17-game season, that would be 4,176.3 yards, 34 TDs, and 5.7 INTs. That is obviously an absurdly good pace and would be on par with the best seasons of Wilson’s career. He isn’t having the most efficient season with a career low 58.8 completion percentage, but there is still time for that to improve, and he is making up for it with an absurd adjusted net yards per passing attempt of 8.24.
