Russell Wilson was written off as a washed-up quarterback by the vast majority of the football world. Other than his age, the main reason for that narrative was the fact that the Denver Broncos sold the farm to the Seattle Seahawks in a trade for him and then gave him a huge contract extension that they are still dealing with on their salary cap.
Things are working out okay for the Broncos and rookie QB Bo Nix, but there are probably a few people in that organization scratching their heads at Wilson’s success with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I think that the people that coaches him the last couple years in Denver are watching this going, ‘How did you guys do that?'” Graziano said via ESPN’s Get Up this morning. “He’s executing the game plan. He is taking the checkdowns. I think I saw a stat they had 150 yards on checkdowns and screens, right? And what, 245 after the catch?
“So it is working because he is behaving. He’s not trying to be the hero, right? And he is doing everything they’re asking him to do. It’s an unbelievable job by Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith.”
I think an underrated part of why Wilson was viewed so negatively is the fact that Broncos head coach Sean Payton is viewed as a quarterback whisperer. If he couldn’t get the best out of Wilson, then surely he was washed.
To be fair, I think Wilson’s poor 2023 season was blown out of proportion a little for the reasons I outlined earlier. The expectations were sky-high and he didn’t deliver enough wins. But Wilson beat the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers in the middle of last season. Those were four playoff teams, including the eventual Super Bowl champions.
He threw for 3,070 yards and 26 touchdowns to eight interceptions in 15 games last year. The Steelers would have taken that last season in a heartbeat. Now he is pacing for 4,607 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and 8.5 interceptions if you extrapolate his numbers to a full 17-game season.
His 414-yard performance versus the Bengals has sparked a whole new hope in Pittsburgh, and it has many thinking about Wilson’s career trajectory in a whole new way. Maybe his goal of playing five to seven more years in the league isn’t so wild after all.
According to SI’s Albert Breer a few weeks ago, Arthur Smith had a series of hard, honest conversations with Wilson. It seems like whatever those conversations were, they have helped get everybody on the same page of what’s expected, and Wilson is playing some of the best ball of his career at 36 years old as a result.
