Broncos may have made a colossal mistake with Russell Wilson

The Denver Broncos are struggling and with the NFL being a week-to-week league, things can quickly change. But as of right now, it certainly seems as though panic is setting in inside Broncos Country.

After an absolutely terribly performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5, criticism is bound to be heavy.

The Broncos look lost offensively. They can’t do anything once in the red zone. Nathaniel Hackett, much like the last two coaches the Broncos had, seems like he is in way over his head thus far. But most alarming has been the poor performance of Russell Wilson.

Wilson has not just played poorly. He has been absolutely terrible.

Think back to last season when the Broncos had Teddy Bridgewater under center. Fans were losing their minds because he would not throw the ball down the field. But if you look at the first five games for each as the Broncos’ starting quarterback, here is what it looks like.

Teddy Bridgewater: Completed 69.7 percent of his passes, 920 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT

Russell Wilson: Completed 59.4 percent of his passes, 1,254 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs

That includes a game in which Bridgewater had to leave a game against the Baltimore Ravens with a concussion. The Broncos also had more wins (3) in Bridgewater’s first five games than they currently do with Wilson.

And we can make all of the excuses we want about how the coaching staff is new and how we need to wait for things to click and that patience is necessary. While that is partially true, the Broncos did not trade for Wilson to be a quarterback the team developed a system around. Geroge Paton expected instant success.

Wilson was supposed to come in and unlock all of the potential of guys like Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Albert Okwuegbunam. While Sutton has played well, Jeudy still looks like a guy who will always be average and Okwuegbunam has become a complete afterthought in the offense.

But the problems don’t just start and end there.

Wilson’s tenure with the Seattle Seahawks did not exactly end on good terms. It was well known that Wilson wanted out of Seattle and away from head coach Pete Carroll. The Seahawks found a taker and sent him to the Broncos. While Broncos Country rejoiced, is it possible that it was really Seattle that had reason to celebrate?

Then you have Wilson himself who just has an odd behavior about him. He seems to want to be respected as a true leader, but how much of a leader is he? He was often called “corny” by media outlets and though that was something to easily ignore initially, it seems to be gaining some steam.

It’s hard to get a read on Wilson. Either he is the most genuine, nicest guy ever or he puts on a great act. Either way, right or wrong, you have to wonder how he is perceived as a teammate.

Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football took aim at Wilson following the Broncos’ recent loss and despite which side of the fence you sit on in regards to his argument, you can bet there are many out there who agree with every word he said.

There is obviously plenty of time for things to turn around and for Wilson to be the guy that everyone believed he was going to be when the huge trade with the Seahawks went down.

But there should be a massive concern right now that he never is that guy again. There should be major concern that he was the benefit of a great organization with a great head coach and a great team around him. Football is a team game, after all, and it’s quite possible that Wilson was in a perfect situation and got more credit than he was ever really due.

Now that he is in Denver, and the Broncos have signed him to a huge contract, things are going to be quite ugly for quite some time if he doesn’t find a way to be that guy again, somehow.