The Denver Broncos' former starting quarterback will now get a shot with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he could be doomed to fail. This could be the last chance that Russell Wilson has in the NFL as a starting quarterback, and frankly, it's sad. Prime Russell Wilson was something truly to behold. At his best, there weren't many passers better.
He's among the best dual-threat QBs in NFL history and is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. However, like every single player who has played in the NFL, there does come a time when Father Time has run its course. For Wilson, Father Time has caught up to him and could hit him like a ton of bricks in 2024.
Here's why Russell Wilson is doomed to fail with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
3 reasons why Russell Wilson is doomed to fail with the Pittsburgh Steelers
1. Steelers projected OL is significantly worse than Broncos unit in 2023
According to Ourlads, the projected depth chart for the Pittsburgh Steelers is Broderick Jones, Isaac Seumalo, Zach Frazier, James Daniels, and Troy Fautanu. So what you have with this offensive line is two projected rookies, one unproven tackle in Jones, and two good-ish starters in Seumalo and Daniels. That isn't great, folks.
In 2023, the Denver Broncos were five strong along the offensive line with Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Lloyd Cushenberry, Quinn Meinerz, and Mike McGlinchey. While the unit had its moments, it was still one of the more talented on paper in the NFL. The thing with Wilson is, as we know, is that he takes a ton of sacks. Wilson tends to hang in the pocket for too long and just does not get rid of the ball on time.
That hasn't changed. In 188 career regular season games, he's taken 527 sacks. That comes out to 2.8 sacks per game, which is 48 per 17-game season. So if the averages hold, you can expect Russell Wilson to take nearly 50 sacks in 2024. But with how unproven this offensive line is, would it be unrealistic to suggest he gets sacked 60 times? More?
2. Huge downgrade from Sean Payton to Arthur Smith
Does this need to be elaborated on at all? Arthur Smith is the new offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he is coming off of a 21-30 tenure with the Atlanta Falcons, a tenure in which his Falcons teams went 7-10 each year. Furthermore, his offenses in Atlanta never ranked higher than 15th in points scored.
The Falcons never ranked higher than 16th in passing yards per game and never ranked higher than 24th in passing touchdowns. The only redeeming quality of Smith's tenure in Atlanta was the rushing offenses in 2022 and 2023, ranking 3rd and 9th in yards per game. You can figure that the Pittsburgh Steelers will look a lot like the Falcons' offenses, so perhaps they will run the snot out of the ball.
But do they have the personnel along the offensive line to do that? Probably not. Arthur Smith has a huge challenge in Pittsburgh, and he's simply not in the same tier as Sean Payton. Heck, Smith might be among the worst offensive play-callers in the entire NFL. Sure, in some instances, talent can overcome coaching a bit, but the thing is, the Steelers don't have a ton of talent on offense.
This could shape up to be a brutal year for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Russell Wilson.
3. He's simply washed-up
I was a huge defender of Russell Wilson after the 2022 NFL Season and knew he had something left in the tank. I refused to believe he was washed up, and well, it looks like I may have been only half right. In 2023, Wilson definitely showed some nice things here and there; he was pretty solid off-schedule and was making plays with his legs.
The deep ball was still there as well. Overall, there was a huge improvement from Wilson in 2022 to 2023, but overall, this is still a washed-up QB who could not succeed with an elite play-caller and a very good offensive line. It's clear that the Denver Broncos were still winning games with Russell Wilson, but he is truly a shell of his former self.
And now that he's stepping into a new team and also one year older, the "washed-up" factor might get bigger and bigger. He's set to play in his age-36 season. Folks, that isn't young. He's not getting faster and his arm is not getting stronger either. Prime Russell Wilson was a joy to watch, but that's not who he is anymore.
Now yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback situation in 2023 was horrible. The trio of Steelers QBs combined for just 13 touchdown passes in 2023, and Wilson had 26 with the Broncos. However, Wilson being paired with a rookie QB would have been a more viable solution. Instead, Justin Fields is the backup QB, which isn't a great solution.
Anyway, Russell Wilson is washed-up and probably won't perform well for the Steelers in 2024.