Former Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson was sacked 100 times in 30 games with the team, and this has been a huge issue during his entire career. In fact, in the regular season, Russell Wilson has been sacked 527 times for a loss of 3,464 yards. He's also been sacked another 49 times in the postseason as well, for a total of 576 times landing on the ground in a play.
He has been sacked the fourth-most times by a quarterback in NFL history, and will probably finish his career as the most-sacked quarterback ever. Well, the Denver Broncos get to be a part of that history. On Friday, stud defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons.
Donald is arguably the best QB in NFL history, and I think all of Broncos Country was rooting for the Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl back in 2021, as Von Miller was creating havoc in the backfield alongside Donald, who will be a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Well, take a look at this:
The quarterbacks most frequently sacked by Aaron Donald in his career:
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) March 15, 2024
Russell Wilson: 15
Kyler Murray: 6 1/2
Matthew Stafford: 6
Dak Prescott: 5
CJ Beathard: 4 (all in one game in 2018)
Kirk Cousins: 3 1/2
Jimmy Garoppolo: 3 1/2
Carson Palmer: 3 1/2
Is anyone really surprised? Russell Wilson tops the list of the QB that Aaron Donald has sacked the most frequently. From 2014-2021, both Wilson and Donald saw each other two times a year playing in the NFC West, and luckily for Wilson, he has not had to deal with Donald for the last couple of years and now won't have to deal with him ever again.
As Denver Broncos fans saw first-hand, Russell Wilson takes a ton of sacks. That's just been a part of his game for his entire career. He has a horrible habit of simply holding onto the ball too long, which goes back to him not being the best processor. Well, his ability out of structure, using his legs, was truly elite.
And it's easy to see how Wilson's game might be nearing its end in the NFL; he's getting older and slower, and once he's too slow to make those plays out of structure, it's not like his processing will magically get better. During his prime, Russell Wilson was quite something to watch, and when the Denver Broncos made the trade for the QB, they were hoping he'd have some of that prime left.
Now, the Broncos will turn the page and likely look toward the 2024 NFL Draft to find their franchise QB.