Russell Wilson, through four games, is currently one of the most efficient passers in the NFL, and this only proves that he is still very much elite. The Denver Broncos have themselves a quarterback. You may not care since the team is not winning, but it's clear that the issue with the team is the 32nd-ranked defense.
Vance Joseph has all but ruined the 2023 season for Denver. And an efficient year from Russell Wilson might also be for nothing. It's really a shame. Denver has the 10th-ranked scoring offense in the NFL, averaging a stout 25 points per game. With their recent defensive success pre-2023, you'd think Denver would have been 3-1 or 4-0 at this point.
Well, they're not, and we can only hope that reinforcements can help this unit stabilize a bit. All of Josey Jewell, Justin Simmons, Mike Purcell, PJ Locke, K'Waun Williams, Frank Clark, and Baron Browning may be returning within the next two weeks. Denver does have talent on this side of the ball, but it hasn't come together yet.
Well, if the defense can be just the 20th-ranked unit at some point, the Broncos will surely win way more games the rest of the season. For Russell Willson, he has silenced a lot of doubters thus far in 2023, proving that he is still very much an elite QB.
Let's take a look at just how efficient he's been in 2023.
Russell Wilson's stats through four games proves he's still elite
Well, as I mentioned before, Denver has the 10th-ranked scoring offense in the NFL. A team with a top-10 offense cannot get there without good QB play. So, they have that going for them. For Wilson himself, he's ranked above a bunch of elite QBs in numerous statistical categories.
Russell Wilson ranks 9th in the NFL in passing yards with 1,014. That mark puts him on pace for 4,310 on the season. This number currently ranks higher than QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Geno Smith, and Lamar Jackson. Wilson is doing damage through the air.
Among qualified QBs, Wilson ranks 7th in yards per attempt, which is higher than Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Geno Smith, Dak Prescott, and others. Wilson isn't doing the "dink and dunk" stuff that he saw a lot of last year. He is taking shots downfield, and doing it well.
Russell Wilson has more passing completions than Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Geno Smith, Brock Purdy, and Lamar Jackson. The veteran QB is also tied for 2nd in the NFL with nine passing touchdowns. Only Kirk Cousins has more. He's tied with Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa, so every other QB in the NFL currently has fewer passing TDs than DangeRuss.
Among qualified passers, only Brock Purdy and Tua Tagovailoa have a higher passer rating than Russell Wilson. His rating is a strong 106.7, which would be one of the highest marks of his career. Wilson leads the entire NFL in 40+ yard plays. He has five of those already, and his longest passing play of 60 yards ranks 10th in the NFL.
Yes, you can simply not care about these numbers since the Denver Broncos are not winning games, but this is a huge development for the team. Not only is Russell Wilson playing at an elite level once again, but the Broncos offense is efficient, and at some point, Wilson may not be in Denver while Sean Payton is still the head coach, so this also goes to a deeper point that Payton may always have this offense in a good spot.
If he can make it work with a soon-to-be 35-year-old QB who isn't six feet tall, imagine what he could do with a younger and bigger QB prospect?