Russell Wilson is entering the most crucial year of his career but has the chance to get up to Mahomes' level of dominance. It may seem quite radical to say such a thing, but I think it's possible. Russell Wilson has just wrapped up his 11th year in the NFL and will set to enter his 12th year, his age 35 season.
Wilson's 2022 season was the worst of his career by far, and recency bias has made many people think that he's indeed all washed up. At his peak from 2018-2020, Wilson was not only an incredibly efficient passer, but he was also quite deadly with his legs.
The offenses he played in during those times played to his strengths as a player, and that's something that new head coach Sean Payton will certainly do.
Payton has a reputation of getting quite a bit out of his QBs. He and Drew Brees continually crafted some of the very best passing offenses in the history of the NFL. As a player, Brees wasn't particularly close to Wilson's skillset.
He had an OK arm and was hardly a threat at all with his legs, and for a decade and a half, Payton and Brees turned into a lethal duo.
To a lesser extent, Payton has done similar with guys like Teddy Bridgewater and Jameis Winston. In both of their careers, their very best football came when they were playing in a Sean Payton offense.
Heck, even Trevor Siemian put up some nice numbers in the Saints' offense a couple of years ago.
In nine of his 15 years as a head coach, his teams ranked at least top five in points per game. In six of those years, they ranked top three.
There is a correlation between scoring points and the respective QB playing well, obviously.
We also should look at Wilson's passing history compared to Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes has the highest passer rating in NFL history at 105.7, but Wilson is not far behind at 100.2. Furthermore, in Wilson's three year stretch from 2018-2020, his passer rating was 107.2 and he also averaged 38 touchdowns against nine interceptions during that time in a 17 game season.
People want to forget how good Russell Wilson was, and the numbers indicate that he can and has reach Mahomes' insane level as a passer.
Russell Wilson also averages 488 yards and three touchdowns on the ground as a runner.
Patrick Mahomes averages 331 yards and three touchdowns as a runner. So, Wilson has proven to be more effective on the ground.
I'd also add one more point to this in that I am not sure there is a better overall offensive mind in the NFL besides Andy Reid than Sean Payton. Both have crafted elite offenses for years. In fact, Reid only has three seasons of his 24-year head coaching career having a top-three scoring offense. Remember, Payton has six of those years in 16 years as a head coach.
I think there is enough evidence to suggest that Russell Wilson can get to the level of Patrick Mahomes as a passer.