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Somehow, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson Remains NFL's Most Overlooked Superstar

For the eighth consecutive season, Wilson didn't receive a single MVP vote after a strong 2019 campaign. While it might not matter to the six-time Pro Bowler, he definitely deserves a lot more recognition for his outstanding play at the game's premier position.

Thomas Hall

Ever since Seattle selected quarterback Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, he’s remained criminally underrated during his eight seasons in the league.

Despite starting under center in back-to-back Super Bowls along with his six Pro Bowl appearances, experts across the league are continuously amazed by Wilson’s ability to maintain his elite production level from year-to-year. With that said, he still isn’t receiving enough recognition for his consistently stellar performance.

In particular, the 5-foot-11 quarterback was able to produce one of the best statistical showings of his entire career during his age-31 season. Nevertheless, he still wasn’t able to steal much attention away from quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson this past season, failing to receive an MVP vote for the eighth straight year.

In total, Wilson completed 341 passes (career-high) for 4,110 yards (sixth-most among all qualified quarterbacks in the league), threw 31 touchdowns (third-most), and posted a 106.3 passer rating (fourth-highest). He also produced five game-winning drives (tied for most in the league) and four fourth quarter comebacks during the 2019 campaign, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Along with these outstanding results, the Wisconsin product was also able to showcase his explosive arm strength once again this past season, proving that he’s still one of the league’s best deep-ball throwers.

Overall, Wilson finished tied with the seventh-most completions (10) resulting in 40 yards or more and he completed the eighth-most passes (55) that resulted in 20 yards or more, according to NFL.com. In addition, the Seahawks’ quarterback also generated the fifth-most completed air yards (2,402) and the seventh-most intended air yards (4,836) in 2019.

To put things into perspective, Wilson was able to produce one of the best performances of his career while being one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the league. And yet, his lack of protection in the pocket is something that is rarely recognized outside of the Pacific Northwest.

In 2019, the highest-paid quarterback in the league was sacked 48 times (tied for most among all quarterbacks in the league), blitzed 221 times (second-most in NFL), hurried 71 times (first in the NFL), and was hit 57 times (tied for fourth-most).

Despite scrambling for his life on multiple occasions this past season, Wilson was still able to produce a career-low in interceptions (five), tied for fifth-fewest among all quarterbacks with at least 100 completions.

While Wilson doesn’t run as much as he did earlier in his career, he was still able to make an impact with his legs last season as well, something that most 30-year old quarterbacks fail to accomplish at this stage of their career. Among all quarterbacks in the league, the former Badger rushed 75 times (fifth-most) for 342 yards (sixth-most) and generated a trio of rushing touchdowns (tied for eighth-most).

Even though Seattle was eliminated during the second round of the playoffs, Wilson did everything possible to try and carry his team to the NFC Championship game but fell just short against the Packers.

During the Seahawks’ playoff run, Wilson was blitzed 26 times, hit 15 times, sacked six times, and was hurried three times through two games. Despite those factors, he was able to complete 39 passes for 602 yards, producing two touchdowns and averaging 9.9 yards per pass attempt.

On the ground, the dual-threat quarterback rushed 16 times for 109 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per carry, the most rushing yards he had amassed during the playoffs since his rookie season.

Even though Wilson doesn’t receive enough attention around the league, helping the team win football games remains his top priority above recognition for his individual accomplishments.

Entering his ninth season, the superstar quarterback’s main goal will likely be returning to the Super Bowl next season in hopes of winning his second Vince Lombardi Trophy. While there’s a very good chance that won’t earn an MVP vote in 2020, being the last team standing would likely be a worthy consolation prize for the ninth-year pro.

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Thomas Hall
THOMAS HALL

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