By Marvin Moore August 29, 2023
It’s no secret that Russell Wilson had a terrible season last year. The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback threw a career-low 16 touchdown passes and logged double-digit losses for the first time in 11 NFL seasons. But the notion that Wilson is washed up is garbage. Russ will be cooking again in 2023, and you can take that to the bank.
Two years ago, Wilson tossed a career-high 40 touchdowns while finishing 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021. Despite finishing 13th in the league last season with 3,524 yards, an array of clueless pundits and biased sports writers have bashed the former third-round pick without mercy.
Derek Carr has posted a 63-79 record in 142 NFL starting assignments. He has tallied six losing campaigns in nine seasons. But nobody is predicting that Carr needs a stellar season to salvage his mediocre career.
The New York Giants inked Daniel Jones to a massive four-year, $160 million contract extension this past spring. The sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Jones has produced bust-like numbers with a 21-31-1 record and 57 turnovers in 54 games. However, the 26-year-old is being labeled as a breakout candidate this season instead of the below-average quarterback that his numbers suggest.
Jimmy Garoppolo has started just 57 games in 10 NFL seasons. The often-injured quarterback is an average game manager who signed a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in March. But did the national media criticize Garoppolo and his bloated contract? Nope. Some even called him an upgrade over Carr. Apparently, mediocrity is a good thing.
After only five starts, the national media has anointed San Francisco 49ers’ signal-caller Brock Purdy as an elite passer. Go figure. In 2021, New England Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones was the media darling. It’s incredible how biased sports writers prop up unproven players with little or no professional resume while showering a Super Bowl-caliber field general with doubt and speculation.
Wilson has won nine playoff games and tallied a combined 28 postseason touchdowns. He owns the NFL record for most passing yards (385) in a playoff game by a rookie, and the most fourth-quarter touchdown passes (16) in a season. But like the late, great Rodney Daingerfield, Wilson “doesn’t get no respect.”
Some of Wilson’s struggles last year can be attributed to rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett. His 15 games at the helm of the Denver Broncos are regarded as among the worst head coaching tenures in league history. Hackett joins a long list of successful coordinators who were disasters as head coaches.
This season will be epic for Wilson. The 34-year-old will team up with new head coach Sean Payton to form one of the few NFL QB/HC tandems that have both won Super Bowl rings. Payton won seven division titles and led the New Orleans Saints to three NFC Championship games. That’s why the Broncos traded first- and second-round picks to the Saints for Payton.
The Wilson/Payton partnership should help Denver soar to new heights this season. The former Wisconsin standout has thrown for over 4,000 yards on four occasions and is an excellent bet to accomplish the feat again this season. When he does, the Broncos are headed back to the postseason.
Wilson was on a path to the Hall of Fame before last season’s hiccup. While some agenda-driven sports writers branded him broken a year ago, Wilson arrived at camp confident with his old swagger. That’s terrible news for the rest of the league.
The haters and naysayers will eat crow this season. Russ will be cooking again and doing his thing. The national media will jump on the bandwagon, and Wilson will be in the running for Comeback Player of the Year. But he was never broken. His career was never in doubt. And he will shine again this upcoming season. You can bet on it.
