Russell Wilson Under Pressure -- PFF Article

[IndyHawk]

We have threads on this stuff all year but due to bye,here we go again..OL-not real good but due to injuries who's is?I think ours is good when healthy but Russ/Beast take pressure off it having to be good to win...Our record speaks for itself..It's a uniqe situation so why mess with it..Sure Russ gets pressured , for 3 years he thrives around the pocket not in it ..It may be due to visual because he is short for a qb..A #1 reciever..Unless we develop one/draft one,we are not getting one ...Our Defense and Russ are getting paid most of the $$ so understand there are limits to what can be done..I can see we are trying to develop TE's into Patriot types so they can create mismatch(s) all over so its easier for our low level wr's to get open and so Russ gets running lanes to take off if one isn't open..It's Seahawks football and it's ugly at times but also great..It wins championships so I'm happy..

 

[Hawkscanner]

We have threads on this stuff all year but due to bye,here we go again..OL-not real good but due to injuries who's is?I think ours is good when healthy but Russ/Beast take pressure off it having to be good to win...Our record speaks for itself..It's a uniqe situation so why mess with it..Sure Russ gets pressured ,it hasn't in 3 years and I think it won't because he thrives around the pocket not in it ..It may be due to visual because he is short for a qb..A #1 reciever..Unless we develop one/draft one,we are not getting one ...Our Defense and Russ are getting paid most of the $$ so understand there are limits to what can be done..I can see we are trying to develop TE's into Patriot types so they can create mismatch(s) all over so its easier for our low level wr's to get open and so Russ gets running lanes to take off if one isn't open..It's Seahawks football and it's ugly at times but also great..It wins championships so I'm happy..

See my response above -- 3 posts up from yours.

 

[IndyHawk]

I had to edit mine ..I accidently hit post before ready..I know some of you have stated the same things...I agree with parts..I just didn't quote-sorry..

 

[gulliver]

1 Antonio Brown, WR PIT 122 168 1,570 12.9 12 54 18 104.7 1 568 80
2 Julio Jones, WR ATL 100 156 1,535 15.4 6 79 30 109.6 2 553 72
3 Demaryius Thomas, WR DEN 103 167 1,504 14.6 11 86 23 100.3 0 647 64
4 Jordy Nelson, WR GB 92 143 1,433 15.6 13 80 18 95.5 0 481 66
5 T.Y. Hilton, WR IND 82 127 1,345 16.4 7 73 21 96.1 3 372 62
6 Emmanuel Sanders, WR DEN 95 132 1,331 14.0 9 48 23 88.7 1 370 66
7 Golden Tate, WR DET 96 137 1,286 13.4 4 73 17 85.7 1 691 55
8 Jeremy Maclin, WR PHI 82 137 1,269 15.5 10 72 19 84.6 0 489 54
9 Dez Bryant, WR DAL 84 132 1,221 14.5 14 68 20 81.4 0 352 58
10 Randall Cobb, WR GB 87 121 1,207 13.9 10 70 22 80.5 1 556 67

How many super bowl winners?

Um, I'm seeing that 8 of the 10 receivers you list are in the playoffs right now... just because they haven't all individually won Super Bowls doesn't mean they don't add immense value to their teams.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

1) Offensive Line play -- the line has been pretty shoddy all season long. Due to Unger's injury and Sweezy's and Carpenter's inconsistent play, teams have been able to get pressure right up the gut. Justin Britt has struggled quite a bit in pass protection as well this year. As a result, Russell has been running for his life a good percentage of the time. Part of the reason that he holds the ball so long is that he's spending a lot of time dodging and running away from defenders. During those few times he's actually had a clean pocket, he's looked pretty good. Outside of re-signing Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, addressing the woes of this offensive line has to rank as priority #1 this coming offseason.

2) That said, production from the WR spot has been the other part of the issue. Russell is also holding the ball so long because many, many times guys simply aren't getting open. Sidney Rice was brought up and that's precisely the point. Since 2012, this team has missed Sidney Rice from an offensive standpoint. It's missed a receiver who can really stretch a defense -- someone whom the defense has had to respect. Why did Carroll and Schneider invest so much to bring in Percy Harvin? That's exactly why. Those guys know that this receiving corps (as a whole) benefits from having a real big play making WR out there. A Sidney Rice type -- someone with great hands who can consistently beat press coverage, has the moves to juke opposing DB's out of their socks, and who has the instincts to consistently bail the QB out when he's in trouble -- is exactly what this Seahawks team has been missing. A guy like that makes the entire offense better because he makes those DB's back off and creates space for everyone else.

I think there's a #3 that some people are avoiding (or maybe just not noticing).

Russell Wilson is still in development, too. There are still many plays where he's locking onto receivers, not going through progressions, bailing from the pocket without any pressure at all, failing to step up, and essentially holding on for the big play far longer than he should. A lot of this is on Russ.

The Richardson pick the other day was a good example, ran backwards INTO pressure and made his O-line look bad, instead of stepping up and finding a wide-open outlet route (he had two on the play).

This doesn't have to be a horrible thing. Plenty of third-year receivers are still figuring it out. But it does have an effect on our passing game. In the second half of the Arizona game, Wilson settled down and started taking the smaller stuff, and even before then we'd been keeping some traction.

A true #1 receiver would help. But so would some improvement from Wilson.

And it may be that part of it is because, yes, he's short and can't always see through his offensive line. I don't think that fact has to be damning upon his potential, but we'd be silly to say it isn't a factor at all.

 

[Jville]

I think PFF has preferences (a model) in how they perceive and grade a team. In many areas the Seahawks are outside of that model.

PFF doesn't dictate how I view the team or any of it's members. I am not one of its subjects.

Sorry :229031_shrug:

 

[Sarlacc83]

PFF doesn't dictate how I view the team or any of it's members. I am not one of its subjects.

Sorry :229031_shrug:

Yet, isn't more information helpful in making determinations and conclusions?

 

[Jville]

PFF doesn't dictate how I view the team or any of it's members. I am not one of its subjects.

Sorry :229031_shrug:

Yet, isn't more information helpful in making determinations and conclusions?

I think PFF has preferences (a model) in how they perceive and grade teams and team members. In many areas the Seahawks are outside of that model.

EDIT: By was of analogy, it is a bit like what we see surrounding draft prospects. A publication grades prospects according to their model. However, each team has their own distinct model. Publishers do not dictate how each team grades draft prospects. The variation in how teams draft is evidence of team independence .... with Seattle a leading example. It shouldn't be a huge stretch to view teams grading existing players independently of PFF and other publications. Seattle is not building a team to win accolades from PFF or any other grade assigning publication. After all, the Seattle Seahawks focus is on the pursuit of football victories. :229031_victory: "Win Forever"

Go Hawks!

 

[Hawkscanner]

1) Offensive Line play -- the line has been pretty shoddy all season long. Due to Unger's injury and Sweezy's and Carpenter's inconsistent play, teams have been able to get pressure right up the gut. Justin Britt has struggled quite a bit in pass protection as well this year. As a result, Russell has been running for his life a good percentage of the time. Part of the reason that he holds the ball so long is that he's spending a lot of time dodging and running away from defenders. During those few times he's actually had a clean pocket, he's looked pretty good. Outside of re-signing Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, addressing the woes of this offensive line has to rank as priority #1 this coming offseason.

2) That said, production from the WR spot has been the other part of the issue. Russell is also holding the ball so long because many, many times guys simply aren't getting open. Sidney Rice was brought up and that's precisely the point. Since 2012, this team has missed Sidney Rice from an offensive standpoint. It's missed a receiver who can really stretch a defense -- someone whom the defense has had to respect. Why did Carroll and Schneider invest so much to bring in Percy Harvin? That's exactly why. Those guys know that this receiving corps (as a whole) benefits from having a real big play making WR out there. A Sidney Rice type -- someone with great hands who can consistently beat press coverage, has the moves to juke opposing DB's out of their socks, and who has the instincts to consistently bail the QB out when he's in trouble -- is exactly what this Seahawks team has been missing. A guy like that makes the entire offense better because he makes those DB's back off and creates space for everyone else.

I think there's a #3 that some people are avoiding (or maybe just not noticing).

Russell Wilson is still in development, too. There are still many plays where he's locking onto receivers, not going through progressions, bailing from the pocket without any pressure at all, failing to step up, and essentially holding on for the big play far longer than he should. A lot of this is on Russ.

The Richardson pick the other day was a good example, ran backwards INTO pressure and made his O-line look bad, instead of stepping up and finding a wide-open outlet route (he had two on the play).

This doesn't have to be a horrible thing. Plenty of third-year receivers are still figuring it out. But it does have an effect on our passing game. In the second half of the Arizona game, Wilson settled down and started taking the smaller stuff, and even before then we'd been keeping some traction.

A true #1 receiver would help. But so would some improvement from Wilson.

And it may be that part of it is because, yes, he's short and can't always see through his offensive line. I don't think that fact has to be damning upon his potential, but we'd be silly to say it isn't a factor at all.

No, you're absolutely right Montana. I didn't mention that as a factor because frankly, I didn't think of it. But I completely agree that's a factor.

I've seen a real tendency of his (from time to time) to apparently experience phantom pressure and to react accordingly. From my experience, I would say that Russell Wilson may from time to time suffer from Classical Conditioning -- believing that there is pressure when there really isn't.

When I was getting my Master's, I worked at a residential treatment facility for troubled youth. Every time there was trouble in one of the apartments, there would be a loud beep on the loud speaker followed by intense voices, requesting staff assistance to wherever was needed. Well, for about a year after I left there, whenever I went in to a department store and heard their loudspeaker, my heart would immediately begin to race and I felt anxious -- ready for action. No true danger existed, but speakers like that set me off for awhile. Military vets and victims of abuse can experience similar symptoms (to a much greater degree).

And that's what I kind of wonder if that's what happens with Russell Wilson sometimes. Brock Huard has talked about that in the past at length, saying that QB's sometimes get a case of the "yips" (as he calls it) -- for QB's to shell shocked and to experience that pressure that isn't there. As PFF noted, Wilson experiences pressure nearly 50% of the time he drops back to pass. He is used to guys constantly in his face. Is it any wonder that he might suffer some of that sometimes? I would say it looks like he does. That's why I say fixing that OL has to rank as priority #1 (after re-signing Wilson and Wagner, that is). Could you imagine what Russell Wilson would do if he had Tony Romo's offensive line ... or ours from that 2005 Seahawks team? That would be just flat out not fair.

As far as the height is concerned, I would tend to disagree somewhat. Even a 6'5" doesn't see through the back of his lineman's head. He sees through lanes (which is what Russell Wilson does). I would say that height only becomes a factor when the line gets pushed back RIGHT INTO his face ... and possibly might account for his high throws at times (as his release point is different from the average QB).

Russell Wilson is still a young player and is still learning and maturing every day. He is great right now ... and is only going to get better and better. Good call Montana.

 

[Schadie001]

What many are failing to understand is that there is a reason Wilson holds the ball sometime and it has nothing to do with this fictional #1 WR that most are hung up on. Russell is short by NFL QB standards. His OL is tall and so are most DL players. I would be willing to bet that on many passing plays he is forced to hold the ball a little longer because he must wait for a passing lane to come open so he can see. Not because a reciever can't get open like most here would suggest. I've found myself yelling at the screen for Russell to get rid of the ball, but then thought maybe he couldn't because he had no lane to throw and couldnt see. Just food for thought.

 

[theincrediblesok]

Russell is short we get it, but he had one of the tallest O-line at Wisconsin, but all he did was pass for over 70 percent completion. There is one thing that I've seen watching his college highlights. Look at how long the O-line keeps that line intact for Russell. Most of the time that O-line was able to keep defenders off of Russell for over 3 seconds. Give him the Cowboys O-line and he will destroy teams.

He holds the ball cause he feels like every down there is a chance he can make a play, either with his arm or legs. It's part of his game. Live by the sword die by the sword as they say.

 

[Ad Hawk]

Pete also loves making the game-altering plays, instead of the quick-passing, short-yardage plays, even if they're high-percentage completions. Russ holds the ball at times in order for a play to break down, allowing receivers to get open downfield for longer gains, or an opportunity to scramble for a longer run. This is by design, I believe, and Russ plays that role better than just about any QB in the league.

 

[theincrediblesok]

Here's the other thing too, people say to take whatever the defense gives you. So if you go 3 and out the whole game like Lindley did with the Cardinals, then you will never win a game. Russell runs around to get his receivers open to give them a chance, this is why defenses have a hard time defending him.

 

[Barthawk]

Russell Wilson with a true elite #1 receiver would quite literally be unfair to the rest of the league.

I love our work horses like Baldwin and Kearse...They put on their hard hats and bust their tails for us, but a TRUE #1 receiver would just be bananas.

Highly unlikely that we will ever have a receiver like Fitz or Megatron.. we won't allocate that kind of $$$ to a WR in this offensive scheme ever.

While we may wish that we had a better #1 WR, I am perfectly happy with one of the best defenses in the history of the league. Good trade off

 

[Schadie001]

Seems like we just did that (paid a big play WR a lot of money) and got burnt ala Harvin. Fool me once. We don't need an elite #1 (we won a SB without one) and our offense is predicated on running the ball, Wilson scrambling and our "mediocre" wr's getting open like the always seem to do and making big plays.