If Wilson was ever capable of running an offense, reading a defense and throwing with anticipation, he'd be doing it for a coach who designs offenses specifically for the qb to do that.
Wilson looks hesitant because he can't do it. Wilson refused to run Shane's offense when he was here because he was 100% aware that if he did, he'd look the way he does now and any chance he had at a big payday and of maintaining his legacy would be what it is now.
Who Russ is now is who many knew he woukd be if he ever got a chance to start.
But don't take my word for it. Payton is fed up. Hackett was fed up. Hackett, by the way is winning with no better a formula than he was given in Denver, and with a far inferior QB.
Waldron was quoted as saying his offense only works if the qb gets the ball out quickly during Russ's struggles here. Wonder why he would say that??
Schottenheimer was unceremoniously canned and anyone who actually watched film could see that his time on the team was over because he was calling plays that worked, and the qb didn't execute them. And Pete then chose to appease Russ rather than forcing him to run the plays that Schotty drew up on the sheet.
The dude has always been who he is now. He just happened to come into a space post LOB where defenses weren't playing 2 high as much and he was able to keep them off balance during a time when the read option and the threat of him running was something new and difficult to defend.
There are no stats that show that Russell was ever able to move the chains consistently through the air, find success on pure passing downs or exploit the entire field.
This could all be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt if someone ever put the time in to do a comparison of how many of his plays came on aborted scrambles initiated by him, vs plays where he actually just executed a play.
And the issue there is that the truth only comes to light if you take the time of have the opportunity to set aside the highlights and spectacle and instead look at play design and how often he actually did what he was supposed to do and what would have worked in game, by virtue of the fact that receivers were open.
Bit even that would likely now be dismissed by his hard-core supporters because even now, his inability to do so is explained away as him being shell-shocked or just slower to make reads. If that's the case, he would be one of the few qbs at an elite level who's ability to read defenses actually decreased over time. Everyone knows that declining physical skills are overcome by increasing knowledge and experience. That's the arc of development of the elite NFL qb. Legs slow, processing increases.
With Russ, legs are ok, mind is as bottleneck as it ever was.
Payton knew this.
Why would a qb whisperer not be able to see what Russ supporters do???
Because it's fallacy. Payton knows exactly who and what Russ is. And if he thought he was just bent, he would have been fired up to jump into Denver and restore him to the guy supporters apparently think he was. I mean, according to them, he was still great his last year here. Surely Payton would have seen that. Instead, no. He took the job because it was the best of the options available to him and in spite of Russ. But what does he know?
