bigwrm
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I can't remember where I came across this, but I recently read someone talking about how it's possible for a quarterback to throw too few interceptions as it's an indication that they aren't taking enough chances. It's the same concept as a basketball player who hits 50% of his 3-pointers; if you're that efficient at making 3-point shots then you should be shooting more. Perhaps this is obvious, but I just hadn't thought of it in that way before.
It's clear that Russell/Pete have a conservative approach and want to limit turnovers, but I'd like to see them open it up and develop a more explosive passing attack. This season in particular it seems like Russell has been hesitant to go for big passing plays, but if he's going to develop into one of the better passers in the league he'll need to take more chances and trust his receivers. I know that a lot of people place the blame for that on our wide receivers' inability to get open, but the reality is that if you're not willing to throw until you see a receiver get open, then it may be too late.
We need to take more shots. If they don't connect, it still keeps the defense honest and opens up the opportunity for a big pass interference penalty, like Doug Baldwin got the benefit of against Philadelphia. And even if it is picked off, not all turnovers are created equally. Interceptions on deep balls are by far the best kind of turnover, since they often end up no worse than a punt would have.
For the sake of comparison, I looked up the interception rates for Russell and some of the top quarterbacks in the league. The first number is career interceptions per game, and the second is interceptions per 100 attempts:
Player (Int/Game, Int/100 Attempts)
Russell Wilson (0.53, 2.05)
Peyton Manning (0.91, 2.57)
Tom Brady (0.68, 1.99)
Drew Brees (0.95, 2.58)
Aaron Rodgers (0.51, 1.63)
Andrew Luck (0.89, 2.30)
While it's nice that Russell limits turnovers, I wouldn't mind seeing a few more picks given that some of the greatest QBs in NFL history like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees throw interceptions at a significantly higher rate. Of course it would be great to have someone like Aaron Rodgers who breaks the scale by being both ridiculously prolific and hardly throwing any picks, but that's why he's the top QB in the league.
It's clear that Russell/Pete have a conservative approach and want to limit turnovers, but I'd like to see them open it up and develop a more explosive passing attack. This season in particular it seems like Russell has been hesitant to go for big passing plays, but if he's going to develop into one of the better passers in the league he'll need to take more chances and trust his receivers. I know that a lot of people place the blame for that on our wide receivers' inability to get open, but the reality is that if you're not willing to throw until you see a receiver get open, then it may be too late.
We need to take more shots. If they don't connect, it still keeps the defense honest and opens up the opportunity for a big pass interference penalty, like Doug Baldwin got the benefit of against Philadelphia. And even if it is picked off, not all turnovers are created equally. Interceptions on deep balls are by far the best kind of turnover, since they often end up no worse than a punt would have.
For the sake of comparison, I looked up the interception rates for Russell and some of the top quarterbacks in the league. The first number is career interceptions per game, and the second is interceptions per 100 attempts:
Player (Int/Game, Int/100 Attempts)
Russell Wilson (0.53, 2.05)
Peyton Manning (0.91, 2.57)
Tom Brady (0.68, 1.99)
Drew Brees (0.95, 2.58)
Aaron Rodgers (0.51, 1.63)
Andrew Luck (0.89, 2.30)
While it's nice that Russell limits turnovers, I wouldn't mind seeing a few more picks given that some of the greatest QBs in NFL history like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees throw interceptions at a significantly higher rate. Of course it would be great to have someone like Aaron Rodgers who breaks the scale by being both ridiculously prolific and hardly throwing any picks, but that's why he's the top QB in the league.