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I know that as a Seahawks fan, from time to time I frequent the forum pages of the whatever opponent the Seahawks are playing on a given week in order to get information on that team. So, a thought occurred to me -- I know that we've had several Falcons fans who have visited Seahawks.net this week (who are doing exactly what I normally do) -- so thought that I would give those Falcons fans out there a little taste of just who Russell Wilson is and the Seahawks Offense that you'll be seeing tomorrow ...
[Any other Seahawks.net folks who want to chime in -- feel free]
First of all, just who is Russell Wilson? Well, for those of you who really don't know (because you're living under a rock), Wilson slipped to the 3rd Round of the NFL Draft this year basically because of 1 issue -- his height. Wilson is all of 5'10 7/8". That's it -- he has all of the other characteristics of a great QB (great arm strength, very good accuracy (he actually set the NCAA accuracy record in 2011, completing 72.8% of his passes), leadership that just flows out of him [he tilts the room in the words of GM John Schneider], highly intelligent, etc). Because of his lack of height, a great many experts out there were saying that he would never be anything more than a back-up. In short, Wilson has shut those guys up with his play this year. He was the starting QB for the North Carolina State and put up some very impressive numbers there. He graduated in 3 years ... actually was drafted by the Colorado Rockies as a shortstop (and spent some time in their minor league system) ... and then decided to hang that up and return to school. Unfortunately, he couldn't go back to NC State because now they had a new QB. So, he went to Wisconsin for what would be his Senior Season (new school, new system, etc.) ... and within a month of walking on campus was not only the Badgers starting QB ... but was named team captain. He eventually takes the Badgers all the way to the Rose Bowl, but loses a heart breaker to Oregon 45-38.
Anyway, the earliest guy who was "on" Wilson was former NFL coach John Gruden. Check out this NFL ESPN Special of Camp Gruden for yourself (which was done prior to the NFL Draft) which someone loaded on Youtube. You can see the real savvy, intelligence and poise of this guy ...
Camp Gruden -- Russell Wilson (Youtube)
Seahawks GM John Schneider was obviously on him too, saying that out of all the players in college football last year (regardless of position) ... he had Wilson ranked the 3rd Best Player in all of NCAA football. The Hawks played their hunches that he would slip down in the draft (they always had their eye on drafting him) and when he was still there in the 3rd Round -- they nabbed him.
Anyway, long story short -- Wilson absolutely wowed the Seahawks coaching staff in training camp and won the starting QB job. Matt Flynn had been brought in and was projected to be the starter. It's not that Flynn played bad (he didn't) -- Russell just played better and took the job away from him.
For the first several weeks of the season, Pete Carroll and the coaching staff really babied him -- not wanting to "burden" a rookie with too much and to shoulder the responsibility of having to win the game by himself. So, regarding the Seahawks Offense itself -- pay no attention to the fact that the Seahawks ended the season as #27 in Passing Yards/Game. That is attributed to 2 things:
1) The Fact that the Seahawks coaching staff really didn't start taking the reigns off him until really around Week 8 or so.
2) The Seahawks coaching staff (Carroll and Cable in particular) really believe in the idea of running the football FIRST -- ball control offense.
Yes the Seahawks have only passed for 3,031 Yards ... BUT they also finished tied for the 3rd highest Yards/Pass Attempt (8.0 yards/pass attempt) ... 5th in terms of highest Yards/Reception (12.5 yards/reception avg) ... and tied for 8th in passing TD's (27). In other words, they have become a big strike offense that makes the passes they do make count.
And Russell Wilson (over the second half of the season) has become one of the most dangerous QB's in all of football. As Mike Sando pointed out a couple of weeks ago …
ESPN.com Mike Sando’s MVP Watch
For those Falcons fans who haven’t actually SEEN him in action, here are some highlights of him from:
The Seahawks Week 6 Win over the Patriots (Good actual game footage, not simply highlights)…
Russell Wilson Highlights vs. Patriots 10/14/12
The Seahawks Week 13 Win over the Bears at Soldier Field
Russell Wilson and Seahawks Highlights vs. Bears 12/2/12
In a word, Wilson’s been amazing. In terms of the Seahawks Offense itself, they utilize a LOT of various offensive schemes so expect to see the Pistol, the Zone Read Option, various elements of the West Coast Offense, and the kitchen sink, as Pete Carroll is anything BUT predictable. A couple of weeks ago during one of the interviews I was listening to, Carroll was practically giddy talking about his experience as the 49ers Defensive Coordinator (1995-1996) -- and that basically cornered Bill Walsh (the godfather of the West Coast Offense), grilling him about the WCO's intracacies and why you do this here, why do you this there, etc.
And Carroll is crazy like a fox -- as I said, highly unpredictable and aggressive. Pete Carroll was on with 710 ESPN’s Brock and Salk after the 49er game on Christmas Eve and gave some fascinating insights not only on the Seahawk Offense … but on his mentality as a coach …
Source:
Pete Carroll on with 710 ESPN’s Brock and Salk – 12/24/12
We've seen flea flickers, passes to Sidney Rice, who then passes downfield to Golden Tate. We've seen vice versa and all manner of interesting wrinkles, reverses, etc. So I'm telling you as Falcons fans -- be ready for anything because it'll probably happen.
In addition, what also makes Wilson so difficult to game plan against is that (like RGIII and Cam Newton) -- he's shown that he can beat you with his legs. I've read some Falcons fans comments this week, saying that you've done well against smaller quicker QB's and I'm telling you -- this guy is not like playing Michael Vick or guys like that. I've watched some of the game film from the Falcons game against the Panthers this year. Basically, just superimpose Russell Wilson over the top of Newton because he does a lot of the same exact things. He plays very much like former Vikings great Fran Tarkenton -- a guy who can cause havoc by scrambling around to buy time for his receivers to get open. I don't care how good a secondary a team has -- you can't cover receivers forever for a QB buys himself the kind of time that he does.
In all honesty, the Seahawks under Carroll are truly on the cutting edge as far as NFL Offenses are concerned and what they do (because they don't do any one thing). IMO, Russell Wilson is one of those guys who will be mentioned among the elite QB's for the next decade or so
In short (LOL this post has been anything but short) the Seahawks Offense over the last half of the season has become an absolute nightmare to game plan against. With the Defensive Coordinators have really struggled on how to game plan against them ... and it's shown. It'll be very interesting for me indeed to see what Mike Nolan rolls out there tomorrow because up until this point, Wilson has shown incredible recognition of what defenses are doing to him ... and doesn't really make foolish rookie mistakes.
As Ron Jaworski said this week, Wilson plays like a 10 year NFL vet -- not a rookie. But then again, I know how good Nolan is in disguising things. So, we'll see how it all goes.
There you go. Just thought I'd give you Falcons fans (who aren't as in the know as we Seahawks fans naturally are) what you're going to be seeing tomorrow.
[Any other Seahawks.net folks who want to chime in -- feel free]
First of all, just who is Russell Wilson? Well, for those of you who really don't know (because you're living under a rock), Wilson slipped to the 3rd Round of the NFL Draft this year basically because of 1 issue -- his height. Wilson is all of 5'10 7/8". That's it -- he has all of the other characteristics of a great QB (great arm strength, very good accuracy (he actually set the NCAA accuracy record in 2011, completing 72.8% of his passes), leadership that just flows out of him [he tilts the room in the words of GM John Schneider], highly intelligent, etc). Because of his lack of height, a great many experts out there were saying that he would never be anything more than a back-up. In short, Wilson has shut those guys up with his play this year. He was the starting QB for the North Carolina State and put up some very impressive numbers there. He graduated in 3 years ... actually was drafted by the Colorado Rockies as a shortstop (and spent some time in their minor league system) ... and then decided to hang that up and return to school. Unfortunately, he couldn't go back to NC State because now they had a new QB. So, he went to Wisconsin for what would be his Senior Season (new school, new system, etc.) ... and within a month of walking on campus was not only the Badgers starting QB ... but was named team captain. He eventually takes the Badgers all the way to the Rose Bowl, but loses a heart breaker to Oregon 45-38.
Anyway, the earliest guy who was "on" Wilson was former NFL coach John Gruden. Check out this NFL ESPN Special of Camp Gruden for yourself (which was done prior to the NFL Draft) which someone loaded on Youtube. You can see the real savvy, intelligence and poise of this guy ...
Camp Gruden -- Russell Wilson (Youtube)
Seahawks GM John Schneider was obviously on him too, saying that out of all the players in college football last year (regardless of position) ... he had Wilson ranked the 3rd Best Player in all of NCAA football. The Hawks played their hunches that he would slip down in the draft (they always had their eye on drafting him) and when he was still there in the 3rd Round -- they nabbed him.
Anyway, long story short -- Wilson absolutely wowed the Seahawks coaching staff in training camp and won the starting QB job. Matt Flynn had been brought in and was projected to be the starter. It's not that Flynn played bad (he didn't) -- Russell just played better and took the job away from him.
For the first several weeks of the season, Pete Carroll and the coaching staff really babied him -- not wanting to "burden" a rookie with too much and to shoulder the responsibility of having to win the game by himself. So, regarding the Seahawks Offense itself -- pay no attention to the fact that the Seahawks ended the season as #27 in Passing Yards/Game. That is attributed to 2 things:
1) The Fact that the Seahawks coaching staff really didn't start taking the reigns off him until really around Week 8 or so.
2) The Seahawks coaching staff (Carroll and Cable in particular) really believe in the idea of running the football FIRST -- ball control offense.
Yes the Seahawks have only passed for 3,031 Yards ... BUT they also finished tied for the 3rd highest Yards/Pass Attempt (8.0 yards/pass attempt) ... 5th in terms of highest Yards/Reception (12.5 yards/reception avg) ... and tied for 8th in passing TD's (27). In other words, they have become a big strike offense that makes the passes they do make count.
And Russell Wilson (over the second half of the season) has become one of the most dangerous QB's in all of football. As Mike Sando pointed out a couple of weeks ago …
Source:
ESPN.com Mike Sando’s MVP Watch
For those Falcons fans who haven’t actually SEEN him in action, here are some highlights of him from:
The Seahawks Week 6 Win over the Patriots (Good actual game footage, not simply highlights)…
Russell Wilson Highlights vs. Patriots 10/14/12
The Seahawks Week 13 Win over the Bears at Soldier Field
Russell Wilson and Seahawks Highlights vs. Bears 12/2/12
In a word, Wilson’s been amazing. In terms of the Seahawks Offense itself, they utilize a LOT of various offensive schemes so expect to see the Pistol, the Zone Read Option, various elements of the West Coast Offense, and the kitchen sink, as Pete Carroll is anything BUT predictable. A couple of weeks ago during one of the interviews I was listening to, Carroll was practically giddy talking about his experience as the 49ers Defensive Coordinator (1995-1996) -- and that basically cornered Bill Walsh (the godfather of the West Coast Offense), grilling him about the WCO's intracacies and why you do this here, why do you this there, etc.
And Carroll is crazy like a fox -- as I said, highly unpredictable and aggressive. Pete Carroll was on with 710 ESPN’s Brock and Salk after the 49er game on Christmas Eve and gave some fascinating insights not only on the Seahawk Offense … but on his mentality as a coach …
Source:
Pete Carroll on with 710 ESPN’s Brock and Salk – 12/24/12
We've seen flea flickers, passes to Sidney Rice, who then passes downfield to Golden Tate. We've seen vice versa and all manner of interesting wrinkles, reverses, etc. So I'm telling you as Falcons fans -- be ready for anything because it'll probably happen.
In addition, what also makes Wilson so difficult to game plan against is that (like RGIII and Cam Newton) -- he's shown that he can beat you with his legs. I've read some Falcons fans comments this week, saying that you've done well against smaller quicker QB's and I'm telling you -- this guy is not like playing Michael Vick or guys like that. I've watched some of the game film from the Falcons game against the Panthers this year. Basically, just superimpose Russell Wilson over the top of Newton because he does a lot of the same exact things. He plays very much like former Vikings great Fran Tarkenton -- a guy who can cause havoc by scrambling around to buy time for his receivers to get open. I don't care how good a secondary a team has -- you can't cover receivers forever for a QB buys himself the kind of time that he does.
In all honesty, the Seahawks under Carroll are truly on the cutting edge as far as NFL Offenses are concerned and what they do (because they don't do any one thing). IMO, Russell Wilson is one of those guys who will be mentioned among the elite QB's for the next decade or so
In short (LOL this post has been anything but short) the Seahawks Offense over the last half of the season has become an absolute nightmare to game plan against. With the Defensive Coordinators have really struggled on how to game plan against them ... and it's shown. It'll be very interesting for me indeed to see what Mike Nolan rolls out there tomorrow because up until this point, Wilson has shown incredible recognition of what defenses are doing to him ... and doesn't really make foolish rookie mistakes.
As Ron Jaworski said this week, Wilson plays like a 10 year NFL vet -- not a rookie. But then again, I know how good Nolan is in disguising things. So, we'll see how it all goes.
There you go. Just thought I'd give you Falcons fans (who aren't as in the know as we Seahawks fans naturally are) what you're going to be seeing tomorrow.
