Yeah I think it’s actually the opposite more often than Toffees theory. I think people hate Russ so much they became bigger fans of Geno because he was who came when their hated player left. They want Geno to be elite.
For half a season he looked like it. For another season he looked good. Last year he was below average. He could easily revert back to when he played at a top 10 level. I just think he’s trending the wrong way and is only getting older so it’s not likely. Toffee thinks this is purely an emotional response. I think objectively it matches what we’ve seen historically across the league. Time will tell.
I dont know anyone who 'hates' Russ. I know quite a few people who were labeled haters because they justifiably pointed out major holes in his game and were accused of cherry-picking stats and game film, creating a higher standard of performance for Russ, and in some cases, called racist.
It was all garbage because it has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt by Russ himself that what folks around here were pointing out as fact - that he struggled to read defenses, that he could only olay the game one way, and that the only place he could ever succeed was Seattle.
The truth is lies on the other side. The latent resentment toward Geno for being 'un-Russ' drives much of the dislike toward him. To a man, the most ardent GeNo guys and gals on this board were pro-Russ to the death, claiming his departure would be met with fan-fair and super bowl parades in the years that followed in Denver. Folks who just looked at his game and see clearly what he couldnt (receivers running open across the field) saw his demise as suredly as the sun rises. Why? Because he was always whi he is now. Sure, he may be slower today, but his mind is as fast as it ever was- which for him had never been fats enough to process plays with an efficiency that would ever allow him to succeed in a system that mandated he run the plays that were called and run them well - aka anywhere other than under Pete Carroll.
God forbid we have a qb now who makes his hay running plays the way they are supposed to be run. And sorry we now have to deal with the consequences of poor offensive coordination. Before Geno, the OC didnt matter much (with the exception of Schotty, who was let go because he wouldnt let his professional integrity be tarnished by a qb who insisted on doing things his way), now if the OC doesnt know what he is doing, we dont have a heroball pro at qb who will just run around and make plays organically anyway. Now we have and NFL offense, with and pretty good NFL qb who hopefully make the most of what our hooefully also pretty good OC can create.
