Russell was incapable of running the Aaron Rodgers real NFL offense last year and probably always will be. The missed read vs the Colts for the winning score to KJ Hamler is the poster child for who Russ really is. That and the pick in SB49 on essentially the same play. Hackett does deserve blame for being too slow to adjust.
I suppose there's always the chance that Russ could grow and evolve to successfully run an on-schedule, timing-based NFL-level offense, rather than, as Greg Olsen called it, a "JV Offense". I just wouldn't place any bets on it. There's an expression in youth coaching, "they learn next year what you teach them this year". So it's possible Hackett did get through to Russell on a few things that will help Russell's game *next year*.
The NFL figured out a lot of Russell Wilson's game during his time in Seattle, especially the Jeff Fisher Rams figured him out first. Russell still beat the Rams a few times, like the game where Golden Tate caught a long TD on a contested ball and taunted the Rams DB with a wave as he was going in. Russell did next to nothing the rest of the game, but with prime LOB, 1 TD on offense was enough to win.
Much of the "polite" media generally doesn't talk openly about players shortcomings in a brutally honest way. Even on this board there was heated debate, some advocating for how "elite" Russell is, and how he should be a first ballot HOFer, etc. while others pointed out his flaws and failures. The truth is that Russell does have some elite QB superpowers, like his deep ball, his mind-meld rapport with certain receivers (Tyler Lockett, Doug Baldwin) and in the past, his elite escapability. The other truth is that there are many areas where Russell does not perform at an NFL level, such as reading defenses and going through progressions. He does it "Myyyyy wayyyyyy...", pre-deciding who he's going to throw to, see KJ Hamler helmet-throw play for an example. It took the ongoing series of posts by Keasley45 and others openly discussing Russell's shortcomings, and making points with logic and examples, for me to start seeing past the RW hero-worship indoctrination. The next logical step was realizing that Pete had always *protected* Russell in a special way, to maximize his strengths, and avoid damaging Russell's ego and confidence. THEN the next step was being able to put into context the things that Richard Sherman had said about Russell, and realizing Sherman was telling the absolute truth, from his point of view, and there was a lot of validity to Sherman's take.
The other key data point is that once Russell got paid, no longer on his rookie contract, the Hawks never won another divisional round playoff game, and often lost out in the opening wildcard game. If Russell was so "elite", why wasn't he "carrying the team" to victory in playoff games? Well, Russell couldn't carry Hackett's team to victories either. Hackett's team DID beat the 49ers, but it was the DEFENSE who won that game, granted, with one timely drive from Russell.
It will be interesting to watch next year, though obviously with no draft picks to care about. My guess is that the Donks bring in Dan Quinn, with either Bevell or Schotty as his OC. We know Quinn will keep the D playing at a high level. I felt that Schotty was a little better with Russell than Bevell, but maybe Schotty was just building on the foundation Bevell put in place.
