Value of Baseball Skills in RW's Playmaking

[GoHawks]

Danny Kelly has a great read on Fieldgulls regarding this [urlhttp://www.fieldgulls.com/2012/12/18/3738042/russell-wilson-accuracy-on-the-move][/url]


Not sure if this had much discussion on here - but it's definitely apparent how the movement required for playing the infield in baseball and making throws is assisting him in eluding pressure and making great throws on the move outside of the pocket

I know PC and bevell put some restraint on him early to stay in the pocket or move up in the pocket rather than roll-out

In particular - I've noticed when pressure comes up the middle he has be able to deke the defender into thinking he is rolling out to his right and then do a spin move to his left and rollout to the other direction

 

[ChrisB Bacon]

I know from my personal experience, having played baseball my entire life, throwing a football on the run is second nature to me in regards to footwork.

 

[SharkHawk]

I talked about his professional baseball experience being valuable and being a middle infielder being especially valuable at one point. I played second base and was always a good rollout passer. It's natural. I also was good throwing out of the shotgun, because to catch and roll and move was second nature to me for everything I did on the baseball field. You're used to taking flips and moving while looking at where you're going, or being able to throw off of either foot, moving sideways, moving in, moving back, etc. It's a pretty logical argument.

I think the more important part of his professional baseball experience is that he's been a professional athlete and knows the drill. He knows how hard you have to work to make it, he knows the schedule (and believe me.... a minor league baseball schedule is absolutely brutal), and he knows how to handle pressure. Russell wasn't the greatest player out there in the minors, but having "been there" and made it through spring training and played a season is a monumental task and probably gave him a heads-up that others may not have realized or seen coming. They expect the rookie to come in and struggle with the schedule, workload, playbook, etc. and yes... I'm talking to you Matt Flynn. I think you pulled a Clipboard Jesus and got blindsided.

 

[Scottemojo]

I think playing baseball is why he hasn't hit the rookie wall. He has played a lot more games than this in one year.

 

[Jville]

Thats excellent video. One can certainly see the middle infielder (second baseman) training and experience in his throwing motion on the run. At least this former second baseman can see it. It seperates Wilson from the others we have seen at the position.

I've had the video from that site running on a second monitor. It's kept a big grin on my face for hours now.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

I loved the fact he played baseball and football ever since we drafted him. I was a 3 sport athlete all the way through High School (Football, Basketball, and Baseball) and played QB and infield, and in my experience, skills you learn from other sports transfer over to each other. Especially baseball and quarterbacking.

Wilson's off-the-right-foot-throw and his ability to hit a spot while on the run? That's A LOT from baseball. He couldn't do that as well if he hadn't played baseball, because even though you can practice it as a quarterback, you get soooo many more reps doing it as an infielder.

Thanks for the link, OP. Baseball was my first love, so I like seeing it included with my passion for football.

 

[Scottemojo]

Elway and Kaepernick were both baseball players too.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

Jake Locker, too. And one of his best skills is throwing from the run. That's probably from baseball.

 

[AVL]

Pitchers? Their good at ducking.

Wilson has the best slide.

 

[NYCoug]

Funny how during the draft process, when John Schneider said he likes QB's that have played different positions and can take a hit, most immediately thought he was referring to Tannehill because he played receiver at A&M. Little did we all know that he might have been referring to a 2nd Basemen who was used to getting taken out on take-out slides.