Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is heading into a make-or-break season. If he falls flat on his face in the Steel City, it most likely will mark the end of his career. It would also tarnish his Hall of Fame chances and legacy.
NFL analyst Scott Kascmar ranked Wilson as a Tier 5 quarterback (20th overall) heading into the 2024 season. Kascmar labeled his Tier 5 quarterbacks as “Situationships.” Along with Wilson — Trevor Lawrence, Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Daniel Jones and Deshaun Watson were in the group.
“Our largest tier, everyone here has been to the playoffs at least once in their NFL career. But they’re a little Jekyll & Hyde, so can you trust them to get back, or is their peak a close divisional round loss these days? Better question: How many of these quarterbacks do you honestly see starting for this team in 2025?” Kascmar wrote.
“This situationship tier could be one that’s heavy on stopgaps and bandages until these teams part ways and find their next quarterbacks.”
Wilson had a tumultuous two-year tenure with the Denver Broncos. He certainly never lived up to the trade and the massive contract he signed worth $245 million.
However, on the flip side, he had a 26-8 touchdown-interception ratio and a 98.0 quarterback rating last season. He also was very accurate. According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football, Wilson had the fifth-lowest rate of incompletions due to inaccurate passes (25.3%) last season.
Wilson is not the same player that he was 10 years ago in Seattle. He has some major flaws, like taking unnecessary sacks. But I think he was a lot better than what people give him credit for last year in Denver.
“When Russell Wilson joined the Denver Broncos in 2022, that should have led to some great matchups with Mahomes and the Chiefs. Instead, the Broncos had the worst offense in the league and Wilson had the worst season of his career. Adding Sean Payton as the coach last year was supposed to fix Wilson, but it was a marginal improvement, and the team opted to take a record amount of dead money rather than bring him back,” Kacsmar wrote.
“Going on 36 years old, Wilson is now with the Steelers, who haven’t had a losing season since 2003. They love playing close games under Mike Tomlin, something Wilson lives for as the engineer of 43 game-winning drives.”
If things go sideways in Pittsburgh, Kascmar thinks Wilson could be the next Donovan McNabb, who fizzled out of the NFL after his catastrophic one season with the Washington Redskins in 2010. Similar to Wilson’s situation in Denver, McNabb signed a massive five-year, $78 million extension with Washington, but was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in July of 2011. McNabb played just six games with Minnesota that season. which was his last in the NFL.
“That ruined McNabb’s Hall of Fame case, and the same could happen to Wilson, who once looked like a lock for Canton,” Kasmar wrote. “Wilson should still be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but something has been off with his game for several years now. Maybe the loss of speed and accumulation of sacks have taken their toll. It’s a huge year for his future.”