Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, who is 6-1 as a starter this year, has completed 64.8 % of his passes for 1,784 yards (8.4 yards per pass attempt), 12 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a 103.9 passer rating. He is tied for eighht in EPA per drop back among qualified QBs, per TruMedia.
His vintage moon ball has also been on display. In seven games with Wilson under center, Pittsburgh has the most explosive pass game in the NFL (25% of completions for 20+ yards), according to Dan Orlovsky of ESPN.
Many thought Wilson was washed heading into this season. He got off to a rocky start also, as he dealt with a nagging calf injury.
But one thing is clear, the picture that Denver painted of Wilson has been the furthest thing from the truth. Wilson has been a great teammate and has done a lot of great work in the Pittsburgh community. The rumors that he was an elitist and self-centered have been unfounded.
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thinks Denver was upset about being on the hook for nearly $38 million of Wilson’s salary this season, so a lot of misinformation got put out there.
“The problem is, the narrative coming in is Denver, what he went through in Denver and them paying him essentially to not be there,” Roethlisberger said on the WDVE Morning Show on Tuesday. “They’re paying him a lot of money not to be there, which is crazy, right? That’s obviously going to set its own storyline ahead of him to get here.”
Roethlisberger said he wasn’t as concerned as others about Wilson. He felt like he still had a lot of football left.
“Obviously, there’s going to be some question: OK, what Russ are we going to get? As you get older, we’re not seeing Russ do the things he did in Seattle, where he was extending plays for long periods of time and utilizing his legs, but that’s just normal as you become a little bit of an older quarterback,”Roethlisberger said. “Listen, he still has it between the ears. He’s still a very smart football player. He still has an arm. He can still throw the ball down the field. And he can do enough with his legs that we saw last week where he can scramble to get you a couple of yards, he can get out of pressures.”
Wilson was inactive for the Steelers’ Week 2 win over the Denver Broncos at Mile High, but there is a possibility that the Steelers could host Denver in the Wild Card Round game. If that occurs, the storylines will be endless.
Wilson, who turns 36 on Nov. 29, is expected to re-sign with the Steelers this offseason, according to NFL insider Dianna Russini.
“The free-agent QB market is lacking, with Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson among the top names — though Wilson is expected to stay with the Steelers and the Vikings could decide to keep Darnold if he’s willing to be a backup,” Russini wrote.