Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks have finally agreed to a contract extension of four years and $87.6 million dollars with $60 million being guaranteed.
Many say that Russell Wilson is overrated and doesn’t deserve a contract of this magnitude. But I will argue that he is worth every cent to Seattle.
Maybe I’m biased because my name is Russell or maybe these statistics and records speak volumes. Check some of those statistics and records out below:
- Wilson is the first quarterback in NFL history with a passer rating of over 95.0 in each of his first three seasons.
- Wilson has 24 games with a passer rating of 100 or more in his first three seasons. That is more than any other quarterback in NFL history. Joe Flacco, Dan Marino, and Carson Palmer are tied for second with 19 each.
- Wilson leads all quarterbacks in the NFL over the last three years with ten fourth quarter comebacks and 15 game-winning drives. No other quarterback in NFL history has ever done this in their first three years.
- Wilson is one of only five players with at least 20 touchdown passes in each of first three seasons.
- Wilson is the first and only quarterback in the Super Bowl era to have average yards per attempt of 7.6 or better in each of his first three seasons.
- Wilson’s career yards per passing attempt of 7.9, good for fourth best of all quarterbacks since 1951.
- Wilson is ranked number one in career postseason yards per attempt. His career average of 9.01 (minimum 200 pass attempts) is the highest in NFL history.
- Wilson is the only quarterback in NFL history to appear in two Super Bowls in his first three seasons.
- Wilson holds the record for most passing yards in a playoff game by a rookie quarterback with 385 yards. The old record was set in 1937 by Sammy Baugh with 335 yards and that record stood for 75 years.
- Wilson is ranked at number two in all-time career passer rating (minimum 1,200 attempts) with a 98.6. Only Aaron Rodgers has a higher career passer rating.
- Wilson’s passer rating of 98.6 for a player’s first three years is the best in NFL history.
- Including postseason, Wilson’s passer rating of 98.5 for a player’s first three years is the best in NFL history.
- Wilson’s postseason passer rating of 97.8 in his first three years is the best in NFL history.
- Wilson’s career postseason passer rating of 97.8 (minimum 200 attempts) is the fifth best in NFL history.
- Wilson’s touchdown percentage of 5.8 percent in his first three years is the second highest in NFL history. Only Hall of Famer Dan Marino is higher with 6.9 percent.
- Wilson’s interception percentage of 2.1 percent in his first three years is the lowest of any quarterback in NFL history.
- Wilson is ranked number two all-time with a career touchdown to interception ratio of 2.77 (minimum of 1,200 passing attempts) behind only Aaron Rodgers.
- Wilson is ranked number three all-time with a career interception rate of only 2.1 percent, behind only Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.
- Wilson is the first and only quarterback in NFL history to throw for 300 plus yards and run for 100 plus yards (313 & 106) in the same game. That effort came against the Rams on 10/19/14.
- Only one quarterback in NFL history had more than one season with more than 20 touchdown passes and 10 or fewer interceptions in his first three seasons: Wilson, who has had three such seasons.
- Wilson’s 72 touchdowns are the seventh-most ever through a player’s first three seasons.
- Including the postseason, Wilson has 84 passing touchdown’s in his first three seasons, fourth most in NFL history.
- Including the postseason, Wilson has 97 passing and rushing touchdown’s in his first three seasons, third most in NFL history.
- Wilson is ranked number 12 all-time for most passing yards by a quarterback in his first three years with 9,950 yards.
- Including the postseason, Wilson is ranked number five all-time for passing yards by a quarterback in his first three years with 11,770 yards.
- Wilson is ranked number five all-time for most total yards (passing + rushing) by a quarterback in his first three years with 11,827 yards.
- Including the postseason, Wilson is ranked number two all-time for most total yards (passing and rushing) by a quarterback in his first three years with 13,902 yards.
- Wilson has the second highest career yards per attempt in Super Bowl history with 9.85 yards, behind only Terry Bradshaw.
- Wilson has the third highest career passer rating in Super Bowl history with a 117.39, behind only Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Jim Plunkett.
- Wilson has the sixth highest career completion percentage in Super Bowl history with 65.22 percent.
- Wilson has the fourth highest yards per attempt in a Super Bowl game with 11.76 yards per attempt in Super Bowl 49.
- Wilson’s 1,877 rushing yards is second-most by a quarterback in the modern era through three seasons behind Cam Newton’s 2,032 yards.
- Including the postseason, Wilson has the most rushing yards for a quarterback in NFL history in his first three seasons with 2,132 yards.
- Wilson led all NFL rushers in 2014 with an average of 7.2 yards per carry.
- Wilson has a record of having had a lead at some point in 56 straight games since 2012. The old record was 45 games. Also, in those 56 games Wilson has never lost an NFL game by more than nine points.
- Wilson has won 36 games in his first 3 seasons; three more than any other quarterback in NFL history.
- Including the postseason, Wilson has won 42 games in his first three seasons, six more than any other quarterback in NFL history.
Keep in mind that Russell Wilson has played behind an average starting offensive line that really only has Russell Okung as its true star. Russell Okung is also very often injured, leaving Wilson with a below average blindside protector.
So how does Russell Wilson make his magic happen?
Is it the scheme? Well I believe that a good coach develops a scheme to help his players play better. To me it seems as if this former third round pick is very coachable, smart and has an excellent football IQ. Whether he stares down one receiver or runs around until someone is open, he still has to make the throw and his 63 percent completion rate speaks more volumes.
Maybe Russell Wilson has had a lot of help from Marshawn Lynch who is one of the premier running backs in the league. However Wilson still hasn’t had a true number one receiver. He’s playing catch with guys like Doug Baldwin, Ricardo Lockette, and Jermaine Kearse. Those names sound like New York Jets cast-offs and not like the names that Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, and Matthew Stafford get to throw to. Somehow though Wilson finds a way.
He’s got a great touchdown to interception ratio and again, he wins. His playoff stats aren’t spectacular but they’re impressive. He’s got one Super Bowl and I’m sure there will be another Super Bowl victory or two before he retires. Regardless of what every hater thinks, Wilson is better than Cam Newton and Colin Kapernick and his contract isn’t putting the Seahawks in a financial mess, their intelligent drafting is.