National Football League

Ex-Seahawks teammates on Russell Wilson: 'He’s not washed up'

Updated Jan. 5, 2023 5:56 p.m. ET

With one game left in a dumpster fire of a season for Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos, the numbers are not pretty for the 34-year-old signal-caller in his first year in the Mile High City.

Wilson has career lows in completion percentage (60.8), passing touchdowns (13) and passer rating (82.5). Mr. Unlimited has been sacked a career-high 53 times. Only Bears QB Justin Fields (55) has been sacked more. According to Next Gen Stats, Wilson has been sacked on 10.4% of his dropbacks this season, 32nd out of 33 qualified quarterbacks.

The Broncos are last in the NFL in points per game (16.0) and third-down conversions (28.4%). With a top-notch defense and explosive playmakers on offense, Denver was expected to reach the postseason for the first time since 2015 and compete for a Super Bowl. Instead, with a game remaining at home against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, the Broncos are in the AFC West cellar at 4-12.

First-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired a day after Denver suffered an embarrassing 51-14 road loss on Christmas to the listless Los Angeles Rams.

Wilson signed a five-year, $245 million contract extension last offseason that includes $165 million in guarantees. If the Broncos want to move on from Wilson, the franchise would take an unprecedented $107 million dead money cap hit in 2023. So whoever the next Broncos head coach is will need a plan to get Wilson back to playing his best.

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A pair of Wilson's former teammates in Seattle, K.J. Wright and Brandon Mebane, say his poor play can be fixed.

"I don't believe a quarterback falls off that fast," Wright, a former Seahawks Pro Bowl linebacker, told FOX Sports in an exclusive interview. "He's not washed up. I do believe he can bounce back from this season. It's just a matter of Russ being honest with himself and getting a coach that will be honest with him.

"And just putting together the right playcaller to get this offense back on track. They have the weapons on paper, but you've got to get the right pieces in place to get Russ back to where we knows he can be."

Let's take a look at how Wilson became an NFL star, what has gone wrong this season and how it can be fixed.

Russell Wilson's early years

Wilson appeared headed toward a Hall of Fame career in Seattle. In 10 seasons with the Seahawks, he helped lead Seattle to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances — including an NFL championship after the 2013 season — and was voted to nine Pro Bowls.

"When Russ first came on the scene, the thing that jumped out to me was his leadership," Wright said. "I thought he came in with a professional attitude, a professional mindset. Definitely a competitive mindset. And you saw when he stepped on the field, he really took command of the offense.

"He's a dual-threat quarterback. He's somebody that can beat you with his legs, can throw the ball deep. Phenomenal off play-action, getting out of the pocket and making his deep-ball throws. So when he first came on the scene, I was like, ‘This guy is going to be our starting quarterback.' He competed with Matt Flynn to earn that job, and it wasn't even close. When you looked at him his first few years, he was a quarterback you could always depend on. He was competitive. You were always in the game. I loved playing with him."

During the early portion of Wilson's career, the Seahawks leaned on running back Marshawn Lynch as the engine of the offense, along with one of the top defenses in the NFL. If Seattle trailed late in games, that's when Wilson would be called upon to create some "Russell Magic."

"Marshawn took a lot of pressure off Russ," former Seahawks defensive lineman Mebane told FOX Sports. "But Russ was great in the 2-minute offense. If you needed to win a game in the final two minutes and I could have any quarterback, I'm taking Russ."

Hackett's offense didn't fit Wilson's skill-set

Both Wright and Mebane believe that Hackett's offense wasn't designed to execute what Wilson does best.

"A lot of coaches, whether it's the NFL, college or high school, the problem is a lot of these coaches don't adjust to the player," Mebane said. "They want the player to adjust to the system. And I think that's the main problem when it came to Nathaniel Hackett. That system didn't fit him. With Russ or any player, you've got to run a system that fits his strengths."

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But Mebane pointed to the way Wilson handled himself off the field, through social media and communication with players and reporters, as something that needs to change. One example is the account of the veteran quarterback working out on the plane on Denver's trip to London.

"Russell needs to stop trying to create a story," Mebane said. "Stop trying to make a documentary, like I'm just so different from everybody else. Football is the ultimate team sport. You need everybody to win, no matter how good you are."

According to Wright, Wilson also deserves blame for his unwillingness to take easy completions on checkdowns, holding on to the ball too long and trying to force the ball downfield.

Wright said the Broncos ran too much dropback passing with Wilson in the shotgun and not enough plays where they moved the pocket. Wright also pointed out that Denver's offense was adversely affected by a season-ending ACL injury in early October to workhorse running back Javonte Williams, along with injuries up front to the offensive line.

"Having played against Javonte last season, I knew coming into this year that this man is going to be a problem for the league," Wright said. "So for him to go down that early in the season, they couldn't really get going. He was supposed to be the man, so Russ lost his workhorse early in the year.

"Russ has always had a running game. That's always been Coach [Pete] Carroll's philosophy: Establish the run and get over 25 rushing attempts a game, and we're going to get our offense going from there. So when Williams went down, that hurt. You saw Melvin Gordon with his fumbles. He got released. That hurt. It was just kind of a mess all around. New head coach. New quarterback in town. Running back goes down. Offensive line gets hurt. It was a disastrous offensive performance from the top down. They're going to have to hit the reset button."

Hire a head coach who holds Wilson accountable

Bringing in someone with head-coaching experience should be the top priority for Denver this offseason, according to Wright. He suggested someone like Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who knows Wilson from his time in Seattle.

"You have to bring in a head coach that's going to be honest with Russell," Wright said. "'Hey Russell, I know your strengths. I know your weaknesses. This is how we're going to do things. This is how this offense is going to look. And this is what our philosophy is going to be' — essentially, whether he likes it or not."

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Wright also mentioned former Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Shottenheimer, who now works with Quinn as a Cowboys consultant.

"Brian Shottenheimer was phenomenal during his time in Seattle with Russ," Wright said. "What he brought to the run game in particular was something that I loved. He ran the powers, he ran the counters, he ran the stretch game. You didn't know what he was going to do run-game wise. And just his presence. He has the leadership qualities, holds guys accountable. I think he would be a very good candidate."

Mebane went in a different direction.

"I feel like the [person who] can run a system and adjust to Russ is Sean Payton," Mebane said. "I think he would be the best fit for Russ. Russ and Drew Brees are the same height. Russ might have a better arm."

Wright and Mebane both believe that Wilson can get back to playing good football and helping Denver win, as he did in Seattle.

"Just to see him week after week, having to go to that podium frowning and sad, that was hard to watch as his former teammate and his friend," Wright said. "But I do believe he's going to do everything possible this offseason to get that taste out of his mouth.

"[He'll] get back to the drawing board to prove to the world that he is a good quarterback."

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Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.