May 19, 2019

Is Russell Wilson going to be mediocre in 2019? No. But the Seahawks are. With Kam Chancellor and Doug Baldwin retired and Earl Thomas and Frank Clark gone to new homes, Seattle is in full rebuild mode. The leader of this rebuild is going to have to be Russell Wilson and his shiny new contract extension. Tyler Lockett took a step up in the absence of Doug Baldwin in 2018.  However, he still only had 57 receptions for 965 yards. The key to his implied success was his 10 touchdowns and as we all know touchdowns are the hardest stat to project from season to season. He is not a high reception guy, and neither is rookie D.K. Metcalf. Both of these receivers do one thing well and that thing is going deep with speed. There is still no one to take control of the underneath to allow for those deep shots to be open. Another thing to worry about with the team is their rushing ability. They were first in the NFL in rush attempts in 2018, and it seemed to work very well for them as they made it to the playoffs. Therefore, why would they go away from it this season? Unlike in past seasons, Wilson was not a major part of the run game in 2018 and it was his first season without a rushing touchdown since he entered the league. With the run game going through Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny and the pass game taking a hit, it will be hard for Russell Wilson to pay dividends on his current draft price of the sixth round as QB7. Based on other players in this area, A player like Carson Wentz going a full two rounds later provides a safer play with the upgrades made to the offense in Philadelphia this offseason. Wilson is not going to kill your team if you draft him. But at this price, you don’t want a quarterback who is not going to kill you. You want a quarterback who is going to win weeks for you. At least for 2019, this is not Wilson. What he is for 2019 is the QB7 off the board who needs everything to go right to finish as QB7. Whereas the likes of Ben Roethlisberger going as QB17 or Philip Rivers going as QB14 are being drafted at their floor, Wilson is being drafted at his ceiling. A bet which is not likely to be a winning one at the end of the season.--Dominick Petrillo - RotoBaller