Big Blue View
That depends more on Wilson than Daboll
New York Giants fans, as well as the media, have understandably focused much of their attention on the Giants’ rookie quarterback, Jaxson Dart. In a way, though, that’s odd because the Giants also brought in veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, who has a Super Bowl ring, almost had another, is a good bet to make the Hall of Fame, and is likely to be the starting QB in Game 1 this year.
If you doubt Wilson’s HOF chances, take a look at the Pro Football Reference Hall of Fame Monitor. This formula weighs a variety of factors that they have concluded are most predictive of who will (not who should) get into the HOF based on the habits of HOF voters:
Wilson’s HOF Monitor value is already higher than 11 HOF quarterbacks (HOFers are indicated in boldface; the chart only shows the first three whose HOF Monitor is lower than Wilson’s) and higher than Eli Manning’s.
The funny thing about Wilson, though, is that for a future HOFer, he generates very little excitement or respect among fans and football analysts. The reason, of course, is that he appears to be well into the downside of his career. Wilson was traded by Seattle to Denver, lasted only two seasons, was traded to Pittsburgh, and the Steelers moved on after just one season. The Giants got him for one year and $10.5 million. It’s not a ringing endorsement.
Off-field issues about Wilson’s personality and disagreements with his coaches have been written about quite a bit. Let’s (mostly) forget about the former and stick to the football aspect. Here’s the question I’d like to pose: Has Russell Wilson ever had a head coach who thought he was or could be a great quarterback?
Wilson was a third-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, presumably because at 5-foot-11 it was thought he couldn’t thrive in the NFL. Wilson was chosen after No. 1 pick Andrew Luck and No. 2 pick Robert Griffin III, but also behind No. 8 Ryan Tannehill, No. 22 Brandon Weeden, and No. 57 Brock Osweiler.
Wilson’s head coach in Seattle, Pete Carroll, had a run-first mentality in designing his offense, as we will show shortly. You can’t blame him with Marshawn Lynch running the ball in the early part of Wilson’s career. The Seahawks won a Super Bowl playing offense that way and relying on their ‘Legion of Boom’ defense to stifle the opponent in 2013. They almost won a second in 2014, but didn’t because Carroll called for a pass rather than a handoff to Lynch on fourth down near the goal line in the closing seconds.
Wilson saw things differently. In an NFL that was increasingly favoring the pass over the run, he thought he was capable of carrying the offense with his arm. Wilson has always been conscious of his legacy. According to ESPN’s reporting, Wilson wanted to win an MVP award, and the Seahawks’ coaching staff felt that it affected...
