Wilson still doesn’t get his due as a passer
Pro Bowl selectors snub Seahawks quarterback in arguably his best season
TORONTO — Maybe Pro Bowl voters were looking only at Russell Wilson’s passing statistics.
Because, although 17 NFL quarterbacks threw for more yards than Wilson did in Year 7 with the Seattle Seahawks (3,448):
only two had a better pass-efficiency rating than his career-best 110.9 (Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes);
only two (Mahomes and Andrew Luck) threw more touchdowns than Wilson’s career-best 35;
only two season-long starters threw fewer interceptions than Wilson’s career low of seven (Brees and Aaron Rodgers);
and only two had a better touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio than Wilson’s careerbest 5-to-1 (Rodgers and Brees).
We could go on.
Yet Wilson was snubbed by Pro Bowl selectors for only the second time in his career.
Brees, of the New Orleans Saints, Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams and Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers were named as the NFC’s top three QBs ahead of him.
Wilson and the Seahawks (10-6) will attempt to extend their impressive 2018 late-season run into the playoffs, when they face visit the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys (10-6) on Saturday in the first of two weekend NFC wild-card games (5:15 p.m., CTV via FOX).
It’s still possible that Wilson will get a Pro Bowl invitation, either as an injury or unavailability replacement. But Wilson surely hopes he’s the one NFC starting quarterback who’ll be unavailable.
That is, waiting for the Super Bowl with his Seahawks teammates, with the Pro Bowl taking place on the Sunday (Jan. 27) between the conference title games and the Super Bowl. For whatever reasons, Wilson’s star still doesn’t seem to shine as brightly as it should in the NFL world. What a shame that is. Perhaps it’s a function of how much he used to run early in his career. He rushed for as many as 849 yards in his third season (2014), when the Seahawks nearly won their second straight Super Bowl.
But while he averaged 608 yards over his first four NFL seasons, over the past three he has averaged 407 on the ground. And this year, just 376 — well behind Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (697), Buffalo’s Josh Allen (631), Houston’s Deshaun Watson (549), Carolina’s Cam Newton (463) and Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky (421).
Perhaps no two statistics speak to Wilson’s top-shelf passing acumen better than the following:
First, entering this season, Wilson ranked third to only Rodgers and Tom Brady in the NFL career record book in TDs-to-INTs ratio. Rodgers after this season improved his from 4.01-to-1 to 4.23-to-1. Brady’s dipped from 3.05-to-1 to 3.02-to-1. Wilson’s rose from 2.88-to-1 to 3.11-to-1.
Right. He has bumped Brady from No. 2 all-time in one of the most important bellwether measures for quarterbacks. Just for reference, the Montanas, Mannings, Youngs, Breeses, Romos, McNabbs, Roethlisbergers, et al, are all in the career range of 1.89- to 2.17-to-1.
Secondly, Wilson has thrown 124 touchdown passes over the past four seasons. That’s two more than Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers and tied with Brees. Only Brady has more — one more, 125.
So you better believe it: Russell Wilson is an elite Top 5 NFL quarterback, whether or not he gets that due. At his weekly news conference Wednesday on the southeast shore of Lake Washington in Renton, Wash., Wilson did not care to talk much about his personal statistics or achievements, other than to explain why touchdowns might be the most important one.
“Touchdowns are a big predictor of how you’re going to do on offence,” the 30-yearold said. “You want to be able to throw touchdown passes and run the ball in there as well ... It’s been a great season, offensively.
“We’ve been able to make a lot of plays, do a lot of special things, lead the league in a lot of categories as a team.”
Then there’s this. No NFL quarterback this season was as durable as Wilson. He’s the only one who did not miss a single snap in 16 games. For him, that’s 1,069.
“Ultimately I want to be reliable for these guys, our team, and (do) whatever it takes to be out there and do everything I can to help our football team win. That’s why, no matter what the circumstances are, I’m expecting to play.”
At one hell of a high level.