After the worst season of Russell Wilson's storied NFL career, the Denver Broncos made the necessary head coaching change from Nathaniel Hackett to Sean Payton. Can Payton subsequently get Wilson back on track?
Russell Wilson is already 34 years old, so this type of analysis and evaluation becomes very tricky. Is he simply over the hill, or was Hackett truly that bad as the head coach of the Broncos?
You can understand both sides of the coin, as Wilson was on a Hall-of-Fame pace, but was he already starting to slow down toward the end of his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks?
Let's dive in and take a closer look.
Seahawks: Russell Wilson wore out his welcome in Seattle
Towards the end of his tenure with the Seahawks, some interesting Russell Wilson headlines started to pop up. The word 'diva' started getting thrown around. Marshawn Lynch openly discussed how Wilson alienates his teammates.
Was the writing already on the wall? Could his potentially negative impact on team culture no longer be ignored?
All good things come to an end, but wouldn't you still want to retain a Hall of Fame starting quarterback if you trusted him on the field?
There seemed to be a lack of confidence in both on-and-off field when it came to the organization's real-time evaluation of Russell Wilson.
Broncos: Russell Wilson tumbled to career lows last season
The numbers are staggering.
Wilson plummeted to a career low 84.4 standard passer rating last season in Denver. This is a man with a rating of 100 or more seven times.
His QBR dropped to a ridiculously bad 36.7. Wilson had normally been averaging around 70. His completion percentage also hit a career low at 60.5. It was just a complete disaster, across the board.
Is there anything Sean Payton can do to get Russell Wilson back on track in the final quarter of his NFL career?
Broncos: Is Sean Payton the man to 'fix' Russell Wilson?
Unfortunately for the Denver Broncos and their faithful, Sean Payton's been making headlines off the field, as opposed to on.
By now, we've all heard that his comments about Hackett were completely out of line. He broke 'The Code' of NFL coaches.
But getting back to the business on the field, is Payton the man to fix Wilson?
Of course, the former comes with a very strong coaching resume, but I'm getting the sense that he's already come to realize Wilson's limitations at 34 years of age. Just my personal view: I think Payton is already worried.
This simply isn't the Seattle Seahawks' version of Russell Wilson.
I think Payton feels he's already in over his head, thus the bizarre comments to the media.
At this point, I think you can see where I'm going with this: I personally don't think Payton can fix Wilson, but I suppose that's why they play the games. Let's buckle up for a wild ride in Bronco Land this upcoming NFL season.
John Frascella is a published sports author who has been covering the NFL for 19 years. Follow him on Twitter aka 'X' @LegendSports7 for all things NFL, NBA and MLB throughout the year.
