When you reach a certain age, some storylines get boring. No grown adult wants to hear “Swiper, no swiping!” Unironically, anyway.
The same goes for the “turns out they’re not perfect after all” trope, and fantasy football is full of those moments. Sooner or later, players’ vulnerabilities show up in the boxscore. Except for maybe Alvin Kamara.
Cue Russell Wilson, who showed off a new side of his game when the coaching staff decided the time was right for the offense to be more pass-heavy. They let Russ cook, and Wilson supplied weekly all-you-can-eat buffets right out of the gate.
However, in week 10, we learned that Wilson’s culinary skills do in fact have limits.
Russ is Not a Pressure Cooker
He can let his receivers feast, just don’t ask him to take some bullshit shortcuts. You can’t just chuck pigskins in a pressure cooker and expect a quality product, you need to give it a little more time.
Well, the Rams’ pass rush didn’t care about quality when they sacked Wilson six times during their 23-16 win over the ‘Hawks. Russ could only deliver table scraps, with no TDs, 2 INTs, and a lost fumble, with his second-lowest total passing yards in 2020. It’s also the first time this season he completed under 60 percent of his throws.
Beyond the numbers, the Rams’ pressure was enough to clearly get Wilson off his game, enough to manifest in Rotowire’s latest commentary on him.
Affect on Seahawks’ Strategy Moving Forward
This was the first game of the season without starting center Ethan Pocic due to a concussion. Perhaps, that’s as far as the issue goes, and the offense will be clicking like it otherwise was once Pocic’s out of protocol.
It’s worth monitoring, also, that running backs Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde could both return from injury as soon as next week. Would it be wise to think the ‘Hawks couldn’t go back to leaning as run-heavy as we’d been accustomed to seeing them in the Russell Wilson era?
A blueprint is out now for opposing defenses. An overbearing pass rush is the only thing that’s contained Wilson so far this season. Time will tell if teams bring the heat. And if they do, can Russ craftily cook with it, or churn out time-rushed and over-pressurized garbage?
Wilson has worked with not only run-heavy schemes during his career, but also historically weak O-line support, and he’s consistently succeeded anyway. One blimp on an otherwise stellar 2020 campaign, and Russ, along with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, aren’t even sniffing the possibility of losing every-week starter status in fantasy.
