Russ - Part 1

 It's Russ vs. Justin.  The battle to the end, the battle to end all battles, the showdown.  The only thing about it is, this doesn't seem like a war between the two.  It seems like a chance to start over for each of them.   Granted, Russ is nearing the end of his career and starting over would give him another few years.  Justin, on the other hand, still has a long career left.  It could be as a starter if he seizes the moment or it could be as a backup if his play is mediocre.  You can last a looooonnnngggg time in this league as a backup going from team to team.

Let's take a look and see how Russ got to this point.  Russ is the elder statesman of this qb battle.  He is originally from Richmond, Virginia.  He was a 2-star recruit and ended up going to N.C. State to play football and baseball for the Wolfpack.  He played at N.C. State from 2008 to 2010.  

In 2008 he won the QB job after splitting time with 2 other QBs. That season he finished with 150 of 275 completions for 1,955 yards and 17 TDs.  In 2009 he was on the All-ACC preseason team.  He passed for 3,027 yards with 31 tds and 11 ints. on 224 of 378 passes.  In 2010 he went 308 for 527 with 28 tds and 14 ints.  He also had 388, 260, and 435 rushing yards in those years.  I'd say he was a little bit mobile and a lot of an athlete.  

After the 2010 season he decided to report to the Colorado Rockies Spring Training.  Seems as though his N.C. State coach didn't agree with his multisport aspirations and there was a parting of the ways.  After some interest from Wilson to entering the NFL draft, but little interest from the NFL, Russ committed to Wisconsin for the 2011 season, and it seems like it was a good choice for him.  He passed for 225 of 309 with 33 tds and 4 ints and threw in 338 rushing yards for good measure.  He was named All Big Ten and won the award for best Big 10 QB named after two pretty good qbs, Griese and Brees.  He then led the Badgers to the Big 10 Championship game and then the Rose Bowl.  He also managed to set the FBS season record for pass efficiency and was named 3rd team All American. 

That all led to the next logical step in a football player's progression, the NFL.  He had proven himself in college.  He was only lacking in one category to make him a high draft pick.  This has not been mentioned previously in this story, but Russ is only 5-10 and 5/8.  Those NFL teams love the prototypical 6-4 or bigger qb with the big gun that can throw darts(lol, Jeff).  Unfortunately for Russ, he lacked the stature.  If he was a few inches taller he probably would have been a second rounder at the least.  

The draft came around and the "experts" projected him as a mid-draft selection.  It seems that he fell into a perfect situation for himself when Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks decided to take him in the third round of the draft.  The "draft experts" laughed at the usage of a 3rd rounder for Wilson.  He was too short to be successful in the NFL.  They basically didn't like several other of the Seahawks picks also.  It wasn't just Russ.  The Seahawks had also signed another qb that everybody assumed would end up as the starter.  Matt Flynn had a few good games in Green Bay backing up Aaron Rodgers the year before and Seattle signed him to a free agent contract.

Russ competed with Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson to start and ended up winning that battle.  It turns out  that Carroll either got lucky selecting Russ or he actually saw something in him that told him that Russ wasn't just a short guy that was good in college.  He performed very well in his first year, garnering player of the week honors, setting a record for rookie qb rating, and taking his team to the playoffs.  The Seahawks ultimately lost in the playoffs in 2012, but the next year Russ would show his talent even further.

In 2013 Russ continued his excellence and he and the Seahawks dominated the Denver Broncos and claimed the championship of the NFL.  He finished with 26 tds, nine ints and a 101.2 qb rating.  In the Super Bowl he passed for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns.  

In 2014 Wilson took the Seahawks back to the postseason and again went to the Super Bowl.  He was the first NFL qb to reach the Super Bowl in 2 of  his first 3 seasons.  The Seahawks were in position to win the game but a controversial decision to pass instead of run the ball near the end of the game ended unsuccessfully.  

Wilson continued to be successful with the Seahawks in 2015.  In July he signed 4 year, 87.6 million dollar contract with the Seahawks.  He broke several Seahawk records in the season, including passing yards, tds, and qb rating.  The Seahawks were not able to return to the NFC Championship though.  Despite an amazing comeback attempt they were stopped by the Carolina Panthers.

In 2016 Wilson continued his aerial attack, throwing for a career high 4,219 yards.  He did suffer injuries that year that seemed to cause his vaunted mobility to suffer.  The Seahawks fell to the eventual NFC champ Atlanta Falcons in a divisional round game ending their season.