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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Nuqo on 2023-07-31 01:09:20.

Saw a post asking “what happened to Russell Wilson” and saw a lot of comments giving the same tired narratives I’ve seen before. So I thought I’d chime in as someone who’s watched every game of his career in Seattle.

I’ll be straight up that I’m 100% a homer, but I won’t say I thought Wilson was ever snubbed of MVP or anything like that. He was the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th best option many years, never quite #1. He was very consistent, but his absolute peak was short-lived (2018-early 2020).

Anyways heres the stats of his often overlooked early years. The time where people say he was carried by his defense and run game, when the truth is they were all very important pieces to the puzzle.

Russell Wilson’s first 4 NFL seasons:

2012: 6th in EPA/Play, *5th in PFF Grade, 3rd in QBR, 4th in Passer Rating

2013: 6th in EPA/Play, *4th in PFF Grade, 9th in QBR, 7th in Passer Rating

2014: 5th in EPA/Play, *9th in PFF Grade, 6th in QBR, 10th in Passer Rating

2015: 3rd in EPA/Play, 5th in PFF Grade, 4th in QBR, 1st in Passer Rating

*His PFF grades could be wrong. They were difficult to figure out since I actually found differing answers such as him being as high as 2nd in 2012 and as low as 14th in 2014.

Both Super Bowl performances:

2013

R. Wilson: 0.548 EPA/Play / P. Manning: -0.178 EPA/Play

2014

R. Wilson: 0.237 EPA/Play / T. Brady: 0.257 EPA/Play (Wilson actually had a higher adjusted EPA/Play)

From 2012 - 2015, including postseason, Wilson was 3rd in EPA/Play behind only Rodgers and Brady.

Wilson’s efficiency was among these names already in his first 4 years, AKA the years people say he was carried by an elite defense and run game.

He was also 1st in completion percentage over expected during this time.

Yes the defense and run game were elite and he doesn’t win that SB without them. No he wasn’t “carried”. Wilson did more than enough at the most important position.

After that we get into the years where the team lacked talent at many positions, yet the coaching staff and Wilson’s play kept them in the playoff picture year after year.

Edit: I also remember a PFF tweet I saw a while back that listed the top graded QBs they’ve ever graded. I don’t remember the exact order but it was essentially:

Brady, Rodgers, Manning, Brees, Mahomes, Wilson. That is ELITE company