Russell Wilson 'Lost His Athleticism': Broncos Legend Shannon Sharpe on Seahawks Ex QB

"Russell Wilson has lost athleticism. Russ cannot outrun anybody'' - Broncos ex Shannon Sharpe, pinpointing the problem for the former Seahawks QB.

At some point, this all qualifies as piling on.

Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson is officially now the dregs of the NFL, a rock-bottom player and a rock-bottom team that after losing 51-14 to the Rams on Christmas Day - with Wilson throwing three interceptions - fired coach Nathaniel Hackett. ...

Leaving Wilson, the former Seattle Seahawks star who last offseason engineered his way to Denver in a blockbuster trade, right in the line of fire.

But what if the criticism isn't just "piling on,'' but rather, a football-smart observation?

On Monday morning, Shannon Sharpe of FS1's "Undisputed" put Wilson on blast for his Christmas Day performance.

"Russell has lost athleticism. Russ cannot outrun anybody," Sharpe said. "So he can’t make those improvisational plays like he could for those first 10 years in Seattle. You'd never see Russ get dragged down from behind. 

"Now, Russ don’t look like he could outrun me."

Indeed, we've seen suggestions of how Denver must "build around'' Wilson going forward, but ...

1) Didn't the Broncos already do that with the failed 2022 roster?

2) Isn't it going to be difficult to convince the next head coach that Wilson is "the answer'' rather than "the albatross''?

3) While some suggest "mobility'' be the key to a Wilson-led offense in Denver ... isn't Sharpe telling us that at 34, Russ can no longer actually be very mobile?

Consider this Twitter exchange involving another network expert, Dan Orlovsky (a former NFL QB) and our own Corbin K. Smith, who has studied Wilson (who this year has 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions) even more intensely than Sharpe and Orlovsky put together ...

From Orlovsky: To fix Russ ...  Need a coach to build everything around an offense that is “out of the pocket” based rather than “in-the-pocket-based.”

Responds Corbin: "The issue with this, of course, is wondering what that looks like with a quarterback who hasn't been as willing to run/doesn't appear to be the athlete he once was and will be 35 next November. Tough situation ...''

Corbin is being kind here. ... but he's saying the same think Sharpe is saying.

"Hey Russ, you better get back on your grind,” Sharpe said. “You better make sure they know that this was a ‘blip’ and not a trend because they’ll eat your money next year.''

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983. He is the author of two best-selling books on the NFL.