PFF numbers show declining Russell Wilson is NFL's biggest checkdown artist

Longtime Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is gearing up for his 14th season in the NFL and first with the New York Giants, buy at this point, it seems like he doesn't have much gas left in the tank.

It's no secret that Wilson, 36, has seen a major decline since the 2022 blockbuster trade that sent him from the Seahawks to the Denver Broncos. His first season in Denver was by far the worst of his career, and while he improved in his second season, it wasn't enough to save his job.

He then spent last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the results were mixed. He showed some flashes of his old self early on, but his hot start proved to be a mirage, as he regressed heavily down the home stretch as the Steelers lost five straight games to end the season. He passed for less than 250 yards in four of those five games, and the lone exception was the wild card loss to the rival Baltimore Ravens - a game they were out of for pretty much the entire second half.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson against the Arizona Cardinals. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

That's concerning enough on its own, but there's something potential even more concerning about his performance last season.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson led the league with a 19.2 percent checkdown rate in 2024. It's obviously nice to know when to check it down, but if he's doing so almost a fifth of the time, there's a problem.

"Wilson led the way in checkdown rate in 2024 (19.2%), completing 53 of 61 such passes for 389 yards and 21 touchdowns, but he finished with a 58.3 PFF passing grade on those plays (sixth worst). Most notably, he threw a pick-six on a checkdown pass in Week 16 against Baltimore..."

In Seattle, Wilson was far from a checkdown artist. He actually had the lowest checkdown rate in the league over his final two seasons with the Seahawks at just 5.8 percent.

Wilson's "moon ball" is still somewhat a part of his game, but with his arm strength declining, it seems like he has to rely on the short passes far more often than before.

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