Russell Wilson Starts, Continues to Dominate Pre-Season for the Seahawks

The pre-season doesn’t count, but it really matters. You hear that statement made all the time and it’s become extremely cliche’, but it’s also very true. The pre-season REALLY matters for the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson, who is trying to win a starting job over the incumbent Tarvaris Jackson, and the big money free agent pickup Matt Flynn.

Sure, Jackson has been a starter in this league basically since 2006, and sure, Flynn was dazzling in two spot starts for Green Bay last year. None of that matters because tonight, it was Russell Wilson who shined above all else and continues to show why he deserves to be the starting quarterback in the upper northeast’s most cherished sports team.

Wilson was a super-stud, Heisman candidate for the Wisconsin Badgers last year, where my man crush for him first developed. Wilson was an All-ACC performer, but struggled with accuracy at times as a member of the North Carolina State Wolfpack. When he got to Wisconsin, he was nearly untouchable, and if not for two freak plays at the end of some fluke games, Wilson and the Badgers would have played for a national title.

Then, he was picked in the third round by the Seattle Seahawks. Not only is Wilson a perfect fit for the West Coast offense (which he knows like the back of his hand) he is also a perfect fit for the NFL, because he is a playmaker and doesn’t back down from any challenge despite being under six feet tall.

He is consistently impressive in everything he does, from making great decisions with the football to bouncing right back from the mistakes he does make. He is quick on his feet but isn’t a running quarterback. If he were four inches taller, he would have probably been the top pick or at least under consideration. He is mentally tough, physically tough, a fantastic athlete, and he has a cannon for an arm.

Am I overreacting to a pre-season performance, or is Wilson really the real deal? If I’m betting money on it, I say Wilson is the Seahawks’ starting quarterback opening day, and they never look back.

On Friday night, he completed 13 of 19 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, as the Seahawks moved to 3-0 in the pre-season and Wilson continued his overall dominance of the rest of the league with a 44-14 victory.

Clearly, this is a player who is maturing well-beyond his years. He distributes the ball really well, knows how to find open receivers, makes good reads, and I think he has a very stable if not potentially dominant running game to lean on throughout the season with Marshawn Lynch (Pro Bowl) and rookie Robert Turbin (14 carries, 93 yards, TD).

This is a player I think Seahawks fans can be really excited about moving forward, a guy who can potentially lead them to the playoffs sooner rather than later.