While Russell Wilson‘s move to the Steelers has acquired approval from experts and fans, the dent it has caused the Broncos, especially with an $85 million dead cap, has left many criticizing his time with the team. In fact, after former coach Sean Payton’s recent comments about the QB, Fox Sports 1’s First Things First co-hosts explored Wilson’s overall attitude in the past season. And they didn’t have great things to say!

The Super Bowl Champion, who moved teams from Seahawks to Broncos and now Steelers, couldn’t please all those who saw his career trajectory.

NFL analysts unfold the reason behind Sean Payton-Russell Wilson dynamics 

On the show ‘The Herd’, Colin Cowherd pointed out how the former Broncos QB received criticism for “holding the ball” and backed the same through data. He mentioned that Wilson lacked a vision of the field due to his stature. He took a lot of sacks because, in some instances, he didn’t have the complete picture of what was going down the field. Also, Wilson’s issue with holding on to the ball more than he needed to, resulted in “drive-killing plays.”

“I thought Russell Wilson was playing a selfish brand of quarterback,” said co-host Nick Wright. “What I meant by that was, I think Russell Wilson knew he was going to looking for work this summer, and knew he needed to have something to hang his hat on and determine pretty early on, that’s going my touchdown interception ratio.”

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However, this is not where the analyst stopped. Wright further explained his perspective on why the Broncos decided to bench Russell Wilson. He mentioned with regard to Wilson’s attitude and the numbers he was trying to make, “That is going to be that you’re going to able to put up the stats and say look at the passer rating, look at the touchdown ratio. … I am still good. I am better than you think. And in service of that Colin, he took some of the worst, most drive killing, inexplicable sacks I have ever seen.”

“And that is 95 sacks over the last two seasons for Russell Wilson. This past season, there were opportunities to make plays. And instead, he ate the football because he was, I think, trying to protect his numbers. So I think that’s what Sean Payton is talking about.”

In the 2023 season alone, Wilson took 45 sacks while maintaining a 26-8 touchdown interception ratio. Colin Cowherd pointed out how Russell Wilson is one of the most polarizing figures in the league. For the analysts, the QB, in the wake of protecting his numbers, made some glaring mistakes on the field, which was visible to the HC as well. Per Wright, that is the reason why he got benched. But what did Payton say about Wilson?

When the coach was recently asked about what the offense needed to do in order to score more points, Peyton said, “Well, I think this: No. 1, we can’t take as many sacks. If you looked at any of the data relative to what it does for your drives, I think that was a big thing that hurt us a year ago. But obviously, you have to be efficient running the ball.” Clearly, the criticism won’t stop.

The Broncos ex-QB was buried in slander early on

Sports Illustrated pointed out that Wilson’s penchant for extending plays, getting pressured in clean pockets and a couple of fumbles became a bane for the Broncos. All of this happened despite the Broncos having a solid O-Line, which ranks in the top 10 as per Pro Football Focus.

In fact, people have noticed how he gets anxious through his progressions. His missing open receivers and disposing of the ball to a running back became a problem, too. Russell Wilson wasn’t consistent. And this took place despite Sean Payton’s best efforts. He felt the QB’s off-field commitments were distracting him.

Many were surprised by Wilson’s faltering performance. Initially, people saw him as a potential Hall of Fame player. But 2022-2023 saw his worst as the Broncos had a 5-12 regular season. They were last in the AFC West division. Remember their game against the Kansas City Chiefs? While the Broncos’ defense was good, Wilson struggled. It was one of the worst games of his career. With a 19-8 loss, the team dropped to 1-5.

During the KCC game, he passed for 95 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. It was his first game where he finished with less than 150 passing yards.

Now the Denver team has a 12 first-round pick and Payton might be looking for ways to get ahead of the Vikings, who have the 11 overall pick. But to really get his hands on a top QB prospect, Payton and his squad need to have a top 5 pick to solidify their QB position. And fans are hopeful that this time around, they choose the right quarterback.

It will be interesting to see how things fall back into their place for the team by April 25. Having a player who fits Payton’s requirements is essential. After all, statistical evidence shows how having the wrong QB led to a lot of issues for the Broncos. What do you think?

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