Friday, September 22

Looking back at Russell Wilson’s draft year: “The whole league missed”


Ten years ago Thursday, Russell Wilson received the life-changing call informing him he was being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks … a team that signed a new starter a month earlier … after five other quarterbacks had already been selected … in the third round.

Wilson didn’t care that Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden (!) and Brock Osweiler were selected before him. He didn’t care the Seahawks already had Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson. And he didn’t care people had concerns about his height.

“All I’ve ever said is I need one person to give me a chance — one team,” Wilson said when I asked about that draft earlier this week. “Seattle gave me that amazing chance.”

In turn, Wilson delivered amazing results for the Seahawks and compared to the rest of the quarterbacks drafted in 2012.

Regular season wins: Wilson 104, Tannehill 72 and Luck 53.

Touchdown passes: Wilson 292, Kirk Cousins 223 and Tannehill 199.

Playoff wins: Wilson nine and four apiece for Foles and Luck.

Super Bowl appearances: Wilson two (1-1 record) and Foles one (1-0).

I asked Broncos general manager George Paton last week if he remembered scouting Wilson.

“We all misevaluated him,” Paton said. “Really good player (in college). I think everybody dinged him because of his stature and baseball. That was a time when quarterbacks who weren’t 6-foot-3, you didn’t have as high on your board.”

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