Game-manager point-guard quarterback

There have been some really great articles about Russell Wilson on the site these past couple of days - Jacob addressed some of the concerns with Wilson's play that have popped up over the past few weeks, his downfield vision, accuracy, and play outside the pocket, and Kenneth broke down Wilson's season from a statistical point of view in amazing detail - so I'm not going to spend too much more time on the subject, but there were a few things I wanted to talk about from a macro point of view. Because, there have been some interesting perspectives presented this week from analysts I respect, that go against the national media narrative which will likely focus on Wilson as a runner.

As Greg Cosell puts it, "The more quarterbacks run, the more that mentality takes hold. You've got to be really careful with that stuff, and it's easy to be hypnotized by all that." Yes, it is. It's also easy to be hypnotized by how damn well it has been working, and want your team to do it more and more. You have to be careful with that stuff, though.

The read-option may be here to stay as one weapon in a team's arsenal, and even though the pistol can play a role in a team's offensive game-plan , the bottom line, long term, big picture, is that you want to limit the amount of times your quarterback gets hit, period. That means, you want your offensive foundation to follow this simple structure: your quarterback passes, your running back runs the ball.

For Pete Carroll and Tom Cable and Darrell Bevell - all three of whom seem to be 'football purists,' this type of football is the all-time best way to consistently win, especially late in the year (which we're now in). Mitigate as many detracting variables from the Super Bowl winning equation as possible: having an injured starting quarterback is one of the most compounding variables out there. Ask the Redskins.

As Greg Cosell puts it, "The more quarterbacks run, the more that mentality takes hold. You've got to be really careful with that stuff, and it's easy to be hypnotized by all that." Yes, it is. It's also easy to be hypnotized by how damn well it has been working, and want your team to do it more and more. You have to be careful with that stuff, though.

The read-option may be here to stay as one weapon in a team's arsenal , and even though the pistol can play a role in a team's offensive game-plan, the bottom line, long term, big picture, is that you want to limit the amount of times your quarterback gets hit, period. That means, you want your offensive foundation to follow this simple structure: your quarterback passes, your running back runs the ball.

For Pete Carroll and Tom Cable and Darrell Bevell - all three of whom seem to be 'football purists,' this type of football is the all-time best way to consistently win, especially late in the year (which we're now in). Mitigate as many detracting variables from the Super Bowl winning equation as possible: having an injured starting quarterback is one of the most compounding variables out there. Ask the Redskins.

The injury to RG3, which Carroll witnessed up close and personal, and the history of injuries that Carroll witnessed with Steve Young don't necessarily mean the Seahawks will move away completely from featuring the read-option or pistol during these Playoffs (and less importantly to the discussion this week, into next year). It just means, most likely, (and I begrudgingly hope) that it will be just one portion of their play-sheet, and probably a relatively minor auxiliary portion. This is what happened versus the Redskins -- Seattle saved the read-option stuff, mostly, until late in the game, when they really needed it.

I could be underestimating the conservative approach with it, of course, but the point-guard quarterback theme that Carroll has talked about implies that he wants his quarterback to be distributing the football to offensive playmakers, not trying to make all the plays himself. He's not looking for Allen Iverson, he's looking for, say, Chris Paul, maybe.

The Seahawks' still-conservative approach to the read-option (I say that even though they run it more than any other team... but it's still a fraction of their plays), for the most part, aligns with the way that they've managed Wilson and their offense. As Davis Hsu framed it: before unveiling read zone midway through this year, the Seahawks laid the foundation of total commitment to zone scheme with Tom Cable, Marshawn Lynch, their offensive line top-heavy drafting and commitment to the run these past few seasons. Only THEN did they focus more strongly on deep shots out of play action. Only THEN did they implement the zone-read. They needed a strong foundation and four walls before they could start adding on extra wings and a mother-in-law in the backyard by the pool.

It has helped that Carroll has loosened the reins on Wilson, as Wilson has proven the ability/willingness to slide and protect himself from big hits. However, even Russell Wilson's uncanny ability to avoid hits and protect himself will get tested here and there, and the lick he took to the head near the goal-line last week against Washington is an easy reminder that dudes in the NFL are big, strong, fast and explosive. Asking Wilson to get downfield too often, amongst the ever-increasing-speed of linebackers and safeties, is probably tempting fate. Besides, and here's the important thing, Russell Wilson appears to be a guy that can make his money from the pocket/behind the line of scrimmage.

Now, I differentiate from Wilson making his money as a total 'pocket passer' because it doesn't seem like that's honestly what the Seahawks want him to be anyway. John Schneider's told Brock and Salk some of the traits he looks for in a quarterback, long before he drafted Wilson, a quote I keep coming back to because I think it's a good summation:

"How does he manage the game? What's he like on third downs? How does he handle pressure? Is he staring at the pressure coming at him or does he keep his eyes down the field? Can he square his shoulders, can he back out? Can he move? You have to be able to move in this league. I mean, Brock will tell you, we were in Oakland [the infamous Halloween massacre to the Raiders in 2010], I wasn't sure we were going to be able to bring the guy [Hasselbeck] home.