How the NY Giants Can Get the Best from QB Russell Wilson

The Circumstances

When Wilson was with the Steelers in 2024, he played clean and controlled football for the overwhelming majority of the time.

Offensive play-calling has been an issue for Wilson in recent years as he spent 2022 with Nathaniel Hackett as head coach, 2023 with Sean Payton, and 2024 with Arthur Smith as his offensive coordinator.

Those years included his second, third, and fourth-lowest yards per attempt of his career, coinciding with significant upticks in the number of batted balls.

Wilson isn’t without blame, but play-calling wasn’t putting him in ideal positions to succeed at the same time.

In the last three years, Wilson’s play-action attempt percentage took notable drops from the end of his Seahawks tenure, and his metrics took a drop because of it.

Wilson has been significantly better off of play-action throughout his career, except for 2022 and 2023, which were also the only years in which his completion percentage dropped on play-action plays.

The drop in average depth of target likely explains the increase in batted balls. Wilson’s career average depth of target is 9.5 yards; it was down to 8.4, 7.8, and in 2022, it was 9.5.

On film, it also looks like Wilson targeted the underneath middle of the field more often than in previous years, and considering he’s a shorter quarterback, that puts the ball in a better spot for defenders to get a hand on it.

Wilson’s pressure-to-sack ratio has gotten worse in recent years, which is expected as a mobile quarterback enters his mid-30s.

For much of his career, Wilson’s pressure-to-sack ratio was hovering around 16-18% but in recent years it has been up at 23.1%, 20.6%, and 27%.

Unlocking Wilson's Best

When you watch the film, Russ is still Russ. He’s still got it in the arsenal to be an effective and efficient quarterback, but he probably needs the supporting cast to step up a little more than he’s needed in the past.

That protection should be there for him, provided injuries don’t pile up on the offensive line again in 2025.

The only part of his game that’s truly fallen off is that ability to extend plays with his legs, but it’s not that he isn’t mobile; he’s just not as evasive as he once was.

To maximize Wilson’s game at this point in his career, the scheme needs to be more complementary than what he’s had before.

First, protection needs to be ensured. With a healthy offensive line, that might not mean needing to do anything new schematically, but there will still be plays with additional blockers in pass protection.

It would also be beneficial for Wilson and the offense to get him moving. Moving the pocket for him should protect him from pressure from a side, slide the defense over, and give him the option to pick up free yards if the defense gives it to him.

Once protection is in place, give Wilson more opportunities to use play-action and take deep shots downfield.

This receiver room might not be the most technically sound, but they’ve got multiple guys like Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, and Jalin Hyatt that can get vertical and make plays downfield.

Wilson’s one of the best deep-ball passers of all-time, and he’s still got that in his arsenal at an elite level.

In 2024, Wilson was PFF’s highest-graded deep passer among qualifiers with a 97.3 grade.

On 50 attempts of passes 20+ yards downfield, Wilson completed 27 of them for 851 yards with seven touchdowns and just two interceptions.

The recipe for success is there for Wilson in this offense; it’s now just about putting him in a position to succeed.

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