Russell Wilson has two more seasons left on his current Seattle Seahawks contract. You would think that unless he abruptly retires, experiences a career-altering injury, or has the sharpest of declines in performance, Wilson is going to get a new deal and be Seattle’s franchise quarterback heading into the 2020s.
There’s pretty much no denying that Wilson is already the greatest quarterback in franchise history. He’s a Super Bowl champion (and he performed really well in that game, too!), four-time Pro Bowler, the NFL’s passer rating leader in 2015, and has firmly established himself as someone whose name is going to be in the league MVP conversation before the start of every season.
Looking at the statistical leaderboard among all Seahawks quarterbacks, Wilson is in prime position to hold every major record over the next two seasons.
For 2018, the most attainable record to break is Dave Krieg’s 195 touchdown passes (regular season only). Wilson currently sits at 161, so a repeat of his 2017 season will see him match Krieg. Matt Hasselbeck is at 174 TDs, so at a minimum you would think Wilson will move from 3rd to 2nd very soon.
Wilson has 65 wins in 96 career starts, putting him four behind Hass and five back from Krieg. Something would have to go very wrong for the Seahawks to not win six games with Wilson starting this year, so Wilson is almost certainly going to have the most regular season wins of any Seahawks QB when the 2018 campaign is finished.
Krieg is tied with Wilson for most career Game-Winning Drives (which Pro Football Reference defines as “Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter or overtime that puts the winning team ahead for the last time”). Russ is one behind Krieg for career 4th quarter comebacks (PFR: “Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter, with the team trailing by one score, though not necessarily a drive to take the lead. Only games ending in a win or tie are included”). I’d love for the Seahawks to win every game by 40+ points, but you know we’re going to have late-game Russ magic, so these Krieg records are surely on borrowed time.
Meanwhile, Hasselbeck is Seattle’s all-time leader in passing yards at 29,434, with Krieg at 26,132 and Wilson at 22,176. A 4,000 yard season, which isn’t that difficult to manage in today’s NFL, will see Wilson overtake Krieg. Basically the 2019 season is when Wilson will stand alone, should everything play out as normal.
The last record is a bit tricky, as Hasselbeck reigns supreme in terms of completed passes (2,559). Krieg is at 2,096, Wilson is at 1,815, so Russell should pull ahead of Milton College’s finest by the end of this season. However, Wilson is 744 completions behind Hasselbeck, which averages to 372 over two seasons. Wilson’s single-season high is 353, and if the Seahawks are going to retool this offense so that he’s not forced to throw as often as he did in 2017, then Hasselbeck’s record could still be intact at the end of 2019. The alternative is Wilson’s pass attempts remain unchanged, but Russell’s accuracy shoots up to that 68-71% range, giving him a better chance to make it to 2,560.
Wilson is well on his way to being the first Seahawks franchise quarterback to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and when his career is over, one would hope that he won’t only rewrite the Seahawks record books, but also the NFL’s, and be known as one of the all-time greats of the sport.