NFL Seattle Seahawks

Russell Wilson’s Legs The Key To Seattle Seahawks’ Offense

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Russell Wilson Seattle Seahawks

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks are a run-first offense. It’s been that way ever since Pete Carroll became coach and the team acquired Marshawn Lynch during the 2010 season. There’s little doubt Lynch is the heart of Seattle’s offense and that the rest of the team feeds off his physical style of play. But it’s Russell Wilson‘s legs, specifically his elusiveness, that makes the Seahawks a dangerous offense. Wilson makes the Seahawks hard to defend. This doesn’t just come from his ability to run the football, which, looking at his statistics, it’s obvious that he can do. He had 489 yards rushing in 2012 and 539 yards rushing last season. He’s already run for 209 yards in 2014 — 122 of which came from last week’s record-breaking performance on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins.

What doesn’t stand out on the stat sheet is how many of these yards come from designed runs and how many come from scrambles. What doesn’t stand out is how many times Wilson has to improvise and make something out of nothing. Of his 96 rush attempts last season, 51 were from scrambles. That means 53 percent of the time Wilson takes off is because the play has broken down, not because it’s designed. Much of the play-calling in Seattle isn’t by the book because it depends on Wilson’s ability to extend plays. He leads the league the past two years with 223 throws outside the pocket and he’s completed 57.4-percent of those throws — the league average is 49.1 percent.

Wilson is truly the Houdini of the NFL. Seattle’s pass protection is arguably the weakest part of their team, yet Wilson is often able to evade pass rushers and extend plays. He turns sure sacks into explosive plays down field because of his ability to move around inside and outside the pocket. If you’ve ever watched Wilson before, you know his scrambling ability is anything but textbook. His first move when eluding defenders is usually backwards, which at times results in big losses of yardage. More often than not, however, he’s able to extend the play and make something happen.

Despite all this, Wilson will never admit to wanting to run. He’d much rather be your typical drop-back passer who stays inside the pocket and let’s the play develop how it should. But his skill set is so unique and so tough to defend that the Seahawks need to take advantage of it. When Wilson is moving around and improvising, the Seahawks’ offense is a potent threat. It’s when the play doesn’t go as planned that Wilson and the Seahawks are most dangerous.

Connor Frederickson is a Seattle Seahawks Writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @cfredrun or add him to your network on Google.

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