Is Russell Wilson’s move to the Denver Broncos a bust? QB’s terrible displays raise concerns 

Russell Wilson started his Denver Broncos career in the worst possible manner. The Colorado franchise sits with a 2-3 record, but their play hasn’t even merited as good a record as that.

Nobody thought Russell Wilson would struggle to this degree. Everyone accepts that adjusting to a new franchise can take time, but this is a player who is considered to be one of the very best in the NFL.

His performances have been poor, and Nathaniel Hackett has not coached a gameplan in which Russell Wilson can thrive. There are serious problems at the Mile High Stadium.

At what point is Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos trade considered a disastrous bust?

Russell Wilson has found nothing but pain in Denver so far

After five NFL games with the Broncos, the optimists will say that it’s still too early to make a judgment on the trade. To a point, this is a valid view.

However, Denver’s current roster was built to win, and Wilson was signed to push them over the line. At the moment, neither is happening.

The window for success in the NFL is brief. The Broncos never fully recovered from Peyton Manning’s retirement and have wasted the subsequent years.

Von Miller wasn’t willing to wait around for a quality quarterback to arrive. Now that they have one, it is shocking that the offense is performing so poorly.

It’s difficult to pick a precise reason for why this is happening. Russell Wilson is not playing well. He isn’t confident in his throws, and he doesn’t really have any rhythm with his receiving corps.

Yet, the offense isn’t being set-up well at all. Nathaniel Hackett looks out of his depth coaching an NFL team. He isn’t getting the best out of his star centerpiece and is making bizarre decisions.

In the opening game of the season, he took the ball out of Russell Wilson’s hands to go for a 64-yard field goal on 4th and short. You don’t do that.

Notwithstanding the fact, it took the chance to win a game against his former team away. This also showed a lack of faith in the QB.

The relationship has never recovered, and a change will need to happen.

Denver Broncos fans are worried

Russell Wilson arriving as the savior in Denver put a lot of pressure on him. In a tough AFC West, they have already fallen way behind the Kansas City Chiefs.

Fans were promised a roster that could run to the playoffs. Wilson was the aforementioned X-Factor, but after five games, the supporters are already looking at another lost season.

Wilson signed a five-year contract worth $245 million in the offseason, as detailed by ESPN. Teams don’t usually give up on such an expensive asset quickly.

It’s interesting to wonder just when the tide will turn against the former Seahawks QB. At the moment, fans are putting a lot of blame at the door of the coaching staff. Hackett will likely be fired before the end of the season if things don’t improve, but will that really solve the issue?

Russell Wilson has been declining for a while

Russell Wilson has to take his share of the blame for Seattle's downfall

There is an uncomfortable truth about Russell Wilson’s game. Not many have wished to acknowledge it for fear of looking silly. However, he has been declining for a while.

Now this may seem like a ridiculous statement for a player who threw for 40 touchdowns and 4112 yards in 2020, but it’s true.

Patterns have emerged. In his final season in Seattle, he threw for 25 touchdowns, almost half of his tally the previous season. His total yards had also dropped from 4112 to 3113.

Seattle, of course, had a poor roster, but the malaise took Wilson with it. Fans wanted Pete Carroll to ‘let Russ cook’, but the reality was that his magic in the kitchen had long since left the building.

In 2021, he recorded his lowest pass completion percentage since 2017. In his five games with the Broncos, this has dropped even further to 59.4 percent.

Coaches don’t impact completions. The quality of the throw just hasn’t been there. Wilson’s performances in Denver have been worse than in his final Seahawks days. There’s no avoiding it.

Can Russell Wilson’s Denver career be rescued?

At 33 years old, it would be foolish to say Wilson’s best years are behind him. There are too many examples of aging QBs being at their best as they near 40.

However, the signs at present aren’t good. Wilson needs a full reset.

The ‘let Russ cook’ movement needs to be left behind. The only way Wilson and Denver can succeed is with a full-scale rebuild around the quarterback.

Seattle wasn’t willing to do it, yet Denver has 245 million reasons to.

A coaching change is the first step, and then you need to acquire receivers who can help Wilson. There is a reason why Tom Brady wouldn’t sign for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until he knew they would sign the offensive players he wanted around him.

Russell Wilson can lead a team to a championship, even now when it looks like he is headed for an undignified early retirement.

Denver needs to find young, quick receivers on the outside who can be a constant threat on the long-ball. They also need two reliable slot catchers for short completions on third down. The Broncos could do worse than look at Odell Beckham Jr.

All signs at this moment point toward Russell Wilson being an abject bust in Denver, but it needn’t be this way. He is a blue-chip asset, and the Broncos need to value him as such. They need to start building around him. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long, painful and expensive run to 2027.