Is the old Russell Wilson back? Huard shares what he sees

Russell Wilson is in his third season and on his second team since he and the Seattle Seahawks parted ways. Things are really starting to look up for Seattle’s former franchise quarterback, too, as he has now led the Pittsburgh Steelers to back-to-back wins.

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In two games since returning from a calf injury that kept him sidelined for the first six weeks of the season, Wilson has completed 36 of 57 passes for a 63.2% completion percentage with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 111.9. He also has a touchdown and two first downs gained on the ground.

While his two years with the Denver Broncos went disastrously, football fans are now starting to wonder if the Russell Wilson of old is back.

Seattle Sports’ Brock Huard, a FOX football analyst and former NFL quarterback who covered Wilson’s entire tenure with the Seahawks, weighed in Tuesday morning on Brock and Salk.

“His game is back. His body looks back,” Huard said. “… It’s not talked about because Russ doesn’t talk about his injuries and everything else, but (Wilson has been banged up in recent years) between hamstring and knee (injuries) and obviously the calf this offseason and into training camp.”

Previously: Starting Russell Wilson makes sense for Steelers

One key element that made Wilson so dangerous earlier in his career was his speed and mobility, which showed up both in rushing yardage and in keeping passing plays alive after the pocket collapsed. Nearing his 36th birthday, Wilson will probably never return to form in that respect, but there’s one other thing that he’s always done that continues to be a strength.

“He’s not the wizard anymore, he’s not extending plays, he’s not doing 360s and pirouettes, any of that. But what he is doing, and where his legs have not left him, is on his deep ball,” Huard said.

“And he can throw a deep ball.”

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The mechanics of Russell Wilson

Huard mentioned that just like he has long said to co-host Mike Salk, former NFL players and current TV broadcasters like Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth have also praised Wilson’s ability to throw deep over the years. Not only that, but Wilson benefits from a style of throwing that some younger QBs don’t have.

“Some of this is the mechanics,” Huard said. ” Do you remember when you watched (Houston Texans QB) C.J. Stroud try to throw a baseball? He couldn’t throw it, because the physiology and what he’s doing is so horizontal now. … It’s a horizontal movement, whereas back in the day it used to be levers like over the top and you’re whipping that thing down.

“Russell’s got some of that old school delivery still. That ball goes up and that ball does come down. When you throw horizontal, guess what the nose of the ball never really does? It never goes up and it never goes down. It stays kind of on that straight, linear line, which is great for all these RPOs, it’s great for in-cuts, it’s great for anything 25 yards and in. But to really put that touch, that teardrop from the heavens that goes up and honestly then like a punt comes back down and is so nice for those receivers to catch? Russell’s got that in his game, and it’s coming alive in Pittsburgh.”

Hear Brock Huard’s full thoughts from the Blue 88 segment of Tuesday’s edition of Brock and Salk in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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