The Steelers QB has a chance to solidify his Hall of Fame selection this season.
Russell Wilson is in a rather interesting position this season. There was a time when the former Seattle Seahawks star quarterback was on track to become a Hall of Famer. However, after a disastrous two years with the Denver Broncos, Wilson’s Hall of Fame credentials are in question. This season, Wilson will be playing for his third team in the Pittsburgh Steelers.
86.5KQBs Under Most PRESSURE To Win Super Bowl
With that in mind, Rich Eisen noted that this year is Russell Wilson’s best chance of getting his Hall of Fame career back on track. The Steelers have given him this unique opportunity that no one else was seemingly willing to give the former Seahawks QB.
“The opportunity that he got is one that I didn’t think he was gonna get. Which was the Pittsburgh Steelers raising their hand and basically inserting him into a situation where [as if] he had been there for eight years, not like eight days/ And what he has done is realize this potential last best chance to be a starting quarterback in this league with a real shot to go to a Super Bowl and breathe life back into a Hall of Fame trajectory.”
Wilson realistically still has a pretty solid shot to get into Canton. His achievements are still pretty good: one-time Super Bowl champion, nine-time Pro Bowler, a second team All-Pro selection, and multiple productive seasons with the Seahawks. It’s just that in the two years before joining the Steelers, Wilson’s career was, to put it bluntly, going badly.
Wilson joined the Broncos in 2022 as a potential game-changer, the piece that gets them over the hump. However, multiple mishaps from Denver ultimately led to the collapse of the supposed contender. Wilson was also a part of the problem: his weaknesses as a quarterback were fully exposed outside of the Seahawks’ safe confines. 2023 was a bit better, but still way below expectations for Wilson as a star.
Wilson’s last stand with Steelers
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Now with the Steelers, Wilson has much lower expectations than in his first season with the Broncos. He will still have his detractors, but for the most part, people just want the QB to be… well, good again. Like with the Broncos, Wilson will have some good targets in George Pickens, Super Bowl winner Van Jefferson, and Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in the backfield.
Is a Super Bowl run a reasonable expectation for the Steelers this season? Well, no. Just in their division alone, they will have to deal with the Baltimore Ravens (who just acquired Derrick Henry) and the Cincinnati Bengals (who will welcome Joe Burrow back from injury). There’s also a plethora of contenders in the AFC outside the North: the Kansas City Chiefs are there, of course, as well as the Buffalo Bills.
If Wilson can lead this rag-tag Steelers team to even just a playoff run, though, the perspective on the veteran quarterback may change. It will take a lot for him to do that: last season’s “resurgence” was partly due to Sean Payton “simplifying” the offense for him. He will need to show that he still is capable of leading his team to wins. If he does that… well, his Hall of Fame credentials could become much better. A Super Bowl would probably catapult him to instant HoF lock.
Gerard Angelo Samillano is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, focusing primarily on the NBA, NFL, MLB and Gaming. When he’s not writing for CP, Gerard can often be seen playing VALORANT or playing pick-up basketball. He’s also working on his BS Mathematics degree.
