Russell Wilson has been arguably the biggest disappointment of the 2022 NFL season, and that’s saying a lot considering the Los Angeles Rams are fresh off a Super Bowl and currently hold a top-five draft pick. Wilson was brought to the Mile High City in exchange for a king’s ransom, but he was worth it, considering he’d be shoved into a division with two of the best young quarterbacks in the game as well as a Raiders’ offense that just obtained arguably the best wide receiver in all of football, and told “Alright. Make us a Super Bowl contender.” He hasn’t done that.
Wilson has looked atrocious, recording only 11 touchdown passes through 13 games — he has more bathrooms in his house than TDs — and leading the Broncos to an abysmal 3-10 record, ready to give Seattle one last parting gift of a top-three draft pick. His presence under center was supposed to elevate Courtland Sutton and/or Jerry Jeudy to elite status among NFL wide receivers. Jeudy has picked things up in recent weeks, but neither is close to the heights they were supposed to reach.
Denver has been officially eliminated from playoff contention, and Wilson’s ineffective play is a large reason why. Head coach Nathaniel Hackett is also massively to blame, but since team success is a large determiner of MVP-worthiness. So, even if you believe Wilson holds zero blame for the Broncos’ failures on offense (which would be stupid by the way), his odds of winning the MVP this year are totally drained, and that’s going to leave many people with dry wallets.
According to Caesars Sportsbook writer Max Meyer, Russell Wilson has still received more MVP votes than Patrick Mahomes.
Think about that for a second. Patrick Mahomes proved he was still an MVP candidate in Week 1, when he threw five touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals. People still didn’t bet on him heavily. He’s got the second-best MVP odds in the country, but is still only ninth in total MVP tickets bought.
Russell Wilson, on the other hand, proved his MVP-unworthiness in Week 2 when he managed to put up only 16 measly points against the woeful Houston Texans. Depending on who you ask, some might even say he lost the MVP race when he lost to Geno Smith and the Seahawks in Week 1, proving immediately that Seattle won the offseason trade. I guess that makes sense though. Since Wilson looked so horrible early on, the odds of him winning MVP likely fell drastically. This was Russell Wilson after all, there was no way he was going to be as bad as he was in those first two games all season, right? That kind of thinking is probably what led to Wilson getting so many MVP votes, so many that not even Mahomes can catch up.
Mahomes came into the season with the second-best MVP odds. Russ came in at seventh. So the next time a big-name QB gets traded to a talented roster, maybe hold off on throwing hundreds of dollars on their MVP chances. When Aaron Rodgers gets traded to the New England Patriots, Washington Commanders, or wherever this offseason (hey, it could happen maybe), wait a few weeks to see if he melds with the system. Hopefully, all the Wilson hype has made us wiser for the future.