Ripping Russell Wilson to Shreds, Mark Schlereth Calls Broncos Doubters ‘Stupid’, Backs Sean Payton and Bo Nix to Have Success

It seems like Russell Wilson slander won’t stop. Not much changed after Wilson was brought in as the Broncos just racked up two consecutive losing seasons. Now with Wilson in Pittsburgh, Broncos fans have a lot of expectations from rookie QB, Bo Nix. In return, Nix already got everything that he could have ever asked for, a Super Bowl-winning coach, who also happens to want him on the team. That is also what Mark Schlereth happens to think of Nix’s situation with the Broncos.

Interestingly, Schlereth is not a big Russell Wilson fan, who had some harsh criticism towards the QB. He even took a jab at the Broncos fans who thought things could change with Wilson. For him, Bo Nix is bound to achieve success under Sean Payton even though he’s a rookie. Surprisingly, some fans still believe that the Broncos would be “worse off” without Wilson, even the co-host Mike Evans thought the same. The former Denver guard, however, doesn’t have any kind words for those fans and Evans. He even went on to call Evans dumb for thinking so.

“The football world out there seems to believe that they’re going to be worse off without Russell Wilson than they will be with Bo Nix for one year,” said the co-host to Schlereth, and his remark quickly got sidelined by Mark Schlereth. “That’s exactly the conclusion that you draw and the conclusion I draw is most of those people are stupid that think that way,” said Schlereth.

Maybe it’s because of Nix’s college career and Drew Brees like qualities that the former football guard finds amusing and hence pegs him to achieve success in the league early on. “I think Bo Nix is in the best situation of any of these rookie quarterbacks, to number one, start, and number two, have success,” mentioned Mark Schlereth on The Stinkin Truth Podcast.

Nix’s last season at Oregon was nothing short of phenomenal, where he amassed 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns, and had a whopping 77.4% pass completion rate. He’s spent 5-years playing college football. Finally, Sean Payton has a chance to mould him according to his wishes, and that’s something he couldn’t do with Wilson causing a rift between them. What’s even more interesting about the ex-Oregon QB is that he got intercepted only thrice and was sacked only 5 times in his last season.

On the other hand, the Super Bowl winning QB’s impromptu plays often landed him in trouble. Wilson got sacked 45 times last year which became really jarring for the Denver Broncos’ offense. Critics often criticize the 35-year-old QB for not utilizing the pocket effectively and for venturing out of it to create plays, resulting in interceptions.

Some simple numbers can explain the reasoning behind those comments.

Russell Wilson is often late

Let’s dissect one of the major problems with Russell Wilson, which is his average throw time. According to ZebraSports, Wilson takes 3.15 seconds to get rid of the ball on an average. In a game with the Jets last year, Wilson took 3.47 seconds on average to get rid of the ball, which was one of the longest averages for a QB last season. These often led to him extending plays, stepping out of pocket, and ultimately getting sacked. Talking about Wilson, Schlereth stated, “One thing that Russ is absolutely inadequate at is the quick game. He is just not very good at it.”

Though Bo Nix hasn’t played in the league till now, his release times are still hopeful. As of last year’s data, Nix had one of the fastest release times (2.5 seconds) which was deemed 4 last year, per First Round Mock. Those numbers are behind Tua Tagovailoa (2.38), Mac Jones (2.46). and Trevor Lawrence (2.49).

In Sean Payton’s words, “He locates the ball well and he’s accurate and I think Drew was.” It would certainly be odd to see Wilson suddenly perform well under Mike Tomlin and the Steelers. If that happens, things will look bad for Sean Payton and Co.