Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #24 - Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson is one of the youngest quarterbacks in this countdown, older than Cam Newton by only a couple months, but his consistent level of play throughout his career so far has made it impossible not to include him on this list.

Wilson was a 3rd-round draft pick by the Seahawks in 2012, and was named the starter after just one preseason game, which is pretty rare for a passer who was not taken in the first round. He quickly validated the team's trust in him, tying Peyton Manning's rookie record for touchdown passes in a season while leading them to an 11-5 record and a playoff win while being named Rookie of the Year.

The following season was also pretty special. The Seahawks started the season 11-1 and ended up as the #1 seed in the NFC. They breezed through the playoffs, including a 43-8 beatdown of the Broncos in the Super Bowl, and Wilson became just the second black quarterback to ever win the big game. In addition, he is also the only quarterback under six feet tall in history to win a Super Bowl.

The next season he had a career-low with only 20 passing touchdowns, but it was actually his best overall season when you take into account that he led all quarterbacks with 849 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns, and he also led the Seahawks to another Super Bowl appearance. He nearly became the youngest to ever win 2 Super Bowls, but an interception on the 1 yard line late in the game allowed the Patriots to hold on and win.

In 2015 Wilson reached the 4000-yard milestone for the first time, and set a new career high with 34 touchdown passes, while throwing only 8 interceptions. He set a record in the middle of the season when he had 5 consecutive games with at least 3 touchdown passes without an interception, something has nobody else has done before or since.

The next year he had the most passing yards of his career, but his mobility was limited by injuries to his ankle and his knee, which forced him to focus more on passing and minimized his effectiveness on the ground. He still led the Seahawks to the playoffs for the 5th straight year, and also won a playoff game for the 5th year in a row.

He was fully healthy in 2017, and he even led the league in passing touchdowns, tying his career high with 34, but the Seahawks missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. After the season the team lost many of its star players, but instead of sliding even farther away from the playoffs, Wilson had another great season, setting a new career high with 35 touchdowns, while tossing a career-low 7 picks, and Seattle made the playoffs as a Wild Card.

Though he has had a shorter career than anyone else in this countdown, Wilson has been consistently great throughout that short time. He has never missed a game, has a career TD:INT ratio that is better than 3:1, has never finished with a losing record, and is a Super Bowl champion. At only 30 years of age, there is no telling how high he can climb on this list of the greatest to ever play the game.