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Week 7 Rewind: Russell Wilson, it's your show now

Week 7 Rewind: Russell Wilson, it's your show now

Seattle's best receiver, in theory anyway, was traded last week. Seattle's passing defense has fallen on hard times. And the defending champs are just another .500 club right now; they'd be out of the playoffs if they started today.

And as a Russell Wilson fan (and fantasy owner), I say "good" to all those things. I want to see what the Seahawks offense can do if Wilson finally gets the keys to the show, and it looks like we might find out.

Peyton Manning's record-shattering day was the biggest NFL story from Week 7, but Wilson's tape was the one I couldn't wait to fully break down Monday morning. As you probably know by now, Wilson became the first player to post a 300-yard passing day and an 100-yard rushing day in the same game, stuffing the stat sheet in the 28-26 loss at St. Louis. He was already a member of the exclusive 200-100 club.

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Wilson's monstrous Week 7 box score (313 passing yards, 106 rushing yards, three total touchdowns) was largely born out of desperation. The Seahawks fell behind 21-6 at halftime and were playing catch-up for the entire second half. It's a shame Seattle couldn't get the ball back for one final drive, because Wilson and Company were letter perfect on their final three possessions (all lengthy touchdown drives, covering 253 yards of offense). And the video looked as good as the numbers; when Wilson is on his game, plays take on an organic, meandering beauty.

Wilson's ability to make dynamic ad-lib plays out of structure is both a gift and a curse. It's wonderful that he can salvage a broken play (or what looks like a sure negative play), but it also means he'll be on the run for a heavy amount of snaps. While he's proven to be wise with his running decisions as a pro, you worry about being exposed for more hits than the average quarterback. I suppose it would be nice to see the Seahawks offense get more splashy plays from a structured offense.

But maybe it's silly to worry about potential injury here. Wilson hasn't missed a game as a pro. He's smart with his decisions – the majority of his rushing attempts end with a scamper out of bounds or a safe slide to the turf. And you know how the NFL views the glamour position – it's all but legislated QB hits out of the game.

Wilson averaged about 35 pass attempts in each of his first two years. He's at 29 for 2014, and he's chucked the ball 64 times over the last two weeks (both losses). Wilson averaged 30.6 rushing yards in 2012 and 33.7 rushing yards last year. He's at 54.5 for this season. The Seahawks still run a few read-option snaps every week, and then there are the improvisational scrambles when things break down.

Seattle's struggling pass defense is a big part of Wilson's theoretical value. The Seahawks allowed a skimpy 63.4 QB rating last season, and that number was in the low 70s in 2011 and 2012. This year, opposing QBs are gouging the Legion of Boom, putting up a 103.7 rating. That's the fifth-worst number in the NFL.

A difficult schedule has played into some of the defensive struggles: Seattle has already met up with Manning, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo. Then again, Kirk Cousins (no longer a starter) and Austin Davis also cut up the Seahawks. Even if Seattle fixes its coverage problems somewhat, I'm not going to expect the dominance to return. At some point, you are what you are.

So who is Wilson going forward from a fantasy perspective? I'm not going to put him in the top QB tier (where Manning, Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers reside), but he's probably right there with anyone else. Drew Brees or Wilson? That's a conversation. Rivers or Wilson? I could go either way on that. And if I would not move Wilson for Jay Cutler, Colin Kaepernick, Matt Ryan or Cam Newton – not today. (Also keep in mind Seattle's already had its bye week.)

I probably underestimated Doug Baldwin's potential now that Percy Harvin is out of town. While Baldwin's monster Week 7 showing (7-123-1 on 11 targets) is an obvious outlier, he'll be in the WR3 area on my next batch of weekly ranks. He's the target Wilson trusts the most, be it from a primary read or when the ad-lib game starts. I'm surprised Baldwin was hardly used in Seattle's first five games (just 24 targets), but that's a moot point going forward.

Oliver's Army (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
Oliver's Army (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

-- I can't imagine Branden Oliver wasting away on the San Diego bench when Ryan Mathews returns. Oliver is too versatile, too talented. And let's accept that Darren Sproles was never the proper comparison for Oliver – he's more like the young Maurice Jones-Drew, a powerful collision man with a low center of gravity. The Chargers found plenty of touches for both Mathews and Danny Woodhead last year. They'll probably keep Oliver relevant.

-- The Falcons obviously have all sorts of problems right now, on both sides of the ball. The offense in particular needs answers on the offensive line, and the running game is a joke. And things probably won't get much better against the Lions in Week 8 (an early start in London; set those alarm clocks, bloke).

But if you can ride out the storm with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, better days are ahead. The Falcons enjoy three home games in Weeks 12-16, and I can envision high-scoring matches when they play at Green Bay and New Orleans. I'd look into a Ryan trade before October ends; how you time it is up to you. Maybe he'll be discounted nicely during his Week 9 bye.

-- I don't want to get googly-eyed for Colt McCoy – basically I don't want to make the mistakes I made during the Kirk Cousins era. But let's also note Cousins provided a bunch downfield connections – an 8.4 YPA is terrific, and most of his stat indicators are league-average or better.

Ultimately, Cousins lost his role because of a recurring interception problem, and I don't blame the Redskins for reacting strongly to that. But here's the bottom line: Washington has a boatload of dangerous offensive pieces, and someone has a chance to be a zesty fantasy factor in the QB chair. Maybe that's McCoy, maybe that's Griffin, maybe that's Cousins again, I don't know. Is Joe Theismann still in game shape? Washington's shaky defense also provides some backboard for the quarterbacks.

-- The Jacksonville offensive line has taken a lot of heat this year, and it's justified criticism. These guys aren't playing well. But sometimes an offensive line gets sold down the river by the poor choices of the skill players it's blocking for. That was probably the case here: the blocking looks worse when it's the genesis of a Toby Gerhart carry or a Chad Henne wait-for-the-sack moment. At least we're spared of both of those things now: Denard Robinson and Blake Bortles at least give this offense a chance to move the ball, stay somewhat competitive.

-- I understand Rueben Randle is physically gifted and he's still just 23, but it's frustrating to watch him doing so little with the heavy volume the Giants send his way. Queue the recurring Randle Rant.

Randle is second among wideouts in red-zone targets, but he has just two touchdowns. Randle is 15th at his position in overall targets, but he's managed just 321 yards. And 5.5 yards per target, are you kidding me?

The best receivers are both explosive and reliable; the lesser receivers need to be one or the other. If you make a lot of chunk plays, I'll excuse a low catch rate. If you catch a high percentage of your targets, I can live with a lower YPC. Randle's 63-percent catch rate would be fine if he wasn't averaging just 9.4 yards per catch.

Even with Victor Cruz lost for the season, the Giants don't need Randle to be the focal point of the offense. Odell Beckham is making plays right out of the box. Larry Donnell, fumbles aside, is coming off a 90-yard game (and he's still the No. 8 overall tight end). Rashad Jennings is closing in on a return. At some point, the Giants need to ask themselves why Randle is getting such a heavy share of the offense's usage.

Find the Randle sympathizer in your league. They're out there.