The Seattle Seahawks will start the 2012 season with rookie quarterback Russell Wilson under center, head coach Pete Carroll announced on Aug. 26.
The third-round draft pick out of Wisconsin has performed so well during the preseason that he has passed prized free agent pickup Matt Flynn on the depth chart and sent incumbent starter Tarvaris Jackson packing for the Buffalo Bills.
Back in March, I was pretty excited when Flynn came to the Seahawks from the Green Bay Packers, although I had some concerns about his lack of experience as an NFL starter. My hope in May was that Wilson would get a year or two as a backup to learn from Flynn before taking off on his own.
As the preseason has progressed, however, Wilson has flourished while Flynn has underwhelmed. The rookie carved up the second string of the Tennessee Titans and the Denver Broncos before earning a preseason start against the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 24.
While Flynn sat the game out with an injury, Wilson dissected the Chiefs on the road, completing 13 of 19 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns in the 44-14 blowout victory. He also logged runs of 31 and 27 yards.
In stark contrast, Jackson relieved Wilson in the game and completed 3 of 5 passes for one yard--kind of a summary of the entire 2011 season, right there in Kansas City.
Flynn was the favorite to win the starting job coming into the preseason, but it's been Wilson who has electrified the team, the coaches, and the fans with his performance. It's not so much that Flynn hasn't been good in his time under center. Rather, it's that Wilson has been that much better.
I find this to be a pretty exciting turn of events for the Seahawks. Wilson will surely make rookie mistakes, and opponents will surely start developing ways to defend against him as they get more film on him, but Wilson provides me with a sense of excitement for the season that hasn't existed for awhile.
I was excited about the prospect of Flynn starting this year; however, with Wilson at the helm of this young and talented team, Seahawks fans might be seeing the start of something great for years to come.
The author grew up in Washington State and is a lifelong fan of the Seahawks. He's also a Featured Contributor in Sports with the Yahoo! Contributor Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @RedZoneWriting and on Facebook.
