An inside look at Russell Wilson’s Next Gen Stats

Josh Cohen, an Editorial Consultant for CBS, posted a page of his game notes for this Sunday’s matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. The page he posted is specifically on Russell Wilson and his Next Gen Stats and it unveils a ton of interesting statistics.

The first stats that jump off the page are that Wilson consistently has ranked in the top-3 in the league in percentage of passing plays targeting deep and down the sideline receivers, while he has ranked near the bottom in the league every year since 2016, except for 2020, in short throws over the middle.

He has also finished top-5 in the league in completion percentage over expected (CPOE) in each of the last 4 seasons, ranking 1st in the league this year. Russ is also first this season in 10+ air-yard passes over expected, and the group that follows him in the rankings is certainly unexpected with Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Joe Burrow filling out the top 5.

Wilson has also thrown 60 deep TD passes since 2016, which is 11 more than any other QB, and he has 5,744 deep yards in that time, which is 1,085 more than any other QB as well. The tweet of notes also outlines some impressive deep stats for Wilson’s favorite targets over the last few seasons, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The pair rank 2nd and 3rd in deep TD receptions since 2019 behind Tyreek Hill, and the tweet also has some stats that outline how Lockett on crossing routes and Metcalf on isolated go routes are two of the most effective receivers in the game on those routes.