Ryan Clark: Russell Wilson is Not an All-Time Great Quarterback

Most eyes in the NFL are naturally directed towards the chilly Midwest keeping careful tabs on what's happening between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, but the Russell Wilson situation in the rainy Northwest is worth our attention, too. Wilson had a public dispute with Seattle Seahawks management last offseason that was several less degrees severe than what happened with Rodgers in the same timeframe, yet still got to the point where Wilson's agents released a list of teams he would waive his no-trade clause for. It has been all quiet on the Wilson front to this point, but things change quickly in the NFL and Wilson would be very high on everybody's wish list should he hit the trade block.

The Get Up crew addressed Wilson's status on today's show and Ryan Clark took the opportunity to express his frustration that Wilson and Rodgers are being mentioned in the same breath. He adamantly stated that Wilson is not an all-time great quarterback, he'll never be in the conversation, and Wilson shouldn't be treated as the type of quarterback whose mere presence guarantees Super Bowl contention.

Clark is certainly right that Wilson is not an all-time great quarterback at this stage. He has one Super Bowl win that came far before he was tasked with carrying his team to victory. He has no MVPs and zero All-Pro nominations. Wilson has been very good statistically over the last six years and comfortably slotted in as a top-10 quarterback in the league in that timespan, but some good regular-season statlines does not make up the resume of an all-time great QB.

But Wilson is still very good and Clark might be underselling just how good he is in that second point. Wilson does not automatically make any team he's on to legitimate Super Bowl contention in the way Rodgers does or the way Tom Brady did. But a quarterback doesn't need to be on the Mount Rushmore of signal-callers to elevate an average roster to title contention, or even a substandard roster to title contention. Wilson has proven over the last few seasons that, when healthy, he is good enough to take an average-at-best roster to the playoffs, and once you're there, anything can happen.

Just because Wilson is not Rodgers or Brady does not mean he couldn't drag the Giants to an NFC Wild Card appearance. Based on what we've seen, he probably could. Does that make him an all-time great quarterback? Of course not. But Wilson has earned the right to be included on the short list of quarterbacks on this earth who can show up to just about any building in the league and make the roster so much better a Super Bowl isn't that far out of reach.

Clark will probably end up being right that Wilson won't be in the conversation alongside other all-time great quarterbacks. But I'd bet we haven't seen the last of Russell Wilson in the Super Bowl yet.