Sean Payton was the perfect choice to fix Russell Wilson. Here’s how he can do it.

(Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)

During a recent appearance on the Colin Cowherd Show, Payton went deep into how he’d handle a Russell Wilson rehabilitation, should such a thing ever take place.

Step One is to get the recent noise and garbage out of the way. Step Two is to hammer home the concepts with which Wilson is most comfortable.

“You correct flaws immediately, and then we don’t worry about how long the process is going to take,” Payton said. “In other words, I’d want [a tape] cutup today, I’d want a cutup of all of Russell’s pass plays of 30 or more yards from the field, and I’d want to see, ‘Are there are some schemes that he felt very comfortable with?’”

There certainly are. Wilson has generally been great when given play-action to create explosive throws downfield, so it was odd that he had play-action on just 21.3% of his snaps with the Broncos, as opposed to 29.1% in his final season with the Seahawks.

It was also weird that in 2022, Wilson had just 27 boot-action dropbacks, when he had 51 with Seattle in 2021. It was as if Hackett and his staff had a picture in their heads of the type of quarterback Wilson could be (a more conventional timing-and-rhythm passer from the pocket) as opposed to the type of quarterback he is (a random, extemporaneous quarterback who prefers and can thrive in organized chaos).

Payton eagerly brought up one boot play from the 2021 season, which should be encouraging for his new quarterback.

“Like, I know they did a great job in Seattle of bringing him in off of a naked boot and then pulling up, and we all saw that throw back to [receiver Tyler] Lockett across the field where the ball traveled 60 yards in the air.”

There were multiple instances of Wilson hitting Lockett deep outside the pocket with Seattle in the 2021 season. Here’s one in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans. With 6:47 left in the first half, Seattle went after Tennessee’s Cover-1 with Lockett running a deep over to challenge slot defender Elijah Molden, and deep safety Bradley McDougald. Box safety Kevin Byard blitzed Wilson, who stopped on that boot rollout to redirect and make the throw to Lockett for a 51-yard gain, and all 51 yards were in the air.

This is likely the throw to which Payton refers.

Let’s fast-forward to Week 14 against the Houston Texans. With 1:00 left in the first half, the Seahawks decided that it was time to attack Houston’s Cover-3. Lockett and D.K. Metcalf each ran deep routes from either side of the formation, and Lockett eviscerated cornerback Terrance Mitchell on the right side with what started out looking like a deep sail route before turning it into more of a straight vertical. Wilson escaped the rush to his right, re-set, and zinged the ball downfield for a 55-yard touchdown.

Whether it’s a designed rollout or a scramble, Wilson has proven more than able to make shot throws outside of the pocket. It appears that Payton will make this a big priority.