If Russell Wilson never wins an MVP award

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, one of the likely culprits will be a lack of high-volume passing. Even if Wilson is tied in fourth place for touchdown passes with Philip Rivers and Drew Brees, Wilson gets far less awards consideration than Patrick Mahomes, Andrew Luck, Rivers, and Brees. I believe a part of that perception that downgrades Wilson in the eyes of the media and therefore the public is that he’s 22nd in pass attempts and if he’s not being asked to make as many plays, maybe it’s because he’s not as important.There are other factors we must consider too, and when you bring them all together, I think Mahomes’ case for 2018 MVP becomes pretty clear anyway.His Kansas City Chiefs, Wilson’s opponent this Sunday night, are 11-3. He’s got 45 touchdown passes, 11 more than any other player. He’s first in yards per attempt among relevant QBs. He’s moving ahead of Brees in passer rating. And he’s got the volume, ranking sixth in attempts. Basically, Mahomes has comparable rate stats to Wilson, if not a little better, and at a much higher volume. I have no question in my mind that Mahomes has been the MVP this season and rarely do I believe that a person is so clearly the right choice.Which is crazy to consider when you recall that John Schneider interestingly attended his pro day in 2017 and that the Seahawks were rumored to be considering drafting Mahomes in the first round that year if the Chiefs hadn’t traded up and selected him 10th overall.Schneider could be seen as one of two GMs at Mahomes’ pro day, along with John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers, who opted instead to take Solomon Thomas and then trade for Jimmy Garoppolo midseason rather than take Mahomes or Deshaun Watson. NFL Network’s Mike Mayock also reported that New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo was there, and he’d be fired less than a year later. We can also see the QB coaches for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington footballs in attendance, and we know what’s happened for those teams recently as far as quarterback problems.The big difference between those teams at that time and Seattle was of course that the Seahawks have Wilson. But Schnneider didn’t go to Texas Tech that day to see anyone other than Mahomes and while he ended up going 10th overall , it was unclear if he’d be a first round pick so Seattle may have thought they had their chance. That went away when Kansas City made the move of the day, giving up two firsts and a third to get Mahomes even though they already had Alex Smith.The team ended up getting back a third rounder and cornerback Kendall Fuller in dealing Smith to Washington, one of the teams that didn’t pick Mahomes despite being at his pro day.For as long as Wilson is on the Seahawks, I expect the team to show interest in young quarterbacks in the draft and around the league, simply because I believe the front office sees value in the position and having options. The Green Bay Packers got Aaron Rodgers this way. The New England Patriots got some value back while having a quality backup for four years when selecting Jimmy Garoppolo. And the Chiefs found Mahomes this way, though Smith isn’t on the level of Wilson. We’ll never know what would have happened if Schneider had gotten the opportunity to take Mahomes, but I do believe the interest was real.On Sunday night, with both teams needing a win to secure a playoff-related goal, the two sides will get their closest looks at each other yet. Let’s hope that the MVP on this night at least is the QB the Seahawks have, not the QB that they may have wanted to have next. Today is the midpoint of July, which is relevant because that means the second half of the month starts Tuesday, and the second half of the month is when the Seattle Seahawks open training camp...." VideosThe OffseasonStatsCountdown to training camp: Chargers upend Seahawks New,4commentsPDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Countdown to training camp: Chargers upend Seahawks TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPhoto by Abbie Parr/Getty ImagesToday is the midpoint of July, which is relevant because that means the second half of the month starts Tuesday, and the second half of the month is when the Seattle Seahawks open training camp. Here at Field Gulls we’ve been counting down to the opening of camp working backwards one game at a time starting with the loss in the Wild Card round of the playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys. The week prior to finishing the season with a loss at Dallas, the Arizona Cardinals attempted to bore everyone to sleep in a Week 17 matchup that saw both offenses play conservatively. That came just a week after the Hawks hosted the Kansas City Chiefs for a primetime fireworks show that was must see TV. The victory over Kansas City was a bit of a surprise for fans who had just seen the Hawks lose on the road to the lowly San Francisco 49ers, but after Justin Coleman and the Hawks defense scored as many points as the offense of the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14. The ugly showing against the Vikings came just a week after a beat down of the 49ers, which came on the heels of consecutive come from behind victories by the Hawks. In Week 12 it was Seattle coming back to defeat the Carolina Panthers on the road, while in Week 11 the Seahawks had to dig out of an early double digit hole to come back and beat the Green Bay Packers at home. That brings thing up through the Week 10 loss on the road to the Los Angeles Rams , and to where we find ourselves today: Looking at the Week 9 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Against the Chargers Russell Wilson tossed his second pick-6 of the season, which gave him two for the season, or double the number he had over the first six years of his career. And of course his first pick-6 of the 2018 season had come in the Week 2 loss to the Chicago Bears.His ability to avoid the pick-6 had been one of the things that many fans had touted was a great way to show how good Wilson is at protecting the football, but what if that ability to avoid the pick-6 was little more than a byproduct of the system in which he played? Back in June, Eric Edholm authored the following tweet, which is a list of currently active pick-6 leaders in the NFL. Obviously the players at the top of the list have been in the NFL for quite some time, but the majority of the top of the list has also played large portions of, if not all, of their careers in an Air Coryell system. Drew Brees played in the Air Coryell system in both San Diego under Cam Cameron and for Sean Payton in New Orleans, while Philip Rivers has also spent much of his career playing for Cameron or Norv Turner. Matthew Stafford spent the entirety of his career in an Air Coryell system up until Matt Patricia arrived and tasked Jim Bob Cooter with installing an Erhardt-Perkins offense.Matt Ryan is one of the very interesting names on the list, as he spent the first four seasons of his career in an Erhardt-Perkins offense, and in those four seasons he tossed just two pick-6es. The Atlanta Falcons then moved to an Air Coryell offense in 2012, which they kept through the 2014 season. During those three seasons Ryan had nine passes picked off and returned for scores by the defense, including four in each of 2013 and 2014. Then, in 2015 Dan Quinn arrived and has had his offensive coordinators run the West Coast offense. In the four seasons in a West Coast offense Ryan has thrown five pick-6es. So, it’s far from anything definitive, however, there’s seems to be enough smoke that it may warrant further investigation at some point.