Former NFL scout says Steelers QB Russell Wilson is ‘kind of a weirdo, totally washed’

Russell Wilson's debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers went anything but planned.

Going 0-5 in his attempts to score and taking three sacks along the way, the boo-birds may not have been out in Pittsburgh, but they sure have been in the media.

One of those media members is current Volume Sports podcast host and former NFL scout John Middlekauff.

It's safe to say he's done with the whole Russell Wilson experience.

Former Scout Rips Russell Wilson

"Sean Payton [Denver Broncos HC] was never going to like Russell Wilson and the moment he watched them play, he couldn't stand him, Middlekauff said on his 3 & Out podcast. "And I understood it because if I don't really respect you (kind of a weirdo), and then I don't think you're very good, and especially in that situation when you're making all this money, and I go, you aren't worth this at all. I didn't pay you this. It was destined to fail. And when watching the Steelers the other day (I was playing golf when the game was going on) I got a bunch of DMs [Direct messages], like are you watching this? I got home and immediately, watched it. He's [Russell Wilson] a washed player. It is what it is."

Now here's the thing about preseason, whatever take you have on a player, team, or coach going into the season, is only exacerbated by the product on the television. In an age of overreaction and hot takes, it's rich to ask people to just hold off on strong takes until the games, oh I don't know, actually matter.

But context is often thrown out of the window in the preseason , as the return of football in any capacity might as well be blood in the water for media sharks.

"If I'm a Denver Broncos fan, we got rid of the anchor that is Russell Wilson and I would say the drama that comes behind that, because, let's face it, there's a lot," added Middlekauff. "I think what's going to be the undoing of the Steelers, is the drama in that quarterback room. Because those guys [Russell Wilson & Justin Fields] are so famous...

"...There was, like, this famous aura with Russell Wilson that you just couldn't shake. And for most of his career, it was always someone else's fault. Every offensive coordinator Russell Wilson has ever had before Sean Payton got fired. Every single one. All of them in Seattle...fired. Nathaniel Hackett, [Former Broncos HC] year one... fired. In my life, watching football, Hall of Fame QBs their prime, sweet quarterbacks, you know what happens? Their assistant coaches become head coaches. Look at Rodgers. Look at Big Ben, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, their guys, move up the ladder. Russell's went the other way. They always got the finger pointed at them, it was their fault. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe Sean Payton was right."

Pittsburgh will find out who was right soon enough.

Related: Steelers' presumptive starter sees his season come to an end before it could even begin