by Tailgating. Fantasy football leagues. Watch parties. BBQ days. Beer. FOX. Prime-Time games.
All of these can only mean one thing. FOOTBALL. SEASON. IS. BACK.
Specifically, the NFL is back. My favorite time of the year. In just a little over two months, the NFL will kick off the regular season with the Cowboys playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, September 9th, on NBC. I know some people that are already researching who to draft for their fantasy league. Not me. Definitely not me.
Anyways, in recent seasons, the big names when it comes to wide receivers are Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, and Tyreek Hill. Anytime they’re on the field, it almost always leads to points scored. Fantasy football-wise, they’re dependable enough that most people draft them in the second round, if not the first.
When it comes to the Seattle Seahawks, the two wide receivers that you immediately think about are DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, a Top 5 WR Duo entering into the 2021 season, according to Bleacher Report.
I love DK Metcalf. Absolutely adore him. I have posters in my room to prove it. He is simply amazing. There’s no doubt about it. In just two seasons, he has proven that he has the potential to be someone with an everlasting legacy like other contemporaries, including Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Larry Fitzgerald, and Randy Moss. Plus, Budda Baker anyone? DK can run, and I mean he can run (Olympic trials…).
DK has been garnering many peoples’ interests with his increasing abilities to catch (and drop…) the ball, but in that process, the media is missing out on another weapon: Tyler Lockett.
Lockett was drafted in 2015, which was the year after the Seahawks crushed the Broncos in the Super Bowl and took home a Lombardi Trophy. However, if you guys remember, the 2013-2014 Seahawks team was not known for its offense. I mean, sure, they scored 43 points over Peyton Manning’s Broncos, so they must have been somewhat good at passing and running the ball, but every fan knows that back then, the Seahawks were a defensive nightmare for other teams more than they were on the offensive side.
They even had a name: the Legion of Boom, a period of time in the early 2010s that led the Seahawks to immense success in the league.
This 2013 Seahawks defense was so impactful that some analysts say that it might even be one of the greatest defenses that a team has had in any season to date. These future Hall-of-Famers include Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner, and Byron Maxwell. At this point in time, we were seeing fetus Russell Wilson play, so much of his potential hadn’t been tapped in by Pete Caroll and the coaching staff.
That soon changed in the coming years once players of the coveted Seahawks defense started to retire or leave for other teams. And with the loss to Tom Brady and the Patriots (eye roll) due to Pete Carroll’s stupid playcalling at times (why on earth would you throw the ball 2 yards from the goal when you have MARSHAWN LYNCH as your freakin’ running back), it finally seemed like the Seahawks defense was on its decline.
Once the running game in Seattle also started to decline with the departure of Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks needed a way to step up their offense and make points. That’s when Lockett comes in. Once Pete Caroll and his team started to realize that Russell Wilson is a literal god when it comes to throwing the ball and being a strong QB, they started to change up their game plan and increased their emphasis on passing and using their receivers to get points.
Since then, Lockett has been a leading member of Seattle’s offense, with increasing receiving yards each season. Mans is aging like fine wine. His first season consisted mostly of returning the ball after kicks and punts, but not in the normal fashion that most returners do; Lockett was named NFC Special Teams Player of the week two times for his return touchdowns, both kickoff and punt.
In addition to that, among receivers that had at least 50 targets, Lockett ranked second in the league with a QB passer rating of 133.5 (Doug Baldwin, his teammate, finished first). The 2016 offseason was a bit of a struggle for Lockett because he broke his leg on the last home game of the season, but in 2017, he bounced back and played all 16 games, leading the NFL with kickoff return yards even though receiving-wise, things slowed down a little.
Then, 2018 came. Lockett not only signed a huge 3-year extension with the Seahawks but also had a phenomenal season. When throwing to Lockett, Russell Wilson’s passer rating was a perfect 158.3.
It also helps to look at the other stats for Lockett’s 2018 season. He had zero drops the whole year. He led the league in pass interference yardage. Lastly, According to Football Outsiders, Lockett’s DVOA (Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average) was 66.3% in 2018, which was the highest for any WR in history (since 1986 with a minimum of 50 targets).
The 2019 season showed great improvement in Lockett’s performance as he had a huge increase in yards, receptions, and first downs. And we don’t even need to discuss the phenomenal 2020 season that he just had (he literally set a franchise record of 100 receptions).
Overall, Tyler Lockett has proven that he’s a super impactful wide receiver. Even though many teams overlook him as a player, Lockett has shown up and made some very, very clutch plays that helped the Seahawks win crucial games.
He might be small, but he’s got some great power in him.
