12th Man Rising
FanSided

Tyler Lockett: What Will He Bring To The Seahawks?

By Dan Viens

facebooktwitterreddit

Compared to the Seahawks first pick, the selection of Kansas St. WR Tyler Lockett in the 3rd round was a whirlwind. Seattle made a big jump to land a small player, packaging 4 picks to jump up 26 spots to grab a WR they hope will add explosion to the offense and return game.

More from Seattle Seahawks Draft

Reaction on Twitter was predictably mixed.  Many Seahawk fans panned the pick, expressing disappointment in his height, the cost to move up, or simply that they didn’t know who he was.  We see this every draft day.  I call it the I-don’t-know-who-he-is-so-he-must-suck phenomenon.

So let’s fix that.

First of all, Lockett is small.  Everything about him is small.  He’s 5’10”, 182 lbs with 8 3/8″ hands and slightly built.  Seahawk fans pining for a bigger receiver are either going to have to wait until tomorrow, or take comfort in the fact we can count Jimmy Graham in this draft class too.

But Lockett makes the most of his abilities.  He’s fast, with 4.4 speed in the 40, but he isn’t an elite burner.  What makes him special is his foot quickness and his ability to cut and change direction. Do a simple Twitter search and you’ll find a lot of analysts who rave about his route-running ability.  He was also incredibly productive at K-State, despite poor QB play and drawing the opponents best DB matchups.  As a senior, he caught 106 balls for 1,515 yards and 11 TD’s.

And our very own Charles Tumbarello has loved Lockett as a match for the Hawks since mid April.  Kudos to him.

His nfl.com scouting profile raves about his route-running ability and his character and commitment to the game.  He’s drawn a lot of comparisons to Golden Tate since he became a Seahawk, but Tate was very raw as a receiver coming out of Notre Dame.  Lockett is much more polished and advanced.  I submit that he may actually be more similar to Percy Harvin.  Ironically, the pick obtained by trading Harvin to the Jets was used as part of the package to move up and make this selection.

The negatives in his game are obvious.  He’s not going to win many jump balls or corner face routes vs. bigger CB’s.  But will those CB’s be able to cover him on a double move or a quick slant?

So now let’s look ahead.  Add Lockett to the Seahawks current group of receivers and it may look something like this come opening day this fall:

  1. Doug Baldwin
  2. Jermaine Kearse
  3. Kevin Norwood
  4. Chris Matthews
  5. Tyler Lockett
  6. Paul Richardson (injured)

In his conference call tonight, Lockett said he wasn’t sure if he would play slot or outside for the Seahawks.  His size would suggest slot, but Seattle is known to mix and match, and we may see him primarily inside with Baldwin playing more on the outside this season.  The team went out of it’s way to talk up Kevin Norwood last year, so he’s going to get a shot to supplant Kearse as a top rotational WR.  By mid-season, I can envision Baldwin, Norwood and Lockett being Russell Wilson’s primary WR options, with Jimmy Graham wreaking havoc all over the field. Chris Matthews is still a wild card, who could at least earn a spot in red zone packages with another strong camp.

But all that could adjust tomorrow.  The Seahawks were visible at nearly every pro day and workout for bigger WR’s, and had 6’2″ Vince Mayle in for a VMAC visit.

The receiver room just got a lot more interesting, the Seahawks just got more explosive, and with 6 picks left to use tomorrow, the new-look receiver group might not be set in stone just yet.

Next: How Frank Clark fits with the Seahawks?

More from 12th Man Rising

Home/Seattle Seahawks Draft