A guess at who the Seahawks keep at receiver in 2019

The Seahawks lost Doug Baldwin this offseason due to injury. Besides Tyler Lockett, which other receivers will stick with Seattle in 2019?

In 2018, the Seahawks mostly had five receivers active for game days. I do not expect 2019 to be any different, though the reason they might have six active is because Doug Baldwin is no longer on the team. Building trust between Russell Wilson and his receiving corps is a must. And Baldwin was trusted the most.

Wilson and Tyler Lockett combined to have a perfect quarterback rating when Wilson targeted Lockett last season. Lockett, however, still was not targeted enough so it remains to be seen just how many more targets Lockett gets this coming season and how much Wilson trusts Lockett in times of crisis. My assumption is Lockett’s targets go up by at least 25.

Seattle will have a young group of receivers no matter who makes the active roster. This could be good in the long-term as there is a lot more raw athletic ability among the players. But in the short-term, the young guys will still be learning routes, how to feed off of Wilson and how to post up against NFL cornerbacks and safeties. The beginning of the season might be rough.

Here are the five receivers I think will make the week one active roster for Seattle.

Tyler Lockett

Clearly this is a given. Lockett signed an extension before last season and will now be Seattle’s most important receiver for at least 2019, if not beyond. The most targets Lockett has ever gotten in Seattle is 71 in 2017. He will get to triple figures this coming season.

D.K. Metcalf

Even if the physically ridiculous Metcalf had looked bad in organized team activities this offseason he was going to make the roster. But he has looked really good and appears to be eager to learn. Once Metcalf knows what it is like to be an NFL receiver, he could be crazy productive. But the first half of 2019 might not be indicative of how good his career will be as he will have a learning curve.

Gary Jennings

The same thing I said of Metcalf could be said of Jennings. Both players will be rookies. Jennings doesn’t have the raw upside that Metcalf has but is the slightly-more polished receiver and could be productive sooner than Metcalf.

Jaron Brown

Brown had five touchdown catches in 14 receptions last year. That he wasn’t used more could be the Seahawks fault and not his. Still, he doesn’t have blazing speed. The reason he sticks in Seattle is he is a veteran and Seattle needs that as the rest of the receiving group, other than Lockett, is raw.

David Moore

Moore is the receiver I am least sure of to make the team. In weeks seven through 11 of last year Seattle seemed to have faith in him. In week 11 he had four catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Then he had an atrocious game in week 13 when he was targeted five times and had no catches. He is a physical receiver but not fast. I think Seattle sticks with him because of his knowledge of the Seahawks’ system and potential.