Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett a must have for fantasy football

As we slowly work our way through the slowest portion of the NFL calendar with the hopes no Seahawks appear on the news, we can begin to turn our focus towards our favorite pastime: fantasy football.

The Seattle Seahawks have a lot of interesting players to consider for your upcoming fantasy football draft. In fact, we have already discussed why Russell Wilson is a steal amongst other QBs and whether you should draft Chris Carson or Rashaad Penny.

But with QB and RB taken care of, it is only natural to turn our attention to the WR position. The biggest question has to be: Who will take over for Doug Baldwin in 2019? I can tell you how D.K. Metcalf and Jaron Brown are some crazy deep sleepers and probably make a good case for it.

But if we follow Occam’s Razor, that the simplest solution is often the right one, then the answer is painfully obvious. Tyler Lockett is the new Doug Baldwin. But wait, I hear you saying, Lockett was already great last year (finished 16th in 0.5 PPR). Could he get better?

Again, let’s apply Occam’s Razor to our situation. Who is the senior WR in this offense? Lockett. Over the past 4 years, who did Wilson trust the most? Seahawks senior WR Doug Baldwin. So we have a group of WR that are relatively new to the quarterback with the exception of Lockett.

Oh, by the way, did you forget that Wilson to Lockett was the best combo in the NFL last season? No really, they were:

Russell to Tyler was nearly flawless last season, and now 73 targets are up in the air. (These were the targets Baldwin had in 2018.) They are going to go somewhere, and while some may go to Brown or Metcalf, Lockett will get a lion share of them.

Lockett’s current ADP (via fantasy football calculator) is as the 49th player off the board, making him a late fourth, early fifth round pick. This leaves Lockett as the 19th highest rated WR. Remember, last year he finished 16th at the position.

So the hype train on Lockett hasn’t exactly left the station. Right now, you are simply paying for his 2018 and not yet the big time 2019 that is coming. Barring injuries, Lockett is as close to a sure thing as you can get for 1,000 yards and 8-10 TD’s, with the upside for much more.

In 2018, Lockett only saw 70 targets but caught 57 of them. If Lockett gets half of the Baldwin targets, there is no reason to think he can’t catch 80 passes in 2019. More catches equal more yards.

While drafting a WR that early in a run-heavy offense is always a bit scary, Doug Baldwin was a legitimate second-round pick in 2016 and 2017 and Lockett could be on that trajectory. Right now, you can snag Lockett as a 5th round pick. I would suggest you pick him up in your draft because trading for him in season is going to cost you a heck of a lot more than the 49th pick.