10 most valuable Seahawks draft selections of the last decade

7th best Seahawks draft selection of the 2010s: Tyler Lockett, WR

Tyler Lockett’s career started off slow as a receiver. This is completely understandable given the fact he was behind one of the best in the game, Doug Baldwin. It didn’t matter though; he still found a way to be productive.

In fact, he was selected as the first-team All-Pro kick returner after his rookie season. Between receiving yards and returning kicks, Lockett broke a Seahawks rookie record with 1,915 all-purpose yards that season. He also broke the franchise record for punt return yards in a game at 139.

While Lockett’s rookie season was productive, it wasn’t until the 2018 season that we got to see just how special of a receiver Lockett is. This was the first year that Lockett had broken out of Baldwin’s shadow. He turned from a special team ace into a top tier wideout and Russell Wilson’s favorite target.

During the 2018 season, Lockett accumulated 965 yards on 57 catches. This was good for 16.9 yards per catch which ranked 11th in the NFL. His catch rate was 81.4%, which was 1st in the NFL. Add all this together and you get 13.79 yards per target, which was 1st in the NFL.

That season he had 10 touchdowns, which ranked 5th in the NFL. This was above players live Travis Kelce, Mike Evans, Julio Jones, Chris Godwin and Odell Beckham Jr. He is the epitome of efficiency as a receiver. In fact, Lockett and Russell Wilson actually broke the NFL record for passer rating when targeting a specific receiver. This came in at a perfect 158.3.

PFF has Lockett as the best receiver on deep crossing routes. Considering his efficiency, its safe to wonder how people would think of Lockett if he was on an air raid style offense. He simply doesn’t receive the targets to be a big-name player. Yet, quietly off to the side, he is one of the best route runners in the game.

At the time of the draft, many were worried that Seattle had overpaid when the Seahawks traded a third (95th), fourth (112th), fifth (167th) and sixth-round pick (181st) to the Redskins for the 69th selection.

However, fast forward to today and this proved to be a stroke a genius by John Schneider and Pete Carroll. Tyler Lockett is a phenomenal player and is only getting better. Well worth the trade.