4 key observations from DK Metcalf’s performance vs. Broncos
By Lee Vowell
DK Metcalf is a special athlete but we might have caught of glimpse of how his 2022 season is going to go in the Seahawks Week 1 victory.
Basically, Geno Smith is a different kind of quarterback than Russell Wilson. This doesn’t mean that Seattle will lose a lot more games with Smith than with Wilson (though that is possible) but the pairing of DK Metcalf and Smith might be different than Metcalf and Wilson.
Against the Broncos, Metcalf had some fantastic plays and some, well…not-so-much. This will probably continue throughout the entire year.
That said, DK Metcalf might end up, in some ways, having the most productive season of his career while also, in other ways, having his least productive season.
How did DK Metcalf do in Week 1 against the Broncos?
DK Metcalf is not going to put up huge numbers in 2022
Maybe this is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to what I saw in Week 1 but it appears that the Seahawks might be thinking of using DK Metcalf a lot more in 2022 than he has ever been used as a possession receiver. There isn’t truly anything wrong with that to a degree. Metcalf is bigger than most defensive backs he will play and certainly as strong or stronger.
But the routes that Metcalf was running for the most part against the Denver Broncos were out-routes and medium-distance throws over the middle. He was used to try to pick up first downs instead of post routes down the sidelines.
This was likely by design as the Seahawks are going to be turnover-adverse this year even more than normal. Seattle will likely play lots of close games and best-case scenarios will mean Seattle is victorious because of excellent red zone defense (see: Week 1) and great special teams (see: Week 1). So seeing a lot more games like Metcalf’s 7 catches for 36 yards might be more normal than 4 catches for 115 yards.