Seattle Seahawks: A tale of two different young, small receivers
After a slow start to the season, the Seattle Seahawks resumed their status as one of the NFL’s scariest juggernauts, and, this time, they were supported by a high-flying offensive attack.
With a 110.1 QB Rating, a 68.1% completion percentage, 34 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and 8.3 yards per pass attempt, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was a bona fide MVP candidate, slowly putting himself into the “living legend” conversation. But who knew that giving rookie steal Tyler Lockett consistent playing time and targets at wide receiver would be the catalyst for the career years from Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse?
Related Story: Who are the most clutch players in NFL history?
The Seahawks tried to tell us that they drafted Lockett to be their kick returner, but we all knew that they traded up for the hyped-up Kansas State sleeper for more than just his electrifying special teams ability, which we immediately saw in Week 1. After trading for Jimmy Graham in the offseason, the Seahawks made it clear that they weren’t just going to rely on Wilson’s arm strength and elite deep ball placement to chuck passes to tall guys like Kearse, Ricardo Lockette, and Chris Matthews for another year.
In Lockett, the Seahawks added a shifty, speedy weapon with excellent hands and some of the best route-running in the class. It wouldn’t have been outlandish for a team to pluck Lockett in the first round, and even though the comparison small wideouts with good route-running get to Antonio Brown grow tiresome, they seemed shockingly appropriate in Lockett’s admittedly special case.
More from Seattle Seahawks
- Drew Lock flashes in Seattle Seahawks 2023 preseason debut
- Ranking the 5 best NFL uniform changes for the 2023 season
- 5 NFL teams that will definitely disappoint fans in 2023
- 2023 NFL Predictions: Every Divisional Winner for the 2023 Season
- NFL: Predicting the top 5 running attacks for the 2023 season
And special he was. Lockett didn’t catch his first touchdown pass until Week 7, but it was real coming-out party for a rookie who had stardom tattooed on him. He caught all five of Wilson’s passes for 79 yards, and his touchdown showcased his ability to get a critical step behind the defense, with Wilson spinning a trademark perfect pass for six.
Lockett wouldn’t look back after that, because while he didn’t put up monster numbers, he was as efficient as any receiver in the league. 51 catches for six TDs is always impressive, but even more eye-catching was Lockett’s 73.9% catch rate on 13.02 yards per reception, giving way to 9.62 yards per target. Not bad for a rookie, right?
You can chalk up the first-team All-Pro special teamer as a shining example of how a 5’10” player can succeed in the NFL and run a complete route tree, including deep passes. Even though he failed to make any big plays against the Minnesota Vikings, he put them on notice a few times before making two big-time plays that a veteran would be proud of in the Seahawks near-comeback effort against the Carolina Panthers.
There’s no doubt that Lockett met even the loftiest of pre-draft expectations heaped on him, but his amazing success as a first-year player causes all of us to forget about the other fast, small-ish (OK, he’s 6’0″, so he’s not that small, but he weighs even less than Lockett at a skinny 175) 23-year-old wide receiver on the Seahawks.
Yes, I’m talking about Paul Richardson. You know, the guy who was supposed to shine as a playmaker after the Seahawks gave up on Percy Harvin in the middle of the 2014 season?
As a second-round selection who earned comparisons to DeSean Jackson due to his explosiveness after the catch and as a vertical threat, Richardson had his fair share of hype coming into Seattle. In his rookie year, Richardson had a nice-looking 65.9% catch rate, but he did absolutely nothing with his targets, turning in a non-explosive sub-10.0 yards per reception.
Maybe Richardson is capable of being the D-Jax-esque playmaker the Seahawks paid for with a second-round pick, maybe he’s a bust who will never be higher than fifth on the depth chart. The saddest part about Richardson’s situation is that we won’t know if he can’t get healthy. Injuries are a huge concern for Richardson, who had both severe strength and knee injury concerns coming out of Colorado, and he played a grand total of just seven snaps in 2015 after returning from an ACL tear in the 2014 season.
Heading into his third season, Richardson is in a tough spot, and one more major injury to the high-upside speedster would be heart-breaking. A breakout season isn’t out of question for Richardson, and it’s that lingering hope that makes the Seahawks offense especially scary. If the “growing sentiment”, as reported by the Seattle Times’s Bob Condotta, that the Seahawks will try to re-sign Kearse turns into a deal, then the explosive Seattle offense from the end of the 2015 season could return with burgeoning elite back Thomas Rawls and the field-stretching Richardson in tote.
Oh, and Lockett is only going to get better. We can’t forget about that. Although Richardson has only been in the league for two seasons and Lockett has been in the league for one, their different stories are a reminder of how precarious life in the NFL is. But wouldn’t it be something if Richardson stayed healthy and used his speed to become a different type of game-changer in the Seattle offense?
More nfl spin zone: Who are the greatest UDFAs in NFL history?
The similarities between both players end beyond their teams, positions, draft statuses, and age, but they could combine together to make this Seattle offense truly special in 2016, though I wouldn’t blame you if you’ve given up hope on the receiver who was drafted one year earlier, even if he is about the same age.