Seattle Seahawks: 3 Players who will make strides in 2019

1. Tyler Lockett, WR

Tyler Lockett technically already had his breakout season last year, but I’m wondering how much higher he can go. We’ve not yet fully established the ceiling for Lockett and 2019 will go a long way to fully creating the full picture of the wide receiver.

Last year, in his fourth NFL season, Lockett took a huge step in the right direction. Prior to the season, I wrote him off as being an extremely limited offensive playmaker. I even said he wasn’t worth the three-year, $30.75 million contract extension he signed last August. Lockett proved me and all of his critics wrong though.

Back in 2017, Lockett appeared in all 16 games for the Seahawks and started half of the season. He finished the year with 45 receptions, 555 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Since his rookie season in 2015, Lockett’s receiving production had been dropping by the season. He made a major jump in 2018 though, recording 57 receptions, 965 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. In one year, he more than doubled his career receiving touchdowns total.

With Doug Baldwin dealing with injuries all year long and the Seahawks transitioning back to a run-heavy offense, Lockett was able to thrive. Through the first three years of his career, Lockett averaged 38.6 receiving yards per game. That number jumped to 60.3 in 2018 when he became Wilson’s top weapon.

Recently, we’ve seen other middling wide receivers take large leaps as well. Robert Woods recorded over 1,200 receiving yards with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 despite averaging less than 700 yards in his five previous seasons. Woods ramped up to his jump, putting up good numbers in 2017. I think Lockett could be going through a similar process that we might see the completion of in 2019.