Is Tyler Lockett the Most Underrated Receiver in the NFL?

Tyler Lockett came to the Seattle Seahawks as an undersized, speedy receiver who was thought to be more of a kick returner than anything else.

He now leaves holding the second-most yards, touchdowns, and receptions in franchise history. This is how an overlooked kick returner turned into one of the most underrated receivers of all time.

The Early Years

Coming out of college, Lockett stood at 5-foot-10 and 182 pounds— a small frame for a receiver. He had speed, though, certainly quicker than a 4.4-second 40-yard dash suggests. He stood out as a return man at Kansas State, and for that reason, he was expected to do the same in the NFL. And that would be how his career in Seattle got started.

It was tough for Lockett to break through offensively in a team with established stars like Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, and Jimmy Graham. Still, he brought in a respectable 51 receptions for 664 yards and six touchdowns in his rookie season. Special teams is where he shined, though, as he finished third in both kick and punt return yards across the NFL. To top it off, he returned both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown.

Standing out as a returner, he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie and was named a First Team All-Pro kick returner. Despite his career only going up from here, he would never achieve these honors again.

Becoming A Star

With Doug Baldwin holding down the WR1 position in his first few seasons, it took until 2018 for Lockett to truly break out.

Baldwin’s regression his final season saw Lockett step up and produce 965 yards and 10 touchdowns. He stood out most in the deep passing game, having the most yards per attempt and second most yards per reception on the team (minimum 25 receptions).

This was the year that Seattle, for the most part, moved on from the Legion of Boom. It was supposed to be a down year, but the emergence of Chris Carson and Lockett helped lead the team to the postseason. Despite a disappointing Wild Card loss in Dallas, the future looked bright.

Lockett would have his best shot at a ring in 2019. Chris Carson was a well-established star, and rookie D.K. Metcalf proved to be the perfect partner for Lockett. With Metcalf’s speed, he could take the top off any defense, providing openings for Lockett underneath, who had developed his route running to an elite level.

The chemistry built up with quarterback Russell Wilson proved to be a pivotal factor. Now in their fifth season together, the two were able to play a backyard football-style offense to perfection. Not to mention Wilson’s ‘moonballs’ dropped right to his arms. All of this culminated in a Week 8 encounter with the Bucs that saw Lockett go off for 13 receptions, 152 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite finishing the season with 82 receptions for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns, factors out of his control hampered what could’ve been a comfortable No. 1 seed. The fearsome run game Seattle established went down when Chris Carson fractured his hip in Week 16 and ended his season.

On top of that, the defense had statistically not been brilliant and instead relied on big, game-changing plays. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see their weaknesses exposed when the offense couldn’t produce. This resulted in losing the final two games of the season and missing out on the one seed.

A great win in Wild Card Weekend provided optimism, but relying on that defense and calling Marshawn Lynch out of retirement, made it no surprise that the season ended in Green Bay the following week. Lockett, however, gave it his all, hauling in nine passes for 136 yards and a touchdown.

Consistently Producing

The following season would be the best of Lockett’s career. He broke a franchise record and was the first Seahawks’ receiver to catch 100 passes in a season. He yet again broke 1,000 yards on the season, an achievement he repeated for four straight seasons (2019-2022). Despite winning the division and improving on their 2019 record, Seattle never felt like a true contender that year.

Most of their wins were hard-fought, close games against teams that shouldn’t have pushed them that far. That showed in the playoffs as they were thoroughly outplayed by the Rams and handed their first-ever home playoff loss since 2004. Still, Lockett showed up and provided one of the most iconic performances of all time on a Monday night game against Arizona as he went off for 200 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.

These seasons became about Lockett consistently producing but also being consistently available. From the start of the 2017 season to Week 16 of 2022, Lockett didn’t miss a single start due to injury. An incredible feat, especially when considering he’s a smaller, faster receiver. With linebackers and safeties only getting bigger and stronger, those types of players tend to be more injury-prone.

Ironically, Lockett owes this level of consistency to an injury way back in 2016.

A Career-Defining Injury

In Week 16 of 2016, Lockett suffered a gruesome leg break. Fracturing both his tibia and fibula. He wouldn’t return until Week 1 of the following season. It was more misfortune than anything else, as a player landed on his leg while he was making a catch. Despite this, he took injury prevention to a whole new level.

In any Tyler Lockett highlight video, it won’t take long to see him ducking out of bounds or giving himself up before he takes a hit in the secondary. These habits all stemmed from this injury and resulted in him being able to give the Seahawks the most sought-after ability, availability. Despite some fans complaining about lost RAC yards, Lockett knew exactly what he was doing.

Unless entirely necessary, he would not allow a big hit. Protecting his body like that is exactly why he’s been able to produce at such a high level for so long. Aside from staying on the field, it also prolonged his career by protecting his head from any unnecessary damage.

Cementing a Legacy

There was a stretch of time where Lockett was the team’s number one receiver.

As he got older and Metcalf emerged, he settled into the two spot nicely. Both of them were able to compliment each other well and boosted their numbers. Since 2023, Lockett has taken on more of a mentor role, accepting the responsibilities of being a team captain and leading the wide receiver room.

For a decade, Lockett filled in any role required of him, whether it was as a return man, a deep shot target, or out of the slot as Russell Wilson’s favorite target. Lockett was there and played each role perfectly. His numbers aren’t the big standout values that you see from players like Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson. But that has more to do with Pete Carroll’s run-first offense more than Lockett.

He’ll be turning 33 years old this year and is now hitting the open market. If he were to move to a pass-heavy offense, he would have enough in the tank to put up big numbers again. It’s unlikely he’ll be a number one option anywhere, but that might just help him out even more.

Perhaps this season, he can finally make a well-deserved Pro Bowl as a receiver.