Searching for Tyler Lockett on the Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett has been mostly an afterthought so far this season. Exactly why are the Seahawks struggling to get him the ball?

In 2015, Tyler Lockett was a pleasant surprise, coming on strong especially at the end of the season. He finished the season with a 74% catch rate and 35.1% DVOA (#3 in the NFL). This year, after sustaining an injury in the second game of the season against the Rams, his production has not kept pace, with a catch rate of 53% and DVOA of -8.4% (would be about #60 in the league if he qualified).

While he was noticeably slower earlier in the season, he looks to have his burst back, but he and Wilson have had a hard time connecting. In fact, Lockett was targeted 6 times and had 0 catches.

What went wrong?

Play 1: [SEA 3-5 TB 25] (10:48) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete short right to T.Lockett.

Replay

TB rushes 6 against 5 Seattle blockers. Wilson gets the ball out quickly to an open Lockett but misses the throw with pressure in his face.

Play 2: [SEA 3-11 SEA 24] (13:42) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep left to T.Lockett.

Replay

TB rushes 6 + 1 spy against 7 Seattle blockers. Line does a nice job picking it up with a great block by Alex Collins. Seattle gets a 1on1 on the outside with Lockett and Russ has a clean pocket but just misses the throw. It’s unrealistic to expect a QB to hit every deep ball, but that’s a play Russ often makes.

Play 3: [SEA 3-9 SEA 30] (9:17) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep left to T.Lockett.

Replay

Another 3rd and long. Another miss to Lockett up the left sideline (Kearse was called for OPI so if this had connected, it would have been 3rd and longer).

Play 4: [SEA 3-10 SEA 33] (11:58) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep left to T.Lockett (B.McDougald).

Replay

Another 3rd and long. Fant gets beat right away, Russ does a nice job of escaping, and Lockett can’t haul in a difficult catch.

Play 5: [SEA 2-16 SEA 49] (2:19) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep middle to T.Lockett [R.Ayers].

Replay

Late pressure makes Russ hurry the throw, which is a shame because Lockett was wide open.

Play 6: [SEA 2-7 TB 31] (1:36) (No Huddle, Shotgun) R.Wilson pass deep right intended for T.Lockett INTERCEPTED by B.McDougald at TB 2.

I looked at this one on twitter earlier. Russ tries to throw this fading away and it doesn’t go well.

Takeaways

Lockett was open deep several times on 3rd down. The Bucs brought a lot of pressure and dared Wilson to beat them with deep balls. On Sunday, he did not, but long balls are inherently high variance and that will happen sometimes. Aside from a ball that Lockett got his hands on and couldn’t haul in, none of these were catchable for him. Here’s hoping he and Wilson can connect on these like they did late last season.