Seahawks wanted to add speed, options at receiver through draft

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The Seahawks were in need of help at wide receiver throughout the NFL Draft even before Doug Baldwin‘s future with the team was thrown into doubt. Once it became clear the Seahawks could potentially lose Baldwin to retirement, the need to stock up on receivers became an even greater priority.

Seattle ended up taking three receivers in total over the course of the weekend: Mississippi’s D.K. Metcalf, West Virginia’s Gary Jennings Jr. and Hawaii’s John Ursua. It was the first time since 1981 the team had selected three receivers in the draft and the first time they’ve done so since the draft was reduced to just seven rounds.

Adding speed to the group was one of the priorities as well. Metcalf and Jennings both ranked among the top 10 receivers at the NFL Combine if 40-yard dash time. General Manager John Schneider also noted that Jennings was the fastest player tracked via GPS during the Senior Bowl.

“That was the number one thing, we wanted to get fast,” head coach Pete Carroll said. “make sure we can compliment the stuff, like running down the field, take advantage of Russell (Wilson)’s ability to throw the ball down the field, which is awesome. And be able to compliment the work that we were able to do with Tyler (Lockett). Make sure that he’s not the only fast guy who can take the top off. We’re really excited about that.”

After adding the speed element to the position, Seattle dealt a 2020 sixth-round pick to Jacksonville to get a seventh-round pick in hand so they could select Ursua, who led the nation in receiving touchdowns with 16 last season.

“Suddenness, instant separation,” Schneider said of Ursua. “Really good feel for sitting in zones and setting guys up. He has a really good shake off the line of scrimmage. Then, he has deceiving speed, too. He would have liked to have had his 40 time back (4.56), but he plays much faster than that.”

Lockett and Baldwin carried Seattle’s receiving corps last season. Lockett had 965 yards and 10 touchdowns on 57 receptions from Wilson that netted a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeted. Baldwin appeared in just 13 games due to injures, but still caught 50 passes for 618 yards and five touchdowns. While David Moore and Jaron Brown had encouraging moments, they combined for just seven receptions over Seattle’s final four regular season games and playoff loss to Dallas.

Baldwin is clearly Seattle’s second-best receiver in franchise history behind only Hall of Famer Steve Largent. If he hangs up the cleats due to an accumulation of injuries, the Seahawks will have to find a way to replace the consistent level of production Baldwin has provided over his eight seasons with the team.

“He’s been a great contributor in so many ways, not just on the team, in the community and everything else. He’s been awesome. We’ll see what happens. He’s working through it and we’re going to follow Doug on this one,” Carroll said of Baldwin.