Given Circumstances, Is Tyler Lockett Having Best Year of His Accomplished Career?

Despite the Seahawks' struggles this year, Tyler Lockett is on pace to post career-highs in several categories and just entered elite company with his performance on Sunday. Is this the best he's ever been?

Plagued by high-profile injuries and stagnant periods on both sides of the ball, it's been a frustrating year for the Seahawks. It took until Week 14 for them to secure their first winning streak of 2021, putting them at a record of 5-8 amidst a crowded—yet painfully mediocre—NFC wild-card race. 

To say this has been an unprecedented year for one of the NFL's most successful franchises of the 21st century would be a severe understatement. Expectations have not only been crushed, but completely obliterated off the face of the Earth. What was initially thought to be a true Super Bowl contender is now staring down the barrel of a sub .500 campaign. 

Chalk it up to bad luck, dysfunction, what have you—disaster has struck at every turn for Seattle. One individual moment, of course, stands high above the rest: Russell Wilson's finger injury and subsequent midseason surgery, forcing him to miss three games before returning to action in Week 10. The team went 1-3 during his absence, including the game he suffered the injury in. Then, upon his return, a second three-game losing streak ensued as he and the offense struggled mightily to find a rhythm. 

But even prior to the injury, Wilson and company weren't necessarily firing on all cylinders. Offensively, from chasmic time of possession splits to poor third down conversion rates, the Seahawks have been dealing with the same issues all year long. And while this has not been as prominent of a storyline over the past two weeks, this is the identity Seattle will ultimately bear when looking at its year as a whole. 

Taking all of this into consideration, that's what makes the season Tyler Lockett is having all the more impressive. As the Seahawks toppled the Texans by a score of 33-13 on Sunday, Lockett joined Hall of Famer Steve Largent as the second receiver in franchise history to record three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He did it in style as well, racking up 142 yards on five receptions with a 55-yard touchdown grab and a two-point conversion, to boot. 

The roar of the crowd as Tyler Lockett catches this third-ad-long pass... pic.twitter.com/EfJaFaYgaJ

— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) December 12, 2021

Lockett is now 37 yards shy of his career-high (1,057) with four games left to play. That number, posted in 2019, was accumulated over the course of 82 receptions. Meanwhile, it took him a franchise-record 100 catches to put up his 2020 mark of 1,054 yards. This year, however, he's knocking on the door with just 62 grabs in tow—good for 16.5 yards per reception, second only to his 2018 average of 16.9 and fifth overall in the NFL in 2021. 

While his EPA per target (0.41) is down from where it was in 2019 (0.5) and 2020 (0.49), he's doing more damage on fewer opportunities. According to TruMedia, he's running an average of 32 routes per game in 2021, putting him on pace for 544 by season's end—the third-highest total of his career, trailing his 2019 and 2020 campaigns. As of now, he's at 416 with 93 of those resulting in targets, averaging a career-high 2.45 yards gained per route. 

Lockett's performance on Sunday also secured another career milestone for him: his fifth 100-yard game of the year, which is the most he's recorded in a single season. One of those came without Wilson in a Week 8 matchup with the Jaguars, in which he caught 12 of 13 passes from Geno Smith for 142 yards. He nearly reached this five-game mark two weeks ago in Washington, coming up just four yards short of the century mark with a three-catch, 96-yard outing. 

The one area he's regressed in this year is scoring. His touchdown on Sunday was just his fifth this year, covering just half of his personal best 10 that he set in 2018 and matched in 2020. Of course, one big game out of the next four could drastically shift his trajectory in this department, though he's on pace to fall well short. 

Nevertheless, the production in contrast to the situation around him is undeniable. Despite the team's rocky road to 5-8, Lockett has played some of his best football and is closing in on unfamiliar territory. It's an especially remarkable feat when considering the fact that the other half of Seattle's star receiving duo, DK Metcalf, has seen a significant decline in production this year.

Metcalf was well on his way to shattering his career-high in touchdowns (10) earlier this year, but he's been stuck at eight since Halloween. In Wilson's five games back from injury, the third-year receiver out of Ole Miss has caught just 17 of 42 targets for 173 yards and an EPA per target of -0.17. Overall, he's now on pace to finish the year with less than 1,000 yards receiving while averaging a career-low 13.4 yards per reception. 

Again, what Lockett has accomplished in 2021 is truly special. While he may not receive many accolades aside from his Walter Payton Man of the Year award nomination, his career résumé is nearing legendary status in the Pacific Northwest. 

During Sunday's win over the Texans, author and Seahawks fan Shiv Ramdas took to Twitter to ponder the question: "Is Tyler Lockett the best Seahawks [receiver] since Steve Largent?" While this is ultimately a debate for another day, it's likely one worth having at this point. 

potentially incendiary question: At this point, is Tyler Lockett the best Seahawks WR since Steve Largent?

— Shiv Ramdas Buk Riter (@nameshiv) December 12, 2021

What turns players into true legends, local or otherwise, is their ability to perform at a high level no matter the situation. Lockett has proved capable of just that in 2021, dodging one disaster after another on his way to what may very well be his best season to date.