Seattle Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett Embracing Newness, Dynamic Scheme in Year 10

One of the select few players blessed to hit double digit NFL seasons, Tyler Lockett hopes to see his explosive abilities re-accentuated in a new offense.

Oct 29, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett (16) carries the ball after making a catch against the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. - Infamously known as the "Not For Long" league, few players manage to hit double-digit seasons playing in the NFL, with the vast majority lasting fewer than five years before being forced to hang up their cleats in some way, shape, or form.

As Tyler Lockett prepares to begin his 10th season with the Seattle Seahawks, the savvy veteran receiver has been able to reflect on his journey with new teammate Laken Tomlinson, who signed with the team in April and will also be hitting a decade in the NFL this season. While there are still plenty of other players from the 2015 draft class still hanging around, the number shrinks every year, putting them in select company for their longevity in a young man's sport.

"We were just talking about like, 'Man, what's the percentage of guys that get into year 10?' And we were like, 'It's probably 1%.' But I mean, it's a blessing to me still to be here in year 10," Lockett said after Monday's practice. "There's still a good amount of guys that I came in draft class with; they're still being able to play, and they're still playing at a high level or still being able to be on the team and stuff. And so I think it's a blessing all around. We always say it's three and a half is the average. Basically, I beat that dang nearly three times."

Beating the odds isn't anything new for Lockett. Despite his father being a former NFL player himself, he only received a three-star rating as a recruit coming out of Booker T. Washington High School. After he garnered All-American honors twice and All-Big 12 honors three times at Kansas State, in part due to concerns about his slight 5-10, 182-pound frame, he didn't hear his name called until the Seahawks took a chance on him by trading four picks to the Commanders to move up and select him with the 69th overall selection in the third round.

Even since being in the league, while Lockett has achieved star status in the Pacific Northwest and stands out as one of the most popular players in franchise history, he has always seemed to be off the radar as one of the NFL's best receivers nationally. For his career, incredibly, Lockett has never been selected to a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro as a receiver in nine previous seasons, padding his resume instead for his kick and punt returning acumen in his first three seasons before taking on a larger role on offense after Doug Baldwin retired.

Putting that disrespectful fact into context, from 2019 to 2022, Lockett stood alone as the only player who eclipsed 70 receptions, 1,000 receiving yards, and eight touchdowns in all four seasons, and yet he didn't even sniff All-Pro consideration or make a Pro Bowl roster in that span.

Though that impressive streak ended last season, Lockett still caught 79 passes for 894 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, remaining a reliable weapon for Geno Smith. Already eclipsing his goal of playing eight seasons in the NFL and now standing as one of only 10 third round picks from the 2015 draft still in the league, he views every opportunity granted to him to continue suiting up as a cherry on top with hopes of rewarding the Seahawks for their continued faith in his ability as he puts everything on the line to make sure he maximizes his remaining window to play the sport he loves.

"Regardless of what happens, I know I'm going to come back swinging the next play," Lockett explained. "For me, I always want to give it all I've got. I want to see how far I can take this game regardless of how many years I've got left. I want to be able to really be the best that I can be because I know when I chose to be done playing, I'm not going to miss the game because I made sure that I used every amount, every route that I could possible. I made sure I used every amount of energy possible to play this game. I don't want to leave too early to where I want to come back and then it's hard to get back in once you leave. I want to play to the point to where I feel like I did what I wanted to do. Then when I choose to be done, I'm good."

Now potentially entering the twilight of his illustrious career, the soon-to-be 32-year old Lockett still believes he has plenty left in the tank to offer Seattle and room to take his game to another level, especially in a new offense coordinated by Ryan Grubb that he expects will best emphasize his current strengths and skill set.

As Lockett noted, sometimes scheme changes can be a major plus as a veteran player, breaking up the monotony that comes with playing in the same system for a long period of time. Though he hasn't wished for former play callers such as Darrell Bevell or Shane Waldron to no longer have a job, from a positive standpoint, regularly changing coordinators and learning a new playbook has sparked continued growth through exposure to different ideas and approaches to the game.

"Sometimes, new is good," Lockett elaborated. "It's hard to imagine if you were in the same offense for 10 straight years if there would be any excitement for you coming in. Meetings would be a lot more difficult because you know everything left and right because you've been a part of something for so long. And for me, it's been interesting because I think every three years, I've had a new offensive coordinator. And so it's allowed me to approach the game differently, and it's allowed me to see the game differently and learn different ways and unique abilities to be able to use my skills to go out there and still try to do the same thing that I've been doing. So it's fun learning from each offensive coordinator that I've been under."

Playing in an offense featuring other playmakers such as DK Metcalf, Ken Walker III, and rising second-year wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, some may speculate Lockett's days as a 1,000-yard receiver could be over with him no longer being a featured weapon. With just one football to go around, targets might not be available for him to reach those numbers he regularly achieved in the past catching passes from different quarterbacks in different offenses.

But with a mature perspective, Lockett isn't looking at things through such a lens. At this stage of his career, he wants to do whatever he can to help Seattle win football games and be the best teammate he can be, and even if the targets aren't there that he once received, he can still make an impact blocking on the outside or drawing attention from opposing defenses as a dangerous decoy, ready to contribute beyond the box score as needed.

At the same time, Lockett also thinks a number of dominos didn't fall in his favor last season, insinuating that better fortune alone may help him fend off Father Time a bit longer and return to his prior 2019 to 2022 form. When Smith calls his number, he's eager to show he hasn't lost a step and can still wreak havoc in an offense catered well to his skill set with the juice to still take the top off a defense, opening the door for him to prove it isn't time to stash him away as nothing more than a complementary target either.