Seahawks Notebook: OC Brian Schottenheimer talks young WRs

The Seahawks wrapped up their third open session of offseason training Tuesday afternoon, and afterwards, reporters got a chance to speak with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and wide receiver Tyler Lockett about the development of Seattle’s offense without Doug Baldwin.

The most consistent position group through Seahawks OTAs

Schottenheimer was quick to turn attention to the 26-year-old Lockett, now one of Seattle’s most-tenured receivers.

“We’re going to move him around,” Schottenheimer said, when asked whether Lockett would play more in the slot to make up for the loss of Baldwin.

“I think you have to… these guys in year two have learned the system so much better that you can move guys around. D.K. (Metcalf) came in and he’s learning the X, but we’re moving him all around too, and he’s handled that. But the best weapon for us is when they don’t know where Tyler’s going to be. And so we’ll move him around. He can do so many things so well, he sees the game instinctively so well, that he’s a hard matchup.”

What Seattle’s receiver group lacks in experience (at least with this team in particular), it makes up for in youth and quantity. Lockett, Jaron Brown, and David Moore are the only regular starters to make a return in 2019. Also participating in offseason training this year are Keenan Reynolds, Caleb Scott, Amara Darboh, Jazz Ferguson, Terry Wright, John Ursua, D.J. Metcalf, and Gary Jennings (though the latter has been sidelined by a hamstring injury).

It’s difficult to replace the chemistry lost by the departure of an eight-year veteran, and there’s no trick to speeding up the development of trust and timing between quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seahawks’ newest receivers. To put it simply, Schottenheimer told reporters, it just takes time.

“We’ve got a long way to go before we play a real game.”

Notables

There were a few additional players sitting out Tuesday. Safety Marquise Blair, cornerback Kalan Reed, wide receiver Amara Darboh, and running back Travis Homer were all sidelined, though because reporters didn’t get a chance to speak with head coach Pete Carroll, little else is known about their injuries.

The following players also remained out and are not expected to participate until training camp: Safety Bradley McDougald (knee), running back Chris Carson (knee), defensive tackle Jarran Reed (sports hernia surgery), safety Delano Hill (hip), defensive tackle Nazair Jones, and wide receiver Gary Jennings (hamstring).

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