Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett defies critics who questioned his hands

Tyler Lockett came into the NFL Draft process last year as an undersized 5-foot-10, 182-pound receiver. But he says the biggest knock on his game wasn’t his size, but his hands.

“Coming into the new season and the NFL, a lot of people questioned my hands, and I always said if hands is something people are going to question, that’s something I can definitely work on,” Lockett said on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “The Huddle” Thursday.

So far, any supposed butterfingers have been a non-issue for the Kansas State rookie, who has 35 catches on 44 targets, with only one drop. Questions about his catching ability were something he knew wouldn’t be permanent because he’s worked on it. In fact, he knew it was a concern that could be fixed within a matter of weeks or months.

“I’ll catch JUGS, I’ll catch tennis balls, whatever I have to do just to be able to put myself in the best position to be able to catch the ball,” he said.

Thinking back, though, was it even a fair criticism?

“To me it wasn’t,” he said. “They said that I was inconsistent in catching the ball, but I caught 106 balls (my senior year). So, for me, it was, ‘OK, you really don’t watch the games.’ If I had to pick a weakness out of everything that I do I would say that it is something I could get better at. But I wouldn’t just point that out and say that is my biggest struggle.

“Whatever people say about me I’m just gonna prove them wrong,” he added. “And also, in proving them wrong, I’m gonna prove to myself that I can be able to do this.”