Why wasn’t DK Metcalf involved more in Seahawks’ offense?

Among the many issues the Seahawks had offensively in their 17-15 loss to the Washington Football Team on Monday, the usage of star receiver DK Metcalf certainly stands out.

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Metcalf, who set a Seahawks record for single-season receiving yards in 2020, has not done much of late the last three weeks. That’s especially interesting given that those three weeks have been with star Russell Wilson back at quarterback following his recovery from midseason finger surgery.

In Wilson’s first two games back against the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals, Metcalf had just seven catches on 16 targets for 57 yards.

Metcalf’s worst performance of the year from a statistical standpoint, though, was Monday night when he caught just one of four targets for 13 yards. His first target didn’t come until late in the third quarter.

So why was that the case? Former NFL quarterback Jake Heaps shared his thoughts on Tuesday’s edition of Jake and Stacy on 710 ESPN Seattle.

“Honestly, because I didn’t see any concepts where you could get him involved sooner,” Heaps said. “There wasn’t a concerted effort enough to try and get DK Metcalf the football.”

A big issue, Heaps said, was that on plays that were clearly designed to get Metcalf the ball, Seattle’s protection didn’t hold up.

“There were plays designed for him. There were a couple of them that you could see if Russell Wilson had more time in the pocket, there’s going to be a wide open completion to DK Metcalf down the field and it’s going to be a big explosive play,” Heaps said. “But what do you need for that to happen? The time (to throw), right?”

Because Wilson was under pressure, Heaps said, the Seahawks should have gotten Metcalf involved in a different way.

“You can’t rely on these big crossing routes all the time to get DK Metcalf involved,” he said. “You’ve got to find quick intermediate throws to be able to get him the football … Get him involved, because the fact that he didn’t get the ball or an attempt thrown to him until the end of the third quarter (and he) doesn’t get his first catch into the final drive the game, you can’t have that happen.”

Jake and Stacy airs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on 710 ESPN Seattle. You can find podcasts of the show at 3 p.m. each day at this link.

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