SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Could Seahawks’ WR Tyler Lockett make the move to the slot?

May 16, 2019, 2:46 PM | Updated: 3:05 pm
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Could Seahawks' WR Tyler Lockett be Doug Baldwin's replacement at the slot? (AP)
(AP)

Two of the biggest questions faced by the Seahawks this offseason stem, unsurprisingly, from the loss of two veteran starters: defensive end Frank Clark and wide receiver Doug Baldwin.

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Without Clark, whose 14 sacks and 27 quarterback hits led all Seahawks defenders, Seattle will need its younger pass rushers to take a step forward. Without Baldwin, the team will need to replace a long-time starter in the slot.

710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard fielded questions about both positions in Thursday morning’s Blue 42 segment of the Brock and Salk show (listen to the full segment in the audio clip embedded above).

Can Rasheem Green be a double-digit sack player?

“The biggest factor when it comes to the Seahawks’ sack total, if they’re going to get into the upper 30’s or 40’s, which is kind of the sweet spot for their defense, is that it’s not going to be Ziggy Ansah,” Huard said. “It’s going to be the 2018 draft class, and Jacob Martin and Rasheem Green in particular. And (710 ESPN Seattle host) Dave Wyman looks at Rasheem Green and says he’s got the capability of being a 10-sack guy. I don’t know if I can give him that ceiling.

“Now, he got up to double-digit sacks down at USC where he was an all-conference player. We’ll watch OTAs next week and you look at him — there’s a lot of pretty to his game. But when you see the elite guys, the double-digit sack guys, they have one thing in common: their ability to take their massive frame and bend it, and play at a pad level and play with speed and twitch and movement that other guys, like Rasheem Green, just can’t. Can Green be a five or six sack guy? Yeah. Can he beat bad tackles? Sure. But when he faces the good ones, is there enough wiggle and bend and speed-to-power there? That, to me, I still very much question.”

Will Tyler Lockett play predominately out of the slot?

“What is the slot? The slot, as I think most people in the NFL designate it — because of all the three receiver sets — it’s Tyreek Hill in Kansas City, it’s Danny Amendola and Wes Welker and those guys who played for Tom Brady in New England,” Huard said.

“Last year, Tyler was actually in the slot in nearly half of his snaps. It just so happened many of those were big play-action bombs. A year ago, Tyler had 457 snaps at slot receiver and 496 on the outside. If you’re asking me to draw it up when they get into their three receiver sets, Lockett will be in there at times, but I can’t imagine it being at the rate where Doug was for years and years because of his big-play ability. I don’t think you want to take that out of his repertoire, and most of his big moments have come when he plays that flanker position outside.”

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Could Seahawks’ WR Tyler Lockett make the move to the slot?