Most Intriguing Seahawks, No. 1: DK Metcalf’s ‘upside is incredible’

Jul 24, 2019, 12:31 PM

Seahawks WR DK Metcalf was projected to be a first-round pick but slipped to 64th overall. (Getty)

(Getty)

Editor, Seattle Sports

The Seahawks kick off training camp Thursday, and Brock and Salk have counted down the top 25 most intriguing Seahawks every weekday leading up to it. Their list concluded Wednesday with No. 1: Rookie wide receiver DK Metcalf.

Listen to the full segment here, and check out the highlights below:

Quick look

• DK Metcalf was a standout at the NFL combine, running the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds and jumping a 40.5 inch vertical.
• Taken in the second round (64th overall) by the Seahawks in April’s NFL Draft.
• He’s a big-bodied receiver, checking in at 6 foot 3 and 229 pounds.
• He looks like this.

What Mike Salk says

The Seahawks have had physically gifted receivers before under their current regime, but Salk thinks Metcalf has a leg up on the speedy Percy Harvin and Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham.

“DK Metcalf actually fits the scheme,” Salk said. “Run deep, jump up, catch the ball.”

Clayton: Metcalf is Seahawks’ most impressive rookie since Wilson

Metcalf slipped from a potential first-round selection to late in the second round, however, so there’s reason to wonder why the other 31 NFL teams passed on him.

Salk has one thing he wants to figure out about the extremely muscular receiver.

“What I want to know about DK Metcalf is, is he a glamour muscle guy? Is he a guy who looks great because he’s working out the bis and tris, or is he in the gym squatting and making sure that the base and the foundation and the core is all what it needs to be?”

Why is he the most intriguing Seahawk?

“Because he’s a physical freak show. We just haven’t seen anyone like him here, at least not during this Pete Carroll/John Schneider regime. He’s just cut from a different cloth,” Salk said.

But there’s also the fact that Metcalf fits the bill of a boom-or-bust candidate, and which direction that goes could become clear in his rookie season.

“He’s got an upside of a Randy Moss or a T.O. (Terrell Owens) or somebody like that. Unfortunately, the other side of it is he’s got the bust rate of a David Boston,” Salk said. “I mean, he might not be good. He’s incredibly talented, (has the) size and speed combination, but there’s question marks about whether or not he can actually run all the routes, whether or not he’s got the hands and everything else that kind of leads to being a great NFL wide receiver and not somebody who does it in some of these sort of gimmicky college schemes that the Seahawks don’t run.”

Brock Huard shares what stands out about DK Metcalf

So why did the Seahawks take a chance on him?

“The upside is beyond incredible.”

Something else to consider

Tom Wassell, filling in for Brock Huard as Salk’s co-host, brought up an interesting point about comparing Metcalf to iconic receivers like Moss and Owens.

“My concern with him, actually, when you say he has the ability to be a Randy Moss or a T.O., some of these big, physically-gifted guys, they all play in pass-oriented offenses. I just wonder if he’s going to get the kind of opportunity, the number of touches, the number of targets, to really be that type of wide receiver,” Wassell said. “… If we’re just depending on one big play out of him a game, sometimes you have to throw those guys four or five passes before they make the big catch. … I hope the amount of targets that he gets is adequate enough for him to learn in a running offense.”