Who is more critical to Seahawks’ playoff success: Diggs or Lockett?
Jan 2, 2020, 11:20 AM
Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett's numbers have dropped a lot since his Week 10 injury. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks’ most important player is quarterback Russell Wilson. That much is certain.
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But aside from Wilson, which player is most important if the Seahawks are going to make a deep playoff run?
Danny O’Neil and Paul Gallant of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant have differing opinions.
O’Neil thinks No. 1 receiver Tyler Lockett, who surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his career, is most important. Lockett also suffered a shin injury in Week 10 that has impacted his performance, though the team has said he’s back to 100-percent healthy.
Before and up to first game against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10 when Lockett suffered his injury, he was catching roughly 82 percent of passes thrown his way. Since that game, he is catching 59 percent of his targets.
“To me what that says is he’s not getting as open,” O’Neil said. “I don’t think it’s that Russell Wilson has suddenly become a less accurate thrower when he’s getting the ball to (Lockett). There’s not as much separation, there’s not as much space.”
The Seahawks were averaging 26.8 points per game the first 10 weeks of the season. Since then, they’ve averaged 21.67.
In the first 10 weeks, Lockett had just two games with less than 50 receiving yards. He has four in the last six weeks, including a game he did not have a catch, though he did secure a nice touchdown in Week 17.
“He’s not getting as open as he did and I think for Seattle to win, they need to continually land big punches,” O’Neil said. “I think big plays is the key to it.”
Despite the clear drop in production since Lockett’s injury, Gallant safety Quandre Diggs, who is expected back after missing the last two games with an ankle injury he suffered in Week 15, is more important. Diggs returned to practice Wednesday in limited fashion.
“Quandre Diggs is the big difference maker left on this defense,” he said. “When Diggs came here, it felt like a different defense, at least temporarily.”
Diggs was traded to the Seahawks from the Detroit Lions and has appeared in five games for Seattle, accumulating three interceptions, a forced fumble and a defensive touchdown. The Seahawks have 13 interceptions in the five games he’s started, compared to 19 in the other 11. He has also made some big hits, such as this one against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13.
🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨 Quandre Diggs makes big hit on Irv Smith Jr. in MNF https://t.co/MolYe3hXsf
— Kameron Chancellor (@KamChancellor) December 3, 2019
“A guy like Quandre Diggs has the potential to take the Seahawks further than they should go (in the playoffs),” Gallant said.
710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard also thinks Diggs is more important, as he stabilizes a defense that has shown stark improvement when he is on the field.
“That defense needs his presence,” Huard said. “That secondary needs his presence. And ultimately, you’re going to have to feel his presence if he goes out there and hits people and is secure on the back end of that defense … I think he is a pivotal piece and the numbers are pretty clear when Quandre Diggs is a part of this defense and when he is not.”
Safety play has been an emphasis for head coach Pete Carroll since he arrived in Seattle. He had two Pro Bowl players in the back of his defense in Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.
“Pete was a former safety. Pete coached the secondary,” Huard said. “Pete knows what it is to have someone on the back end who impacts not only his own defense, but some of the play calls on the other side, the quarterback on the other side who may be (hesitant) to throw into some windows and throw it to some places.”
Although Huard thinks Diggs is more important to the Seahawks’ success, he agrees Lockett will need to be a major contributor for Seattle.
One area where Lockett has shined over the last two seasons is on “50-50 balls” where Wilson throws it up deep for Lockett to try and make a play. The offense gets a lot of big plays that way, but with Lockett’s injury, those plays haven’t been happening.
“The first half of the season before the injury, you saw a bunch more of those,” Huard said. “You saw him come down with those. Those have been much harder since that injury.”
The playoff run starts this Sunday in Philadelphia against the Eagles. The Seahawks beat the Eagles in Philadelphia in Week 12 17-9.
Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard on Twitter.
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