Seahawks excited to see what ‘special’ group of receivers can do this season

RENTON, Wash. — It was the kind of non-answer that might have just supplied the answer after all.

After Seahawks veteran Tyler Lockett spent a few minutes extolling how close the team’s receiving corps is becoming, he was asked if this could be the best receivers room he has been part of in his nine years with the team.

“Ah, I don’t want to go there,” Lockett said with a smile.

But the rest of what Lockett said indicated he thinks it could well be.

It’s a receiving corps led by one of the best duos in team history — Lockett and DK Metcalf — and been buffeted by two rookies in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo who have quickly earned the respect and apparent admiration of the rest of the team.

“This is the type of receiving corps where we are all learning from each other, because there are so many things that make each person special,” Lockett said. “And we can be able to take some of those pieces to be able to add it to our own game.”

What Lockett and Metcalf can show everyone else in the room is obvious.

Lockett enters the season with 7,100 career receiving yards, needing just 521 yards to pass Brian Blades for second in Seahawks history (though the 13,089 of Steve Largent may be hard to reach).

Lockett has 533 receptions and needs 49 to pass Blades for second in that category. But he could snap one record he shares with Largent — most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons — if he tops that mark again this year. Lockett is tied Largent with four.

Metcalf is already in the top 10 in just about every team career receiving category despite playing just four seasons, including eighth in receptions with 306 and yards (4,218), while ranking seventh in touchdowns with 35. He needs three to move into fifth in that category.

The two have put up those numbers despite rarely playing alongside a reliable third receiver the past few years — the Dee Eskridge experiment, for instance, has yet to work out.

Which is where Smith-Njigba comes in. The Seahawks went pure best player available in taking him at 20th overall last April and as the first receiver selected.

Smith-Njigba looked the part in the preseason in making six catches for 83 yards, including a 48-yarder against Dallas and shaking off a wrist fracture that required surgery to return to practice. He’s on track to play Sunday in the opener against the Los Angeles Rams.

Smith-Njigba figures to line up primarily in the slot, which could allow Lockett and Metcalf to be left in man coverage on the outside that much more.

“What makes him fit well, with me and Tyler, he’s going to get open automatically, and he’s going to catch the ball,” Metcalf said. “He’s going to try to score every time he catches the ball. So that alone is what’s going to make him a great player in this league, and what’s going to complement me and Tyler.”

If his draft position meant everyone expected Smith-Njigba to make a significant impact this season, that Bobo has emerged as the apparent fourth receiver is maybe the surprise of the preseason.

Bobo went undrafted after running a 4.99 seconds 40-yard dash time at his pro day at UCLA in the spring. He signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.

His play in the offseason program inspired the catch phrase “More Bobo” from running backs coach Chad Morton, and he lived up to it throughout the preseason, leading the Seahawks with seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

This week, when Metcalf and Lockett held their respective media sessions, they heaped the kind of praise on Bobo normally reserved for a grizzled veteran.

“I’m asking Bobo questions, because it looks like he’s open every play,” Metcalf said. “I’m asking him how he does it after you ran a 4.9.”

Metcalf recalled being out of town for some of the offseason program but watching highlights of practice on his iPad.

“I called up Tyler, I’m like, ‘who is this? Who is No. 19?’” Metcalf said. ‘He said, ‘Oh, that’s Bobo, man; he’s a tall (6-foot-4) receiver.’ Then I got up here and I’ve seen the way he ran routes and the way he practices — he practices hard, harder than me. Like he’s more detailed than I ever will be, and I use that as motivation to practice harder and make sure I’m honing into more details because he’s doing all the little things right.

“And you know, he’s reaping the benefits of it because he’s very consistent every time he lines up on the field. You have to know where 19 is, that’s just what I’m going to say off the rip. Watching him, I’m very curious how he gets open every time. So, I asked him about his skip release, or I asked him about what do you see here or what do you see there. So I mean, he’s just a unique player in my opinion, who’s going to make a lot of noise.”

Lockett, asked Thursday how Bobo gets so open, responded with a laugh.

“We’re still trying to figure that out ourselves,” Lockett said. “Whatever he does, it works, and it’s amazing to see.”

Bobo downplayed the praise this week, saying he just wants to start proving his worth anew now that the games are real.

“It’s interesting to transition from what can I do to make the team to now what can I do to help this team,” he said. “One is a more selfish attitude and outlook on some of these things. But now it’s what can I do to be a cog in this machine and get these guys to where they want to go, where I want to go, where this organization wants to go.

“So what can I do, whether it’s doing stuff on special teams, whether it’s going in for one or two reps when guys get tired and are tapping out. I’m just looking to find my position, my role on this team.”

It’s a receiving corps that combined with a veteran tight-end unit and running backs who have shown they can be a part of the passing game had quarterback Geno Smith declaring Thursday that he has “high expectations, very high expectations” for this season.

“I think the great part from training camp, from what I saw, was the explosives,” he said. “We have made a ton of plays down the field, and we’ve got a ton of explosives on tape. And who knows what it will be like during the season, [but] we’ve got so many playmakers, so many dynamic players who can do a bunch of different things. The key for me is to get the ball into their hands, let them make the plays, and trust what I’m seeing.”