NFL Draft

Seahawks 2022 NFL Draft Primer: Wide Receivers

By Frank T. Raines Feb 25, 2022, 7:00am PST

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The Seattle Seahawks used their first selection in the 2021 NFL Draft (R2, #56 overall) on a wide receiver. Will they go back to that well again this year? If so, Dee Eskridge’s college teammate Skyy Moore might be on their radar.

NCAA Football: Western Michigan at Pittsburgh

Here are a few of the scouting reports on him:

CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso devoted an entire article to the Western Michigan wideout recently and doubled down with the following Tweet:

Western Michigan WR Skyy Moore is going to be a first-round pick in April...

... if that doesn't happen, in 2-3 years we'll all agree he should have been
— Chris Trapasso (@ChrisTrapasso) February 19, 2022

Personally, I’m in favor of this particular reunion ... and I love his name!

Seattle’s options at wide receiver

With no first round pick (again) this year, Seattle will be waiting until Day Two to make their first selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. That’s the bad news. The good news is that if they want another weapon for Russell Wilson’s arsenal, there should be plenty of quality wideouts for them to choose from on Day Two (and maybe even Day Three).

As with my Quarterback and Running Back primers, this article is only focused on players that are listed in the PFF 2022 NFL Draft Guide, v2.

That guide currently has 14 wide receivers featured in it with 4 of the 14 expected to be selected in the first round. PFF thinks 9 of the remaining 10 will hear their name called on Day Two.

Here are those 14 wide receivers, listed by projected draft order:

Day One

Drake London (USC)
Garrett Wilson (Ohio State)
Jameson Williams (Alabama)
Chris Olave (Ohio State)

Note: PFF has Wilson ranked ahead of London on their Big Board, but London is the only one they are projecting as a Top-10 pick.

Day Two

Jahan Dotson (Penn State)
Treylon Burks (Arkansas)
Skyy Moore (Western Michigan)
Jalen Tolbert (South Alabama)
Justyn Ross (Clemson)
John Metchie III (Alabama)
George Pickens (Georgia)
David Bell (Purdue)
Romeo Doubs (Nevada)

Day Three

Khalil Shakir (Boise State)

Note: PFF has Shakir ranked higher than Metchie, Pickens, Bell, and Doubs on their Big Board, but projects him as a 4th-round pick with the others projected as 3rd-rounders.

__________

It should go without saying that Seattle (probably) won’t be in a position to grab Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Jameson Williams, or Chris Olave. Personally, I think Jahan Dotson and Treylon Burks will also be off the board by the time Seattle is on the clock.

No matter though, we’ll look at all 14 wideouts anyway.

David Bell

Position Ranking: 13 | Overall Ranking: 77 | Projection: Third Round | Comp: James Jones

2021 Stat Line: 93 receptions on 134 targets (69.4%) for 1,275 yards with 6 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Bell is a nice complementary piece in an offense. He can line up anywhere and not be out of place — that’s a No. 2 or high-end No. 3 type of receiver.”

FTR’s take: Purdue’s opponents knew that Bell was the only real receiving threat yet he still put up well over 1,000 yards on the season. And it could have been more if he had a “second gear” and didn’t let corners catch him from behind.

Treylon Burks

Position Ranking: 6 | Overall Ranking: 28 | Projection: Second Round | Comp: Donte Moncrief

2021 Stat Line: 65 receptions on 88 targets (73.9%) for 1,110 yards with 11 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Burks is a vertical-route weapon. He can not only win with speed by stacking opposing corners, but he can also win regularly at the catch point when he doesn’t create separation.”

FTR’s take: Burks took the vast majority of his collegiate snaps in the slot (529 of 717 in 2021; 1,323 of 1,665 overall) but he’s got the size (6-3, 225), the skills, and the speed to thrive on the outside which makes me wonder why Arkansas kept him in the slot as much as they did. To be fair, his non-slot snaps increased each season, starting with 72 in 2019, increasing to 82 in 2020, and then more than doubling (to 188) in 2021.

Jahan Dotson

Position Ranking: 5 | Overall Ranking: 26 | Projection: Second Round | Comp: Kendall Wright

2021 Stat Line: 91 receptions on 138 targets (65.9%) for 1,182 yards with 12 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Dotson is really tailor-made to play slot in today’s NFL. He’s as shifty as it gets with enough speed to challenge vertically. But, more importantly, he has a massive catch radius for a player listed at only 5-foot-11.”

FTR’s take: Imagine what Dotson’s 2021 season would have looked like with a better quarterback throwing him the ball. It’s not too hard to picture Dotson as the heir-apparent to Tyler Lockett (in a few years) if Seattle were to call his name on Draft Day.

Romeo Doubs

Position Ranking: 14 | Overall Ranking: 81 | Projection: Third Round | Comp: Marvin Jones

2021 Stat Line: 80 receptions on 110 targets (72.7%) for 1,114 yards with 11 TDs

PFF’s take:

“After playing primarily as a deep threat in 2020, Doubs showed he could win all over the field this past season.“

“Doubs doesn’t really have any physical limitations that stop him from playing the X role in the league as he did in college. The question is simply, can he deal with the bump in physicality? “

FTR’s take: PFF’s Draft Guide includes “heat maps” that show how a receiver performed based on field location (red = above average, blue = below average). To be honest, I don’t usually pay much attention to them. Doubs’ heat map caught my attention though because (A) When he’s on the right side of the field, Doubs is basically lights-out (especially near the sideline), and (B) On the left side of the field, it’s the polar opposite.

I don’t know that my observation means anything, but I’d sure want to investigate that before spending a Day Two pick on him. I mean, it’s one thing for a really good cornerback to “shut down” one side of the field; it’s something else if it’s the receiver that does that.

Drake London

Position Ranking: 2 | Overall Ranking: 12 | Projection: TOP TEN | Comp: Brandon Marshall

2021 Stat Line: 88 receptions on 119 targets (73.9%) for 1,084 yards with 7 TDs

PFF’s take:

“London wins the way elite power forwards win — not surprising with his basketball background. He’s too quick for bigger corners and too physical for smaller corners. Even when he’s covered, London is still likely to haul it in.”

FTR’s take: London strikes me as a slightly taller but much lighter D.K. Metcalf ... with a lot less speed. Okay, it’s not the best comparison, but the underlying point is that London is going to be a difficult matchup for opposing teams on Sundays - just like he was on Saturdays. And, yeah, I wish we still had this year’s R1 so I could at least daydream about pairing him with D.K. (and NoE).

Note: London’s stat line was compiled in only 8 games. Had he not missed the Trojans’ final 4 games after fracturing his ankle against the Arizona Wildcats, who knows how crazy his numbers would have been (130+ receptions and 1,500+ yards seems reasonable).

John Metchie III

Position Ranking: 11 | Overall Ranking: 65 | Projection: Third Round | Comp: Ryan Broyles

2021 Stat Line: 96 receptions on 128 targets (75.0%) for 1,142 yards with 8 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Metchie — like pretty much every Alabama receiver in recent memory — wins with route-running IQ. To be as advanced as he is for only a true junior coming out is impressive.”

“The worry is Metchie has to be a slot in the NFL. With limited speed and catch radius for an outside receiver, he’s a No. 2 at best at the next level.”

FTR’s take: Metchie tore his ACL in the CFP semi-final round so that’s an area of concern. It is, however, the only concern. Metchie looks “pro-ready” to me ... even if he does get relegated to a slot-only role.

Skyy Moore

Position Ranking: 7 | Overall Ranking: 43 | Projection: Second Round | Comp: Julian Edelman

2021 Stat Line: 94 receptions on 125 targets (75.2%) for 1,291 yards with 10 TDs

PFF’s take:

“In a class with some seriously shifty wideouts, Moore would be my bet to win if they all played tag. He’s not only shifty, but he’s also so strong he’s unaffected by an outstretch arm. That alleviates some level of competition concerns.”

FTR’s take: I’m a fan - as evidenced by my having dedicated the first part of today’s article to the Western Michigan wideout. And I love that PFF picked Julian Edelman as the comp for him - Seattle could use a Julian Edelman. Sadly (very sadly), I don’t see the Seahawks using their first pick in this year’s draft on a wideout - even if Dee Eskridge sneaks into the war room and tries to talk them into it.

Chris Olave

Position Ranking: 4 | Overall Ranking: 20 | Projection: First Round | Comp: Calvin Ridley

2021 Stat Line: 65 receptions on 101 targets (64.4%) for 936 yards with 13 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Olave wins with high-level route-running and plus speed. Leave him on an island with no help over the top too often, and you’ll eventually pay”

FTR’s take: I am very grateful that the Arizona Cardinals are the only NFC West team that will have a realistic shot at taking this guy in the draft and, thankfully, they aren’t likely to use their R1 on a wideout. If he slides into Day Two though ... look out! Olave is exactly the type of guy that I could see the Rams or 49ers making a move for.

George Pickens

Position Ranking: 12 | Overall Ranking: 72 | Projection: Third Round | Comp: Kenny Golladay

2021 Stat Line: 5 receptions on 9 targets (55.6%) for 107 yards (no TDs)

Before diving into the takes, it’s worth noting that Pickens’ extremely truncated stat line is the result of having torn his ACL in March. To his credit, he worked hard to get back on the field and made a big difference for the Georgia Bulldogs in the championship game.

PFF’s take:

“Pickens looked like a shoo-in to be a WR1 in the NFL after his freshman season. He certainly has the size to stick on the outside in the NFL. That ability hasn’t gone anywhere, but it comes with far more questions now.”

FTR’s take: You obviously can’t evaluate Pickens based on his extremely limited 2021 season, but PFF considers him the 12th-best wideout in this year’s draft for a reason. Given that the 11 players they rank ahead of him are pretty good, it’s probably worth rolling the dice on Pickens if you can get him in the back half of Day Two.

Justyn Ross

Position Ranking: 9 | Overall Ranking: 63 | Projection: Third Round | Comp: Jakobi Meyers

2021 Stat Line: 46 receptions on 72 targets (63.9%) for 514 yards with 3 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Ross is best suited for either a “big slot” role or for a team that runs a lot of quick game. He presents mismatch potential with his height and physicality.”

FTR’s take: The fact that Ross had spinal surgery and missed the 2020 season is a huge red flag to me. But there were concerns about D.K.’s neck the year he was drafted and that’s been a non-factor thus far so ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Given Ross’s size (6-4, 205) and ability to create separation, he’s likely to have a long and productive career. Especially if he’s matched up with a better-than-average quarterback.

Khalil Shakir

Position Ranking: 10 | Overall Ranking: 64 | Projection: Fourth Round | Comp: Rashard Higgins

2021 Stat Line: 77 receptions on 116 targets (66.4%) for 1,117 yards with 7 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Shakir wins with body control. Whether that’s at the catch point or avoiding linebackers, Shakir can contort any which way he needs to.”

FTR’s take: The level of competition that Shakir faced is a bit concerning, as are the 10 drops that he had in 2021 - but, man, is he fun to watch! And, he might be available on Day Three (if PFF’s projection is correct).

Jalen Tolbert

Position Ranking: 8 | Overall Ranking: 58 | Projection: Third Round | Comp: John Hightower

2021 Stat Line: 82 receptions on 129 targets (63.6%) for 1,474 yards with 8 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Tolbert can immediately add a deep threat to any offense, but he’s a long-term project. With a couple years of NFL coaching and NFL weight training, he could be a completely different animal.”

FTR’s take: Deep threats are exciting and Tolbert is definitely a deep threat. The heat map for his 2021 routes is a sea of red (above average) once you get further than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage and 646 of his 1,474 yards came on deep catches. That said, there are some red flags, including the fact that he’s rail-thin, will be 23 on Draft Day, and hasn’t faced a Power-5 opponent since 2019.

Jameson Williams

Position Ranking: 3 | Overall Ranking: 17 | Projection: First Round | Comp: a taller DeSean Jackson

2021 Stat Line: 78 receptions on 115 targets (67.8%) for 1,561 yards with 15 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Williams is a home-run threat from anywhere with the ball in his hands. His combination of speed and YAC ability for a 6-foot-2 receiver is rare.”

FTR’s take: Williams averaged an otherworldly 20 yards per catch in 2021 despite the fact that 20 of his 78 receptions came on screen passes. Think about that for a minute. Dude is elusive, fast, and a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Please, please, please let him go to an AFC team.

Garrett Wilson

Position Ranking: 1 | Overall Ranking: 10 | Projection: First Round | Comp: Diontae Johnson

2021 Stat Line: 70 receptions on 102 targets (68.6%) for 1,058 yards with 12 TDs

PFF’s take:

“Wilson wins with downright filthy route-running ability. He has more plays spinning cornerbacks in circles than any receiver in this class. Give him two-way gos or option routes, and he’ll win at will.”

FTR’s take: “Wilson to Wilson” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Too bad it will be ZACH Wilson tossing the ball to him in 2022. And, yeah, that’s a prediction. The Jets need to give their 2nd-year quarterback some weapons and the pick they got from the Seahawks (#10 overall) seems like a prime opportunity for them to do just that.