Seattle Seahawks: Familiar faces lead receivers, but questions remain

Emerald City Swagger continues our eight-part Seattle Seahawks preview. Today Randy Sgaraglio has a look at the wide receivers and tight ends.

The 2018 version of the Seattle Seahawks‘ receiving corps is set. At least for the season opener in Denver. Replacing the production of the departed Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson (combined 16 touchdowns) will leave a gap for QB Russell Wilson to fill when looking for targets.

Wide Receivers

Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett are projected as this season’s starting wide receivers. According to Todd Vandenberg of 12thmanrising.com, Baldwin’s knee is still suspect from an injury during a workout in the spring. The Seattle Seahawks can only hope his physical ailment doesn’t prevent Baldwin from returning to the top receiver status of a year ago.

He was very productive as evidenced by his receiving yardage total only 9 yards under 1,000. Lockett will be looking to improve on his 2017 performance of 45 receptions and 555 receiving yards after signing a new three year, $37M contract.

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As reported by Vandenberg, Amara Darboh was cut from the roster. The 2017 third-round draft pick had not to see any ‘game’ action in the preseason. Additionally, there were questions regarding the Sierra Leone native’s clavicle injury.

One interesting receiving option for QB Wilson might be veteran free agent Brandon Marshall; who would be a welcome addition if he can return to anything close his Pro Bowl status. David Moore had produced enough if for nothing else, to secure a spot as the number two punt returner behind Lockett.

Tight Ends

Fullback Tre Madden, who missed half of last season and has been injury-plagued this preseason, was released. This could signal that TE Nick Vannett could see more time at the H-back position again. He filled that role when Madden missed time last season. That trend continued throughout the preseason.

Free agent signee TE Ed Dickson finished his 2017 season with Carolina with a more than respectable 14.6 yards per catch. Unfortunately, he missed all four games this preseason after being placed on the non-football injury list. Dickson tweeted Friday (August 31st ) “season: ready”. His readiness remains to be seen.

My skepticism with Dickson is due to the fact that the Seahawks traded WR Marcus Johnson to Indianapolis for TE Darrell Daniels. A move reported that seems to be designed to create a safeguard at the tight end position.

One of the reasons Seattle pulled the trigger on Daniels was his experience playing under new Seahawks offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, with the Colts last year. Daniels was used at the fullback and H-back positions periodically in Indy.

Adding more depth at the tight end position will be Will Dissly. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reported Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carrol was quoted as saying, “(Dissly is) exactly what we hoped for,” about this year’s fourth-round draft pick. Dissly’s blocking skills were anticipated, but not his pass-catching ability, as he converted from defensive end in college.

Whether pass-catching from Wilson or pass-protecting for him, both skill sets from this group of tight ends will be needed if the Seahawks are to improve, or at least maintain, their level of success in the NFL West division in 2018.

12th man fans, are you excited about the Seattle Seahawks receiving corps? Let us know on either our Facebook or Twitter pages.