Pete Carroll Details How Seahawks WR DK Metcalf Can Improve This Offseason
Last season, Seahawks rookie receiver DK Metcalf not only turned heads with his physical gifts that made him the star of the NFL Scouting Combine. He also immediately proved himself to be a transcendent talent on the field.
Metcalf became a social media sensation when pictures of him in the weight room went viral online last spring. He took his shirt off to meet Seahawks coach Pete Carroll during a formal meeting with the team at the combine. According to Metcalf, he was instructed by a Seahawks’ scout Aaron Hineline to come to the meeting with his shirt off during an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast last month.
"They had a scout that was like my group leader, and he was like ‘When you come to our meeting, take your shirt off,'" Metcalf said. "And I was like, no, I can't do that, bro. And he was like ‘do it, he's going to be fired up about it,' so I said I'll do it."
"I walked in with my shirt off, and he took his shirt off. We were two shirtless men just hanging out."
One year later, coach Carroll recalled the interaction between Metcalf and himself while speaking with reporters in Indianapolis last Tuesday.
“I don’t think there was anybody that would make me take my shirt off,” Carroll laughed. “He couldn’t have been more impressive. Through our process, we just didn’t see the negatives that other people saw, you know. So, we were very fortunate that he was there when we had our opportunity. And, uh, it was a really extraordinary moment when he was still there, and we picked him.”
After he fell to the end of the second round, the Seahawks decided to make a move up the draft board to give Russell Wilson a new weapon. After striking a deal with the Patriots that sent a third-round pick (No. 77) and a fourth-round pick (No. 118) to move back into the second round, they used the 64th overall pick to draft him.
Becoming an immediate starter and playing in all 16 regular season games, Metcalf caught 58 passes for 900 yards to go along with seven touchdowns. He finished second among rookies in catches, third in receiving yards, and tied for the third-most touchdowns.
Comparatively speaking, Metcalf finished the season as one of only 20 rookie receivers in NFL history 22 years old or younger to finish with 900 receiving yards and seven or more touchdowns.
Last week, Carroll elaborated on where Metcalf can improve this off-season heading into his second NFL season.
“There is a number of ways that he will get better. He is a really diligent worker, and because of that, he is already made as most of us have seen consistent progress through the season. He will come back, I would think with a new level of confidence after getting through the year and having a good successful rookie season and all of that,” Carroll commented.
“Consistency, taking advantage of his opportunities with the matchups that he has, and the calls that we have. Really getting more opportunity to build the chemistry with Russ that is so important, just the little fine-tuning stuff.”
Speaking of chemistry, Tyler Lockett and Metcalf came together to form one of the league's most lethal tandems last season and they look to be just getting started torturing opposing defenses. Carroll believes Lockett will continue to be an excellent mentor helping show Metcalf the ropes as his career progresses.
“He’s got such a great example to work with Tyler showing him all of the ins and outs of all the stuff that is to work with Russell [Wilson] and to understand that. So, it’s just a big ascent that he’s on, and we are excited about that.’’
After exceeding all reasonable expectations as a rookie, Metcalf will face plenty of pressure to improve his numbers across the board next season. But given his athletic talents, work ethic, and developing rapport with Wilson, he looks to be up to the task as one of the faces of the Seahawks moving forward.
