One thing I've liked about most of our WR's in the PC era is the emphasis on catching with the hands.

Having big strong hands that can make the one-handed catch is a definite plus.

Absolutely! Coming out of college, Michael Crabtree and ODB were both great hands catchers, and it was obvious from watching them.

Nice catch.

I noted earlier, that DK has very strong, soft hands and tracks the ball well on throws away from his body. He doesn't double catch with any regularity on these kinds of throws.

These kinds of catches, we should see him really excel at. Over the shoulder or otherwise throws that he can go get it. He exhibits an exceptional catch radius and really attacks these balls strong and confidently.

What will bear watching is throws to his frame. He doesn't track these balls well. He didn't exhibit the same confidence in these cases. Hitches/curls and otherwise perfectly placed slants he has shown to have real, consistent trouble with.

No player is as good in college as they will be even after their first OTA/TC. If Metcalf can polish this aspect of his game, he stands to really be one of -- most likely -- the best players in this draft at any position. It may take more than this offseason. It may never happen. But clearly there are elements to his game short term that he can be wildly successful at right now.

This is one of them. I think Metcalf is going to be the first skill position teammate where Russell is going to have to adjust his own game significantly in order to maximize team potential.

Was watching a program where they noted that the type of rubberized gloves receivers wear now is a significant contributor of the one-handed catch these days that receivers in the past didn't have.

DomeHawk wrote:Was watching a program where they noted that the type of rubberized gloves receivers wear now is a significant contributor of the one-handed catch these days that receivers in the past didn't have.

Did they say whether or not the tackiness or grip potential was more or less than that of Stick'um (which Jerry Rice admitted to using)? I know the gloves now days are really good, but I don't know if they're better than adhesives that have been snuck into games for years?

Meh, I can do that. I can't do anything else that man can do but that's not too impressive to me. Go hawks!

Is that a 49er tackling dummy in the distance?

DJrmb wrote:

DomeHawk wrote:Was watching a program where they noted that the type of rubberized gloves receivers wear now is a significant contributor of the one-handed catch these days that receivers in the past didn't have.

Did they say whether or not the tackiness or grip potential was more or less than that of Stick'um (which Jerry Rice admitted to using)? I know the gloves now days are really good, but I don't know if they're better than adhesives that have been snuck into games for years?

The gloves are way more effective than stickum. It's not the stickiness that matters, it's the amount of friction you can create. Gloves have an anchor point, stickum does not.

He obviously moisturizes.

Attyla the Hawk wrote:Nice catch.

I noted earlier, that DK has very strong, soft hands and tracks the ball well on throws away from his body. He doesn't double catch with any regularity on these kinds of throws.

These kinds of catches, we should see him really excel at. Over the shoulder or otherwise throws that he can go get it. He exhibits an exceptional catch radius and really attacks these balls strong and confidently.

What will bear watching is throws to his frame. He doesn't track these balls well. He didn't exhibit the same confidence in these cases. Hitches/curls and otherwise perfectly placed slants he has shown to have real, consistent trouble with.

No player is as good in college as they will be even after their first OTA/TC. If Metcalf can polish this aspect of his game, he stands to really be one of -- most likely -- the best players in this draft at any position. It may take more than this offseason. It may never happen. But clearly there are elements to his game short term that he can be wildly successful at right now.

This is one of them. I think Metcalf is going to be the first skill position teammate where Russell is going to have to adjust his own game significantly in order to maximize team potential.

That bolded part is spot on. I used to read articles by "The Football Scientist," KC Joyner, and he always extrapolated between college production, and what a player might produce in the Pros. Most of his predictions were fairly accurate, and all predictions were for higher production in the Pros, and his reasoning behind it.

Joyner isn't the end all, be all of college evaluators, but I thought he was pretty good, and picked up a few tidbits reading his stuff. Haven't read it in years, but here's where he's at now:

https://www.thefootballscientist.com/

There could be a video of pretty much every receiver in the NFL catching a warm up toss like that.

Burner, big body, physical, high point a deep ball (now being thrown one from best deep ball throwing QB in the league), and “slipped” down the draft with chip on his shoulder...give me that dude all day.. but yea, this catch ugh.. personally watch ADB one hand an impossible ball in -15 degree weather.. that $h!t was insane


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Take the sticky glove off and see what happens. Not a knock on him but those gloves make even kids catch like Largent

ivotuk wrote:http://www.nfl.com/videos/seattle-seahawks/0ap3000001031295/Rookie-Premiere-D-K-Metcalf-makes-one-handed-catch-look-easy

What is up with that video and being in full uniform and the "Fake 49er in there???"..

So he couldn't make that catch w/out the gloves? And you know this how?
Jerry Rice was the best of all time, wore gloves every game. I guess he was only good because of those gloves

Lithium wrote:Meh, I can do that.

Of course you can. You belong in the Hall of Fame.

ivotuk wrote:That bolded part is spot on. I used to read articles by "The Football Scientist," KC Joyner, and he always extrapolated between college production, and what a player might produce in the Pros. Most of his predictions were fairly accurate, and all predictions were for higher production in the Pros, and his reasoning behind it.

I think one of my first posts here detailed the disassociation between drops in college vs. drops in the pros from years one to three. I want to say it was Antonio Brown's class (2010) so it would have been in 2013.

Not only were high drop rates not indicative of future performance -- but likewise low drop rates were similarly not persistent either. The overwhelming evidence across all spectrums led to the inescapable conclusion that drops in college (or lack thereof) weren't predictive at all.

However when looking at the other end (thrower), It was quite the opposite. QBs in college who have receivers that drop a lot of passes -- tended to also have professional receivers that dropped a lot of passes. Drop rates remained largely consistent. Although the sample size was much smaller -- probably a result of bad QBs in college not succeeding and thus unable to preserve a record at the professional level. Even that though should have culled the truly bad QBs and left remaining to examine - only the ones that got better. This didn't happen except with a very small handful of cases.

Without doing exhaustive work (and access to better statistical records), it appeared that drop rates were more a function of the QB throwing the ball, than the WR catching it.

Attyla the Hawk wrote:
Without doing exhaustive work (and access to better statistical records), it appeared that drop rates were more a function of the QB throwing the ball, than the WR catching it.

No offense intended Attyla but I am reading your post and am finding it difficult to see how you arrived at your conclusion. I see some "shoulds" and "probably's" but nothing really substantive.

I don't think the scouts assessments are based on statistics of him or his QB but by watching lots of tape. This, in addition to his route tree problems. Does that mean he won't be a good NFL receiver. No, of course not, but that doesn't mean there isn't some merit there also.

From what I've been reading, Metcalf's only 'route tree problem' is that he didn't run enough different routes in games to develop a good feel of how good he is on the shorter/intermediate routes. That tends to happen in college, where coaches find something that works and keep going back to it.

I've read some comments that DK is doing fine so far running different routes in the rookie camp and the first couple of OTAs. We'll know better when they put pads on, of course, but I'm not ready to write him off as a one trick pony just yet.

SoulfishHawk wrote:So he couldn't make that catch w/out the gloves? And you know this how?
Jerry Rice was the best of all time, wore gloves every game. I guess he was only good because of those gloves

You're absolutely correct. There have been absolutely no advances in materials technology since that time, so the impact of gloves is exactly the same as it was in 1985. The technological revolution that began in the 80s with the explosion of the availability of computing power impacted every industry on the planet except glove production.

I just think it's funny that's all. Players have been using stickum and sticky gloves for years. It's called sarcasm, Rice is the best to ever play the game, had nothing to do with gloves. Nor will it have to do with gloves overall if DK is a beast in this league. ODB, he's a beast because he's a beast. And yes, he wears sticky gloves. You still have to have the talent, hand eye coordination etc. And Rice flat out SAID he put stickum on his gloves back in the day.

sutz wrote:From what I've been reading, Metcalf's only 'route tree problem' is that he didn't run enough different routes in games to develop a good feel of how good he is on the shorter/intermediate routes. That tends to happen in college, where coaches find something that works and keep going back to it.

I've read some comments that DK is doing fine so far running different routes in the rookie camp and the first couple of OTAs. We'll know better when they put pads on, of course, but I'm not ready to write him off as a one trick pony just yet.

I suspect training with coach Sullivan helped too.

Pete is trying him out even as a punt or was it kick return ... so guessing Pete will give him all kinds of opportunities. DK is after all that tall big fast WR that Pete has been looking for since he joined the Hawks.

Keep watching that ball in the whole way, your whole career and you'll be just fine, DK!

toffee wrote:

sutz wrote:From what I've been reading, Metcalf's only 'route tree problem' is that he didn't run enough different routes in games to develop a good feel of how good he is on the shorter/intermediate routes. That tends to happen in college, where coaches find something that works and keep going back to it.

I've read some comments that DK is doing fine so far running different routes in the rookie camp and the first couple of OTAs. We'll know better when they put pads on, of course, but I'm not ready to write him off as a one trick pony just yet.

I suspect training with coach Sullivan helped too.

Pete is trying him out even as a punt or was it kick return ... so guessing Pete will give him all kinds of opportunities. DK is after all that tall big fast WR that Pete has been looking for since he joined the Hawks.

Pete likes versatile guys that can do more than one thing well. If all DK could do is run go routes, I suspect Pete would have passed on him.

No doubt. I love listening to guys like Largent and Rice talk about their approach to playing the game, what the would look for etc.

DomeHawk wrote:Was watching a program where they noted that the type of rubberized gloves receivers wear now is a significant contributor of the one-handed catch these days that receivers in the past didn't have.

They just used stick'um, lol. Jerry Rice even admitted to it.

Quite sure all WRs use those gloves, so it's leveled playing field.

Who was that Raider that had Stickum on his gloves, and down his forearm? Biletknikoff? I remember hearing an announcer say that opposing players would complain that it would get all over them when they tackled him.

Apparently DK signed his rookie contract - https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2019/05/22/seahawks-sign-2nd-round-selection-dk-metcalf-to-rookie-contract/. Looking forward to some 1 handed catches now that he's officially in the fold.

Our route trees are just about the most basic in professional football so if that’s his weaknesses then we should be his best possible fit. Russell will need to take some chances with his throws though and give DK opportunities to make plays and there is always some risk throwing to rookies.

This guy has the potential to take this offense to the next level in the passing game that we, quite frankly, haven't seen. We've been gushing over getting a true #1 WR for God knows how long. He get be a top tier talent if he can stay healthy. RW can throw any kid of ball we know this. Looking forward to seeing what this guy can really do

kthebestwayw wrote:This guy has the potential to take this offense to the next level in the passing game that we, quite frankly, haven't seen. We've been gushing over getting a true #1 WR for God knows how long. He get be a top tier talent if he can stay healthy. RW can throw any kid of ball we know this. Looking forward to seeing what this guy can really do

The problem is that while Russ can throw any ball, my perception (without a lot of film) is that he doesn't throw players open often. PC's aversion to turnovers means risky, tight-window throws don't happen. Jump balls to Metcalf, though? Like the ones thrown to Kearse at times? Yes, please!

sutz wrote:From what I've been reading, Metcalf's only 'route tree problem' is that he didn't run enough different routes in games to develop a good feel of how good he is on the shorter/intermediate routes. That tends to happen in college, where coaches find something that works and keep going back to it.

I've read some comments that DK is doing fine so far running different routes in the rookie camp and the first couple of OTAs. We'll know better when they put pads on, of course, but I'm not ready to write him off as a one trick pony just yet.

He may end up the best WR ever for all I know but there was a reason all 32 teams passed on him the entire first AND second round. To suggest that the scouts didn't know what they were talking about is just silly, yes, they miss it sometimes but every one they miss they are spot on with scores of players.

Saying that he may have shortcomings that have been well noted is a long way from writing him off, I am totally rooting for him, gawd knows we need top receivers.

DomeHawk wrote:

sutz wrote:From what I've been reading, Metcalf's only 'route tree problem' is that he didn't run enough different routes in games to develop a good feel of how good he is on the shorter/intermediate routes. That tends to happen in college, where coaches find something that works and keep going back to it.

I've read some comments that DK is doing fine so far running different routes in the rookie camp and the first couple of OTAs. We'll know better when they put pads on, of course, but I'm not ready to write him off as a one trick pony just yet.

He may end up the best WR ever for all I know but there was a reason all 32 teams passed on him the entire first AND second round. To suggest that the scouts didn't know what they were talking about is just silly, yes, they miss it sometimes but every one they miss they are spot on with scores of players.

Saying that he may have shortcomings that have been well noted is a long way from writing him off, I am totally rooting for him, gawd knows we need top receivers.

Well, the NFL is cyclical and I suspect we're in a phase where WR is not viewed as necessarily a 1st Rd value pick by a lot of teams. A few years ago it was RBs, there was a time when LBs were not highly valued. Any position group other than QB and pass rusher seems to change in perceived value from year to year. IIRC this year was not touted as particuarly deep at WR, but better at DL and pass rushers.

IAE, no player is immune from criticism TBS. Losing ADB is a big blow, so I think we all hope DK can fill in for that position group as soon as possible.

DomeHawk wrote:

sutz wrote:From what I've been reading, Metcalf's only 'route tree problem' is that he didn't run enough different routes in games to develop a good feel of how good he is on the shorter/intermediate routes. That tends to happen in college, where coaches find something that works and keep going back to it.

I've read some comments that DK is doing fine so far running different routes in the rookie camp and the first couple of OTAs. We'll know better when they put pads on, of course, but I'm not ready to write him off as a one trick pony just yet.

He may end up the best WR ever for all I know but there was a reason all 32 teams passed on him the entire first AND second round. To suggest that the scouts didn't know what they were talking about is just silly, yes, they miss it sometimes but every one they miss they are spot on with scores of players.

Saying that he may have shortcomings that have been well noted is a long way from writing him off, I am totally rooting for him, gawd knows we need top receivers.

Yeah I guess there was a reason they passed on this guy and this guy also, those GM's on other teams are never wrong.















Thats off the top of my head, I would say thats more then sometimes and thats just our team.

Him too, but to fair, most low rounders or undrafters don't make it in the league.

Look at all those guys the Hawks got "lucky" on picking in later rounds. If other teams make those picks, they are great at talent evaluation. But many will claim that it's pure Luck that the Hawks picked those guys.

toffee wrote:Him too, but to fair, most low rounders or undrafters don't make it in the league.

Would have been funny if that would have been 6047 instead of 6043. The way it's written on that board almost looks like it said GOAT

SoulfishHawk wrote:Look at all those guys the Hawks got "lucky" on picking in later rounds. If other teams make those picks, they are great at talent evaluation. But many will claim that it's pure Luck that the Hawks picked those guys.

A fair evaluation would be that it was a combination of luck and skill. Those guys were the perfect storm of late round draft picks. I think our staff is pretty good at picking guys but they aren't the geniuses many here believe them to be. How many "great" players have they drafted in late rounds in the last five years?

The formula is to get as many draft picks as you can so you can increase your odds of hitting on a couple of them. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. It isn't a perfect science.

They have a knack for finding guys who fit their system. They also have a knack for getting the most out of their players. Better than most teams imo.

SoulfishHawk wrote:They have a knack for finding guys who fit their system. They also have a knack for getting the most out of their players. Better than most teams imo.

Richard Sherman said last year that we were a middle-of-the-road team. At the time it pissed me off but after taking the homer-in-me out of the premise I realized he was right. With the 17th ranked defense and the 18th ranked offense it is clear we are going to have to get better to compete for championships.

Are we on the right track? In each of the last five year's preseasons I have been VERY optimistic only to be somewhat disappointed. This year? Color me cautiously optimistic, but I have a feeling RW is going to prove his worth and have a MVP type season.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats? ... &Submit=Go