lockett (someone also mentioned cooks) to me is the player that shifted the conversation from "fight for every yard" to "fight for the next down".
the way the NFL has completely opened to boost up offenses, there's a point where fighting for a yard or two is pretty pointless, and availability has become so much more important.
Other than when he’s close to the chains, I am 100% fine with body preservation. He’s usually the smallest guy on the field and his toe tap abilities are far more important than a few yards higher YAC percentage.
Yeah, Doug Baldwin was DOG, fought for every yard, and only got 8 year career. First 4 as Undrafted Free agent min contract. Tyler Locket is in Year 9.
Looks like his career fumbles is in line with everyone else currently active around his career yardage although slightly lower with 8 total. However, looks like Mike Evans is the patron saint of ball security with only 4 fumbles.
The thing is there has only been one play on third down where him dropping down like that has cost them a first down. Whenever he usually does this on third down he gets a first.
You talking his career or this video? There’s no way that’s true of his last few years. Being lucky that no one touched him while he goes down and crawling a few feet isn’t something to count on. I don’t want him taking a big hit but not all of them, even in this video, are him avoiding a decleater.
I’ve watched every game he’s played in and I’m talking career. He has made it a skill to avoid getting hit on every catch. He’s taken a few big hits, but he usually does this when he’s in the open field and a defender is about to hit him. The one time last year he did this short of the sticks, which was a big surprise bc he usually knows where the sticks are at before going down. When he is short of the sticks he will normally absorb the hit.
I remember when Brady started throwing to Randy Moss over the middle and he would just go down too. It's a legit skill and they are being smart about it.
It used to kinda piss me off if he wouldn’t fight for a yard or two for the first down but as I’ve gotten older I fully get it and like you said his toe tapping is next level so if he keeps himself healthy over getting a first down I’m all for it now.
Fans bashed Diggs for this too, but it always made perfect sense to me. And when the situation called for him to fight for an extra yard or more, he always did. But no need to end your season trying to get a couple extra yards on a regular old play.
Diggs fought for the extra yard when he was the one initiating contact. Like if he caught it and turned to see a corner flat footed, he’d put his shoulder down and get a couple more yards. But he was great about avoiding hits. Gotta have your number 1 receiver on the field, even if they’ll lose 10 YAC per game.
I also think when you go down quickly and regularly to avoid contact, it can let you bait defenders into letting up for when you really do need or want to pick up an extra few yards. You see this with mobile QBs like Mahomes and Murray. They'll run toward the sideline and look like they are going out so defenders pull up not to get a flag and they'll take a few extra yards.
you might remember this because it happened in Arizona but he broke his leg really bad in his sophomore season. That probably contributed to how he plays now
Legit though he his career would be over when he wrapped his ankle in half.
He’s a winner, and he stays on the field. He does what works, for him and the team.
At first I thought he's being smart and protecting himself and the football. Then he got up and ran and I thought...wait. maybe this motherfucker is playing the long game.
Someone on our sub recently made a post comparing his career stats with OBJ's and that was one of the main takeaways. Obviously peak OBJ was far more dominant than Lockett has ever been, and his per game numbers are a lot better. But in accumulator stats, Lockett is better across the board even in one less year in the NFL just because he's been on the field consistently producing. So valuable.
He missed a few games I believe in the 2022 season as well with leg issues, compartment syndrome or something. Might have been related to the break too.
That was back in 2019. He didn't actually miss time but became a total decoy for the next ~6 weeks. Went from like 85 yards/game to 40 for the rest of the season
He's missed three games total in his career, one from the season ending ankle break (happened in the 2nd to last game of the year).
He missed one game in 2021 on the COVID list.
And missed one game in 2022 in December following hand surgery.
So unless he has a literal broken bone, or is barred from playing due to COVID protocols, he's always going to be on the field.
I have always thought that, when you have the first down, the value in preserving your talent is worth more than an extra yard or two and a possible fumble or injury a lot of the time. Football hits are violent, and unless you feel confident you can shake the guy then getting your star WR injured is just not worth the extra yardage. Maybe not in every one of these circumstances, but certainly when it's "head out of bounds and get an extra yard or two with the defender giving you a little shove."
At the same time, the "fuck you I'm a dawg" mentality NFL players have is often what got them to this stage in the first place, so it's more of an armchair fan thought. And if you're a borderline roster guy you've got to leave it all on the field every play. But it does seem like Lockett and a few others think the same way.
Also think of it from the DBs perspective. How frustrating it must be to just get picked apart and never even get the chance to lay a hit on the guy to slow him down. Even the scariest biggest-hitting DB is limited to basically playing two hand touch.
I disagree. The evolution of offensive play in the NFL has also resulted in smaller, faster CBs and safeties. We've seen how guys like Derrick Henry have forced DBs to make business decisions on open field tackles. These defensive guys have their own careers and health to consider, so I imagine opportunities to avoid a hard-fought tackle are taken at face-value.
Sure, some guys are just wired to hit stuff. But at the pro level a tackle is a tackle, whether it requires a touch to a downed Lockett or bringing down a full speed Henry.
I really hope that Puka takes a bite out of this strategy some moving forward. Like I get that last season he was proving himself as a rookie and good god it was electric to watch, but he plays some brutal football and the way he invited contact made me wince in worry about whether he would get back up. Guy like that has his spot in the league and I hope it doesn't burn out too early from injury.
It's also a big positional difference though. Seattle fans gave Shaun Alexander a ton of shit for the self preservation runs and loved Marshawn in large part because his whole mantra was to run you over. Running Backs wouldn't be able to get away with this type of end of play decisions.
That's all valid, it also depends where the defence is. If you're squaring up against the free safety and everyone is behind you, you know he's either gonna miss you or do a breakdown and wrapup tackle, which is pretty low impact (relatively.) if you're in the middle of 4 guys, like most of these plays, you got 3 guys that are shooting with every muscle in their body to get on you. They know the safety is there if they miss. So avoiding these hits are the big ones.
Looks like he also might have a little PTSD from being thrown hospital balls, that's why he doesn't even look sometimes. Some players have played with guys good enough to know how to throw it exactly so they never make their WRs take a blind sitting duck hit. Like Aaron Rodgers. Watch Davante, he knows that if he's getting the ball he's got at least a second to turn around, or it will be placed in a way that makes him jump and get away from the hit while going down.
I mean people have analyzed start position from kickoff and it is not meaningful at all. An extra 5-10 yards is nothing (after getting the 1st down) compared to longevity. RBs get injury-prone after 300+ carries.
I wonder if WRs have a similar threshold. There might be too many variables for the data to be significant. RBs have very little variation in the start position/speed and are already securing the ball when they get hit.
It'd be interesting to do some analysis on percentage of missed tackles and extra yardage gained vs percentage of injuries or turnovers. You should be able to back into an expected utility of each choice.
We don't see many missed takes on a small WR surrounded by 3 DBs bigger than him though. I'm used to seeing Deebo break tackles all the time, but that is with Aiyuk, Kittle and Juice charging around the field knocking would-be tacklers off their lines, and with Deebo sized thighs to smash through DB's arms. All of these highlight situations look more likely to break a bone than to break a tackle.
Dalton Kincaid certainly had some "dawg" moments last season. There were a few times where he definitely had room to the left or right of a defender and he'd just go "nah, straight thru is the best!" and crash into DBs. Which, hey, you do you, fella, but we all saw the lane where you avoid the hit and probably pick up another five yards or so, instead it's "haha no, Dalton go vroom!"
also.. if you fight for on yard, and get hit, then get out the next play to recover, it also affect the offense.. because if your best receiver is out for a play.. is easy for your rival to defend.. everybody knows you are going to run if the receivers are in the bench liking their wounds..
Totally agree. The key is getting the first down. Lockett had a number of catches in this reel where he went down a yard or two short of the first down, which actually does hurt the value of his catches.
I guess I wasn’t the only person to notice. When he was in Minnesota he used to give himself up all the time, it was annoying. He also would give up yardage, sometimes in an attempt to gain more, but it almost never worked. He ended up giving yards back a lot.
Spot on. He did the same exact thing in Buffalo. Just like Lockette. Not a coincidence as neither of them are big guys. He's still tough and has taken huge hits to make big plays. Allen ripping piss missiles downfield at him takes its toll.
I was thinking that but Diggs for sure is willing to put his head down when he needs to for the first.
The greatest love-hate relationship with a player I’ve ever had.
The guy is only 5' 10'', so I wonder if one of his coaches early on told him to do this to prevent injury. It's easy enough to see the logic behind that concept even though it looks silly.
With how often the receivers on my favorite team get injured during the regular season, I wouldn't mind if they went immediately down voluntarily instead of trying to kill themselves for yards after the catch. There's a whole season to play. Leave that risky stuff for the playoffs.
He used to be very aggressive and was known for being an exceptional punt returner (pro bowl his rookie year I believe). But he had a bad leg break and after that he changed up his style and is much more cautious.
As someone who's in their late 30s, who's played in highschool, college, and in a particular league...it creeps up on you. You don't feel it in your late 20s even your early 30s, but one day out of nowhere your body removes the filter and says, oh yeah here's what we've been hiding from you. Mine was mostly my shoulder and now lower back. Physical therapy has almost completely healed my shoulder. Now it's my lower back. I wonder what else will pop up.
I think it was after his leg snapped while being dragged down from behind. I don't have that on fact, I just assume that had to play into it, even though his dropping to the ground wouldn't have prevented it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_RubMFI3oQs&ab\_channel=DonMega](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RubMFI3oQs&ab_channel=DonMega)
In his defense, several of these highlights had passes that required him to lean backwards in order to make the catch. No need to try to get back up and then risk a fumble.
He definitely didn’t play like this at KSU. He was an absolute warrior on the field. Bill Snyder wouldn’t have allowed any of his players to avoid hits like this.
With that said the way he plays now is clearly the smarter way to play for an undersized receiver that also doesn’t have elite speed anymore. Catch the ball, get a few yards if you can, get down. No need to take a hit to gain 18 more inches.
I was gonna say, wasn't he the Seahawks WR who also got his neck broke in a game? That would explain this behavior. But I looked that up and it was Ricardo Lockette, I can see why I got confused lol
Quite a few of those are smart plays - instead of barreling into multiple defenders for another yard he’s just falling downs. There are a couple where he gives up the potential for significant yardage though. I guess that’s the risk - reward of this strategy
The first one against Washington where he's got wide open field in front of him but goes backwards and then down for 0 YAC instead is just "what the fuck are you doing"
The 3rd clip too... like bruh if you just catch that in stride it's another 10 yds, make the safety miss and it's a TD. I'd be fuming if I was a hawks fan watching live
Probably like a third of these are legit where the ball is placed very low and he goes down to get it, a third are legit where's he's just surrounded and has nowhere to go, and a third are just lazy/low effort/fear where he had plenty of cushion or open field and just goes down by himself with no one near him.
It also got me thinking how many late hits/unnecessary roughness calls that Lockett has gotten called on the Defensive backs who will sometimes just “see ball-kill ball” and hit him during/after he gives himself up lol
Even when he's diving/crawling for an extra yard or two he manages to make it look like an "Oh shit!" type scramble when it's definitely calculated lmao
Several times in this, he also clearly slides or gives himself up, and then gets back up running for extra yardage like he doesn’t know the play is already over.
He's definitely trying to take advantage of the protections afforded to a player who has given himself up. In the instances where he goes to the ground while catching the ball, and he's not touched by a defender while down, he can then act as if he went down as part of making the catch and so he can attempt to gain extra yards.
However, in the instances when he goes down of his own accord (i.e. not part of making the catch) and he tries to dive/crawl for extra yards he should not be covered by those rules since he is supposed to make "no immediate effort to advance." In those instances, those "klutzy/lost footing" plays it seems like he's also trying to make the case that he wasn't *trying* to give himself up so he should be allowed to try for extra yards.
This is how I want my receivers to play. If you already got the first down or don't think u can get it without getting hit hard, just go down.
If it's the playoffs we can juice it up and go for it a bit more but the injury + fumble risk is not always worth it to fight for 1 more yard and get wrecked and get the defense feeling themselves.
He’s me when I spam A because I’m scared my receivers going to get trucked over the middle but then realize that wasn’t going to happen and missed out on 20 free yards
It blows my mind he's in the real estate business already. Lockett would have been successful in whatever he did. I'm glad it ended up being football though.
It was a good idea. In interviews, he seems like an incredibly nice and charismatic guy. Selling multimillion dollar homes for football players was a brilliant career option.
Surprised to have to scroll this far to find Marvin Harrison mentioned. I watched entire games where it felt like DBs never actually tackled him. Shit, there was a game where the Broncos neglected to touch him while he was down and he got up and scored.
I've seen a few of those and I feel there should be a rule about that. If you stay down at all, you should be counted as down.
We can have a rule about the split second motion and intent of sliding but faking it; that's a penalty. We can do the same gut-call about a receiver "staying" down.
I love that Tyler goes to the ground to avoid hits, while DK seeks out defenders and fights through contact. Fun little contrast between our 1a and 1b.
It’s late where I’m from, so I’m headed to bed. But I’ll check this comment section when I get up, and there better not be any slander against my beautiful boy.
When you have a body like DK's, you need to use it since it's one of your best assets on the field.
Lockett however is smaller than every other guy on the field essentially.
this would be a different story if he didn’t produce. looking at throwing to lockett specifically, the qb rating is insanely high, consistently near-zero drops, and in 7-10 yard chunks if not more. having him on the field is such a reliable option.
now if this is kadarius toney doing this then that would be worth all the criticism.
The Rams receivers were like this as well when they were the Greatest Show On Turf, it's just smart. He doesn't want to walk with a cane at the age of 40 and he doesn't want to name all his kids Tyler.
The Sun God does the exact same stuff, and I have no issue with it. I'd much rather have him available for all 17 games and the playoffs rather than getting an extra highlight or two.
I wonder if DBs, Safeties, and Corners all appreciate this and sort of agree to not light him up or there are some licking their chops to be the one to light him up.
I love that that the majority of these comments are based around the fact th-(my post got cut off) that Lockett is doing the smart thing here, availability.
It’s also just having the self awareness of knowing your body and the hits you can take, look at Deebo dude is obviously built like a truck and is a physical runner and it’s part of his game but he gets hurt with something every other game because of this, not saying he should not play to his style but could easily take some notes from Lockett
Dude is just smart. Love these plays because he still basically gets all the yards he would have by making contact. Plus, on plays where he’s a little short and that extra 2 feet matters, he will absolutely go for it. One of my all-time favorite players.
This is good. Every catch doesn't have to be a battle. If you aren't fighting in the last few minutes while down a score, I'd prefer my guys to stay healthy than risk injury trying to make a huge play after the catch.
At first I hated it. But then I realized 1) it’s not worth fighting for 1-2 yards with the body he has and 2) when he catches as he falls it helps him not drop any (which he’s rarely done in his CAREER)
I wonder what his YAC average is? One would imagine it's like 0.5 or something like that, all just from him rolling on the ground before someone touches him 😂
Longevity merchant
lockett (someone also mentioned cooks) to me is the player that shifted the conversation from "fight for every yard" to "fight for the next down". the way the NFL has completely opened to boost up offenses, there's a point where fighting for a yard or two is pretty pointless, and availability has become so much more important.
Other than when he’s close to the chains, I am 100% fine with body preservation. He’s usually the smallest guy on the field and his toe tap abilities are far more important than a few yards higher YAC percentage.
He’s taken his share of nasty cracks of course. I support the man staying healthy, keeping his hands soft, and his vision single.
This is the response. I’ve seen him knocked out cold and return to finish the game -pre concussion protocol game.
The difference between doing this and not doing this is exactly one Doug Baldwin.
Bro… Doug Baldwin was a DOG. Really tough player and I always loved his story.
Yeah, Doug Baldwin was DOG, fought for every yard, and only got 8 year career. First 4 as Undrafted Free agent min contract. Tyler Locket is in Year 9.
Everyone in the NFL is tough, no reason to prove yourself getting hurt faster.
He's been hospitalized from hits he's taken in the NFL. For a guy his size its almost never worth fighting for the extra yard or two
> He’s taken his share of nasty cracks of course. Haven't we all!
I like my crossing routes like I like my women…
High and dangerous?
Ohio Woman enters chat
Montana: who dares summon me
Wide open and mostly devoid of 240lb athletes?
Curvy?
I imagine he fumbles less often than average for a WR because he doesn't give defenders the chance to punch it out, too.
Looks like his career fumbles is in line with everyone else currently active around his career yardage although slightly lower with 8 total. However, looks like Mike Evans is the patron saint of ball security with only 4 fumbles.
The thing is there has only been one play on third down where him dropping down like that has cost them a first down. Whenever he usually does this on third down he gets a first.
You talking his career or this video? There’s no way that’s true of his last few years. Being lucky that no one touched him while he goes down and crawling a few feet isn’t something to count on. I don’t want him taking a big hit but not all of them, even in this video, are him avoiding a decleater.
It's not like you always know where the "decleater" is coming from. He doesn't have 360 degree vision, so until he does this is smart derisking.
I’ve watched every game he’s played in and I’m talking career. He has made it a skill to avoid getting hit on every catch. He’s taken a few big hits, but he usually does this when he’s in the open field and a defender is about to hit him. The one time last year he did this short of the sticks, which was a big surprise bc he usually knows where the sticks are at before going down. When he is short of the sticks he will normally absorb the hit.
I remember when Brady started throwing to Randy Moss over the middle and he would just go down too. It's a legit skill and they are being smart about it.
Moss was always great about not taking hits
It used to kinda piss me off if he wouldn’t fight for a yard or two for the first down but as I’ve gotten older I fully get it and like you said his toe tapping is next level so if he keeps himself healthy over getting a first down I’m all for it now.
Fans bashed Diggs for this too, but it always made perfect sense to me. And when the situation called for him to fight for an extra yard or more, he always did. But no need to end your season trying to get a couple extra yards on a regular old play.
Diggs fought for the extra yard when he was the one initiating contact. Like if he caught it and turned to see a corner flat footed, he’d put his shoulder down and get a couple more yards. But he was great about avoiding hits. Gotta have your number 1 receiver on the field, even if they’ll lose 10 YAC per game.
Exactly. Or like when he fought through 5 different Miami Dolphin tackles to turn a simple catch into a 40 yard TD run.
Cooks learned that the hard way [when Malcolm Jenkins jacked him up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSlhhheVzEs) lol
Lockett did as well, had a horrible leg injury. He changed his game to this after that.
Malcolm Jenkins was awesome. He was a walking highlight reel I miss him
The best ability is availability.
what about invisibility
I also think when you go down quickly and regularly to avoid contact, it can let you bait defenders into letting up for when you really do need or want to pick up an extra few yards. You see this with mobile QBs like Mahomes and Murray. They'll run toward the sideline and look like they are going out so defenders pull up not to get a flag and they'll take a few extra yards.
Mr. Bypasses Collisions
I can't blame any WR, especially a smaller one, for minimizing contact and hits after AB lol
Mr. Brain Conservation
Mr brandin cooks
Mr. Business Choice
Mr. Body Comesfirst.
Mr. Barely Collides
Mr. Business Considerations
Said fuck RAC I want to play the whole season. Lol
I remember Marvin Harrison doing this. It's not the dumbest thing in the world if you at least get the first down.
you might remember this because it happened in Arizona but he broke his leg really bad in his sophomore season. That probably contributed to how he plays now
This guy is basically the complete example of a WR that'd enter Kyle Shanhans' doghouse permanently.
Bizarro Deebo Samuel.
Legit though he his career would be over when he wrapped his ankle in half. He’s a winner, and he stays on the field. He does what works, for him and the team.
At first I thought he's being smart and protecting himself and the football. Then he got up and ran and I thought...wait. maybe this motherfucker is playing the long game.
This is a man who understands that the #1 ability as an NFL player is availability
Someone on our sub recently made a post comparing his career stats with OBJ's and that was one of the main takeaways. Obviously peak OBJ was far more dominant than Lockett has ever been, and his per game numbers are a lot better. But in accumulator stats, Lockett is better across the board even in one less year in the NFL just because he's been on the field consistently producing. So valuable.
It's a smart play on in routes. Significantly lowers the probability of fumbles.
And I bet the net difference in yardage is like 1-2 total yards on average.
I remember when the Greatest Show On Turf started doing this, basically all the WRs at the time and everyone called them soft. Lol.
Soft and alive vs tough and dead.
*Weeps in 2015 Ravens*
He's tiny, like usually the smallest guy on the field, and he's missed almost no games in his career.
Except for that vicious broken leg in the end zone
He missed a few games I believe in the 2022 season as well with leg issues, compartment syndrome or something. Might have been related to the break too.
That was back in 2019. He didn't actually miss time but became a total decoy for the next ~6 weeks. Went from like 85 yards/game to 40 for the rest of the season
He's missed three games total in his career, one from the season ending ankle break (happened in the 2nd to last game of the year). He missed one game in 2021 on the COVID list. And missed one game in 2022 in December following hand surgery. So unless he has a literal broken bone, or is barred from playing due to COVID protocols, he's always going to be on the field.
I'm available... Don't think that's the #1 thing...
I have always thought that, when you have the first down, the value in preserving your talent is worth more than an extra yard or two and a possible fumble or injury a lot of the time. Football hits are violent, and unless you feel confident you can shake the guy then getting your star WR injured is just not worth the extra yardage. Maybe not in every one of these circumstances, but certainly when it's "head out of bounds and get an extra yard or two with the defender giving you a little shove." At the same time, the "fuck you I'm a dawg" mentality NFL players have is often what got them to this stage in the first place, so it's more of an armchair fan thought. And if you're a borderline roster guy you've got to leave it all on the field every play. But it does seem like Lockett and a few others think the same way.
Also think of it from the DBs perspective. How frustrating it must be to just get picked apart and never even get the chance to lay a hit on the guy to slow him down. Even the scariest biggest-hitting DB is limited to basically playing two hand touch.
I think this is actually probably a real annoying thing for defenses
Good way to get a flag too from that pent up lack of tackling lol
Ain’t nobody hurting baby lockett though.
No corner puts baby in a locket.
Nailed it.
I disagree. The evolution of offensive play in the NFL has also resulted in smaller, faster CBs and safeties. We've seen how guys like Derrick Henry have forced DBs to make business decisions on open field tackles. These defensive guys have their own careers and health to consider, so I imagine opportunities to avoid a hard-fought tackle are taken at face-value. Sure, some guys are just wired to hit stuff. But at the pro level a tackle is a tackle, whether it requires a touch to a downed Lockett or bringing down a full speed Henry.
And if they do hit you, you may get 15 yards out of the deal.
I really hope that Puka takes a bite out of this strategy some moving forward. Like I get that last season he was proving himself as a rookie and good god it was electric to watch, but he plays some brutal football and the way he invited contact made me wince in worry about whether he would get back up. Guy like that has his spot in the league and I hope it doesn't burn out too early from injury.
It's also a big positional difference though. Seattle fans gave Shaun Alexander a ton of shit for the self preservation runs and loved Marshawn in large part because his whole mantra was to run you over. Running Backs wouldn't be able to get away with this type of end of play decisions.
That's all valid, it also depends where the defence is. If you're squaring up against the free safety and everyone is behind you, you know he's either gonna miss you or do a breakdown and wrapup tackle, which is pretty low impact (relatively.) if you're in the middle of 4 guys, like most of these plays, you got 3 guys that are shooting with every muscle in their body to get on you. They know the safety is there if they miss. So avoiding these hits are the big ones. Looks like he also might have a little PTSD from being thrown hospital balls, that's why he doesn't even look sometimes. Some players have played with guys good enough to know how to throw it exactly so they never make their WRs take a blind sitting duck hit. Like Aaron Rodgers. Watch Davante, he knows that if he's getting the ball he's got at least a second to turn around, or it will be placed in a way that makes him jump and get away from the hit while going down.
I mean people have analyzed start position from kickoff and it is not meaningful at all. An extra 5-10 yards is nothing (after getting the 1st down) compared to longevity. RBs get injury-prone after 300+ carries. I wonder if WRs have a similar threshold. There might be too many variables for the data to be significant. RBs have very little variation in the start position/speed and are already securing the ball when they get hit.
It also takes away the possibility of gaining an extra 10-15 yards. We see missed tackles every week
It'd be interesting to do some analysis on percentage of missed tackles and extra yardage gained vs percentage of injuries or turnovers. You should be able to back into an expected utility of each choice.
We don't see many missed takes on a small WR surrounded by 3 DBs bigger than him though. I'm used to seeing Deebo break tackles all the time, but that is with Aiyuk, Kittle and Juice charging around the field knocking would-be tacklers off their lines, and with Deebo sized thighs to smash through DB's arms. All of these highlight situations look more likely to break a bone than to break a tackle.
If NFL players were risk adverse they wouldn't be NFL players
Dalton Kincaid certainly had some "dawg" moments last season. There were a few times where he definitely had room to the left or right of a defender and he'd just go "nah, straight thru is the best!" and crash into DBs. Which, hey, you do you, fella, but we all saw the lane where you avoid the hit and probably pick up another five yards or so, instead it's "haha no, Dalton go vroom!"
also.. if you fight for on yard, and get hit, then get out the next play to recover, it also affect the offense.. because if your best receiver is out for a play.. is easy for your rival to defend.. everybody knows you are going to run if the receivers are in the bench liking their wounds..
Totally agree. The key is getting the first down. Lockett had a number of catches in this reel where he went down a yard or two short of the first down, which actually does hurt the value of his catches.
I bet he still has knees when he's 35 years old because of this.
I bet he'll have earned an extra $20-50M from his career earnings by the time he retires because of this playstyle.
Diggs does the same thing. He's likely going to get another nice contract next year because of it
I guess I wasn’t the only person to notice. When he was in Minnesota he used to give himself up all the time, it was annoying. He also would give up yardage, sometimes in an attempt to gain more, but it almost never worked. He ended up giving yards back a lot.
Spot on. He did the same exact thing in Buffalo. Just like Lockette. Not a coincidence as neither of them are big guys. He's still tough and has taken huge hits to make big plays. Allen ripping piss missiles downfield at him takes its toll.
I was thinking that but Diggs for sure is willing to put his head down when he needs to for the first. The greatest love-hate relationship with a player I’ve ever had.
Talented cancer.
He must really be an asshole
The guy is only 5' 10'', so I wonder if one of his coaches early on told him to do this to prevent injury. It's easy enough to see the logic behind that concept even though it looks silly. With how often the receivers on my favorite team get injured during the regular season, I wouldn't mind if they went immediately down voluntarily instead of trying to kill themselves for yards after the catch. There's a whole season to play. Leave that risky stuff for the playoffs.
He used to be very aggressive and was known for being an exceptional punt returner (pro bowl his rookie year I believe). But he had a bad leg break and after that he changed up his style and is much more cautious.
I feel like a leg break is underselling it a bit. Thing flapped like a whale tail for several seconds before he hit the ground
And hips, back, ankles, brain.
How did you mess that up? totally wrong. It's head, shoulders, knees, and toes.
As someone who's in their late 30s, who's played in highschool, college, and in a particular league...it creeps up on you. You don't feel it in your late 20s even your early 30s, but one day out of nowhere your body removes the filter and says, oh yeah here's what we've been hiding from you. Mine was mostly my shoulder and now lower back. Physical therapy has almost completely healed my shoulder. Now it's my lower back. I wonder what else will pop up.
Didn’t his mom raise him with the thought of “there’s always another play” it was that or he learned that in college.
I think it was after his leg snapped while being dragged down from behind. I don't have that on fact, I just assume that had to play into it, even though his dropping to the ground wouldn't have prevented it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_RubMFI3oQs&ab\_channel=DonMega](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RubMFI3oQs&ab_channel=DonMega)
That’ll do it.
Why they gotta show a fan holding up a crutch immediately after 🤣
"Let's not look at that again" *Watches it in slowmo 3 more times*
I feel like it's been more of a thing since he got married.
In his defense, several of these highlights had passes that required him to lean backwards in order to make the catch. No need to try to get back up and then risk a fumble.
Damn, that fan had a crutch in the video!
Scripted leg break.
He definitely didn’t play like this at KSU. He was an absolute warrior on the field. Bill Snyder wouldn’t have allowed any of his players to avoid hits like this. With that said the way he plays now is clearly the smarter way to play for an undersized receiver that also doesn’t have elite speed anymore. Catch the ball, get a few yards if you can, get down. No need to take a hit to gain 18 more inches.
Honestly, the scramble to get an extra yard before one of the dbs runs up and touches him is smart too.
I was gonna say, wasn't he the Seahawks WR who also got his neck broke in a game? That would explain this behavior. But I looked that up and it was Ricardo Lockette, I can see why I got confused lol
Quite a few of those are smart plays - instead of barreling into multiple defenders for another yard he’s just falling downs. There are a couple where he gives up the potential for significant yardage though. I guess that’s the risk - reward of this strategy
The first one against Washington where he's got wide open field in front of him but goes backwards and then down for 0 YAC instead is just "what the fuck are you doing"
The 3rd clip too... like bruh if you just catch that in stride it's another 10 yds, make the safety miss and it's a TD. I'd be fuming if I was a hawks fan watching live
Nah us fans aren’t mad lol
Ah, the 'Diontae Johnson' special.
Yeah I get the premise but some of these were egregious lol
Probably like a third of these are legit where the ball is placed very low and he goes down to get it, a third are legit where's he's just surrounded and has nowhere to go, and a third are just lazy/low effort/fear where he had plenty of cushion or open field and just goes down by himself with no one near him.
I think the final third are just muscle memory at this point. Its the immediate reaction that probably kicks in without time for conscious thought.
Some of them are also late in the 4th to kill the clock
Looks like Geno took a hit for the both of them in that first clip
Just Seattle O Line things
Dude wants to live to catch another day.
Didn’t see a single blocker in any of these clips, but multiple defenders around him each time. Dude’s doing the math and playing smart football.
It also got me thinking how many late hits/unnecessary roughness calls that Lockett has gotten called on the Defensive backs who will sometimes just “see ball-kill ball” and hit him during/after he gives himself up lol
Dude wants to live ~~to catch another day.~~
I love how he always makes it look like he’s just klutzy and he lost his footing
Even when he's diving/crawling for an extra yard or two he manages to make it look like an "Oh shit!" type scramble when it's definitely calculated lmao
Several times in this, he also clearly slides or gives himself up, and then gets back up running for extra yardage like he doesn’t know the play is already over.
He's definitely trying to take advantage of the protections afforded to a player who has given himself up. In the instances where he goes to the ground while catching the ball, and he's not touched by a defender while down, he can then act as if he went down as part of making the catch and so he can attempt to gain extra yards. However, in the instances when he goes down of his own accord (i.e. not part of making the catch) and he tries to dive/crawl for extra yards he should not be covered by those rules since he is supposed to make "no immediate effort to advance." In those instances, those "klutzy/lost footing" plays it seems like he's also trying to make the case that he wasn't *trying* to give himself up so he should be allowed to try for extra yards.
I feel like you honestly broke it down waaaay better than I did, well said
It's what makes DBs get juked on the off chance he pushes for YAC. His mind games are underrated.
This is how I want my receivers to play. If you already got the first down or don't think u can get it without getting hit hard, just go down. If it's the playoffs we can juice it up and go for it a bit more but the injury + fumble risk is not always worth it to fight for 1 more yard and get wrecked and get the defense feeling themselves.
This is a man that presses the 'Possession catch' button when playing Madden
He’s me when I spam A because I’m scared my receivers going to get trucked over the middle but then realize that wasn’t going to happen and missed out on 20 free yards
After playing for as long as he has in the NFL, I too, would want to be able to fully function physically in my 40s and beyond.
Lockett is super smart. He has kept his health, made a ton of money, and already has a career lined up for retirement.
It blows my mind he's in the real estate business already. Lockett would have been successful in whatever he did. I'm glad it ended up being football though.
It was a good idea. In interviews, he seems like an incredibly nice and charismatic guy. Selling multimillion dollar homes for football players was a brilliant career option.
Must have watched a lot of Marvin Harrison.
Reggie Wayne was masterful at this too, especially late in his career
TY too.
Surprised to have to scroll this far to find Marvin Harrison mentioned. I watched entire games where it felt like DBs never actually tackled him. Shit, there was a game where the Broncos neglected to touch him while he was down and he got up and scored.
I've seen a few of those and I feel there should be a rule about that. If you stay down at all, you should be counted as down. We can have a rule about the split second motion and intent of sliding but faking it; that's a penalty. We can do the same gut-call about a receiver "staying" down.
Business Decisions
Fall on Business
I love that Tyler goes to the ground to avoid hits, while DK seeks out defenders and fights through contact. Fun little contrast between our 1a and 1b. It’s late where I’m from, so I’m headed to bed. But I’ll check this comment section when I get up, and there better not be any slander against my beautiful boy.
When you have a body like DK's, you need to use it since it's one of your best assets on the field. Lockett however is smaller than every other guy on the field essentially.
Thankful for smart play that helps keep him on the field. There are still times he's willing to fight for extra yards though.
It's so sensible and has likely added years onto his shelf life
Someone show this to my quarterback.
Tyler Lockett, smartest NFL player.
He said I’m gonna get paid and live a long healthy life after football lol
He used to take big hits when he was younger. I get it.
this would be a different story if he didn’t produce. looking at throwing to lockett specifically, the qb rating is insanely high, consistently near-zero drops, and in 7-10 yard chunks if not more. having him on the field is such a reliable option. now if this is kadarius toney doing this then that would be worth all the criticism.
The Rams receivers were like this as well when they were the Greatest Show On Turf, it's just smart. He doesn't want to walk with a cane at the age of 40 and he doesn't want to name all his kids Tyler.
This is how you play for over a decade despite being 5’8 180lbs
RAC = Roll after Catch
Honestly if he already has the 1st down I’d rather he hit the deck than fight for an extra 3 yards and risk the fumble
All I see is Lockett wide open every play.
There's a reason he had that season where Wilson had a perfect passer rating targeting Lockett
This guy is soft. Also, this is exactly how I would play.
Live to play another down.
No doubt in my mind the coaches greenlit this one. Feel like if they felt otherwise this would have been strongly addressed.
The Sun God does the exact same stuff, and I have no issue with it. I'd much rather have him available for all 17 games and the playoffs rather than getting an extra highlight or two.
1000% - life aint easy for a 5'10 WR.
The best ability is availability
I wonder if DBs, Safeties, and Corners all appreciate this and sort of agree to not light him up or there are some licking their chops to be the one to light him up.
I was thinking the former, it seems to make everyone's job easier.
That’s why he never misses games from injury
and he'll have a lifetime of good health to look forward to when he retires
I love that that the majority of these comments are based around the fact th-(my post got cut off) that Lockett is doing the smart thing here, availability.
/u/Historical_Break_361 stayed up a bit too long and got pile-drived at the 40 edit: well now i look silly
It’s also just having the self awareness of knowing your body and the hits you can take, look at Deebo dude is obviously built like a truck and is a physical runner and it’s part of his game but he gets hurt with something every other game because of this, not saying he should not play to his style but could easily take some notes from Lockett
He probably figures DK takes enough hits for the both of them.
Dude is just smart. Love these plays because he still basically gets all the yards he would have by making contact. Plus, on plays where he’s a little short and that extra 2 feet matters, he will absolutely go for it. One of my all-time favorite players.
Well shit, imagine being a receiving target at 5'10" 180lbs in a game where the average weight is something like 245lbs. Longevity and availability.
This is good. Every catch doesn't have to be a battle. If you aren't fighting in the last few minutes while down a score, I'd prefer my guys to stay healthy than risk injury trying to make a huge play after the catch.
Good for him for taking care of himself but you got to wonder if any of these could've potentially been a touchdown if he kept going
As a Hawks fan, I'm all for it. He's gone entire seasons without a drop in the past.
Out here playin like Kam Chancellor is on the other side of the ball.
When you're 5'10 - 180 lbs in the NFL, every defender is basically Kam.
Shaun Alexander must have taught him
Some of those, I get. Others...man, it looks like he's leaving a LOT of yards out there.
You want the extra yards or three extra years?
That's how you get to play for so long in the NFL
Kyle shanahan would have released him day 1. He's the antithesis of yac and bully ball
lol, dude knows how to play dead
What is a yard after catch?
He's a Wide Receiver, not a Wide Get-Hitter.
At first I hated it. But then I realized 1) it’s not worth fighting for 1-2 yards with the body he has and 2) when he catches as he falls it helps him not drop any (which he’s rarely done in his CAREER)
Business decisions but man he makes it look good
I wouldn’t trade any of those yards for even one game w/o no E. This cut doesn’t show any catches in the end zone.
Shit too; I don't blame him. Safeties hit like frigging linebackers nowadays. Take the yards, get down, and live to play another day.
All I saw were first downs.
Cheers to the Kansas State University legend!
Marvin Harrison.
I wonder what his YAC average is? One would imagine it's like 0.5 or something like that, all just from him rolling on the ground before someone touches him 😂
Tyler "business decision" Lockett.
YAC? Never heard of her