What can put DK Metcalf among NFL’s elite: Brian Schottenheimer’s, Russell Wilson’s trust
It’s one thing for fans to love DK Metcalf.
That is happening with the Seahawks’ hulking, second-year wide receiver, in the Pacific Northwest and far beyond. He’s been The People’s Choice since the spring day in 2019 Seattle drafted the pre-draft workout phenomenon.
It’s far more instructive the love for Metcalf extends to the coach who calls his offense’s plays, plus the guy who throws all its passes.
Brian Schottenheimer and Russell Wilson absolutely love Metcalf.
That is why he’s likely to be a focal point of the plan for Seattle (2-0) against Dallas (1-1) and its banged-up, recently porous pass defense Sunday at CenturyLink FIeld.
It’s why Metcalf may be in the Pro Bowl as one of the NFL’s top receivers by the end of this his second pro season.
That would be a big deal in Seattle. Hall of Famer Steve Largent (seven times), Brian Blades (once) and Doug Baldwin (twice, the more recent time in 2017) are the only wide receivers in Seahawks history to be nominated for the Pro Bowl.
“We learned a lot about DK last year, Sunday night (in December, in Los Angeles) playing the Rams,” Schottenheimer said Thursday. “And they matched up Jalen Ramsey on him, another premier corner in the NFL.
“And he didn’t back down, at all.”
Months after the Seahawks traded back into the second round to draft Metcalf, he tied his rookie regular-season high with six catches in six targets and 78 yards in early December while Ramsey, the 2017 All-Pro, primarily covered him in Seattle’s 28-12 loss to the Rams.
So Seattle’s offensive coordinator planned last week for New England to put cornerback Stephon Gilmore, the NFL’s reigning defensive player of the year, on Metcalf throughout the Seahawks-Patriots shootout.
On cue, Metcalf wowed. Again. He had four catches in six targets from Wilson, and his second consecutive game with 90 yards receiving and a key, long touchdown catch.
Not only that, Metcalf woofed. He thoroughly enjoyed every one of his four catches, every one of his 92 receiving yards—and especially his 54-yard touchdown pass from Wilson that tied the wild game at 14 in the second quarter.
Schottenheimer anticipated then Wilson saw Gilmore lined up again in man coverage on Metcalf in the slot to the right side. Metcalf ran with the league’s best cornerback deep down the field, made an inside move on a left diagonal as if on a post route, then cut sharply outside instead to the right on a flag pattern. Wilson boldly sent a soaring ball that dared Metcalf to run under it, and Gilmore to cover it. The 6-foot-4, 229-pound Metcalf gave Gilmore a beastly lean as Wilson’s perfectly placed ball arrived. The man reputed to be the league’s most physical cornerback fell off Metcalf as water does a cliff.
Metcalf just about walked in for a startling touchdown.
“It was maybe as perfect as the one they hit last week,” coach Pete Carroll said, referring to Wilson connecting with Metcalf for a 38-yard score on fourth down in the Seahawks’ opening win at Atlanta.
According to the NFL Next Gen stats service, it was the first time in two years Gilmore allowed a touchdown as the nearest, primarily defender to a receiver.
“I thought DK was unbelievable,” Wilson said.
“If really go back and look at the route he ran against Gilmore he was selling like he was running a deep cross, and if you look at it he looks back. So Gilmore goes to undercut him,” Schottenheimer said.
“It was just a magnificent route. It really was.”
Even when the Patriots played zone coverage on Moore, Tyler Lockett and all other Seattle receivers, defensive mastermind Bill Belichick had Gilmore on Metcalf in man to man. It was a football version of a basketball combination, box-and-one, zone-man defense.
“We just knew all week it was going to be a tough game for Gilmore,” Seahawks wide receiver David Moore said.
Metcalf’s latest excellence went off per Schottenheimer’s plan.
“It didn’t surprise me. We expected them to match Gilmore on him,” the offensive coordinator said. “That was part of the game plan. Have a ton of respect for him as a corner and a coverage player.
“But, we have more confidence in DK. I think that’s proven.”
It’s proven to Wilson.
The quarterback hosted Metcalf in Mexico this offseason for more than a week’s worth of daily, one-on-one training sessions of pitch and catch. Wilson even taught Metcalf to swim.
Those bonds tend to last, including on the field. No matter who is covering Metcalf. Including the Cowboys, who have allowed the Rams and Falcons 802 yards passing total through two games.
Schottenheimer’s confidence in Metcalf and the 31-year-old Wilson’s bond with the 22-year-old he says is like a younger brother to him are why it’s not unfathomable to think Metcalf could become a Pro Bowl wide receiver in year two of his career that almost never began. Less than two years ago a doctor told him he’d never play again, because of a cervical fracture he sustained on a kickoff in his last game for the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2018.
He’s going to get the opportunities, the home-run opportunities that will get all-star voters’ attention, like they already do the game’s best defensive mind and its best cornerback.
He’s become indispensable to Schottenheimer’s entire offense, on every down, passing and running situations, long yardage and short. Metcalf has played all but one of Seattle’s 125 offensive snaps this season. He and Wilson were the only two players besides offensive lineman to play all 63 snaps of the Seahawks’ win over the Patriots.
He’s earned that right.
More than once, Metcalf and Gilmore went after each other well after a play ended last weekend. They rammed into each other when some plays were 40 yards away, on the field’s opposite side.
“It was a good opportunity for me,” Metcalf said, downplaying his performance. “He made the match-up difficult, in my opinion.
“A great defender. My hat’s off to him.”
Once, on a running play past him, Metcalf blocked Gilmore into the sideline boundary, past the first, second and third line of Seahawks players watching from behind the sideline and into the metal benches that are about 10 yards off the field. Seahawks players and coaches scattered, hollered, massed then finally intervened.
Carroll was on the periphery of the scrum, at least giving the appearance he was trying to break up the fray. Gilmore then went back at Metcalf. Metcalf grabbed and tugged on Gilmore’s face mask amid all the people trying to separate them.
Somehow, no one got penalized for that melee long after the play ended well up the field from them.
“What was fun for us to watch, as a staff, as an offensive unit, was the way DK competed away from the ball, in the running game, some of the things he did,” Schottenheimer said.
“It’s easy sometimes when you run routes when you know you are the early-progression (target) and things like that, but he played a complete football game last week. And that was really cool.
“Again, he’s grown so much. ...But we noticed it last year, when he matched up against another premier corner, and he was asking for the ball, wanting the ball. That’s the way he views himself.
“And that’s certainly the way we view him, as well.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 11:43 AM.
