As DK Metcalf faces longtime team, Seahawks may face a receiver who looks less familiar than they expect

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/as-dk-metcalf-faces-longtime-team-seahawks-may-face-a-receiver-who-looks-less-familiar-than-they-expect-235443723.html

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The text message hit Aaron Rodgers’ phone last Tuesday.

In it: a breakdown of the New York Jets‘ defense, led by first-year head coach Aaron Glenn with his history of blitzes and man coverage, the latter particularly notable to the receiver sending the message.

DK Metcalf remembered Rodgers’ request from weeks prior at training camp when the Pittsburgh Steelers’ new quarterback and their new receiver shared a bathroom and shower at training camp. Conversations arose, about football and beyond.

“I told him way back a long time ago, I said, ‘Hey, give me a report on Monday of game week, Monday or Tuesday, how you see things and what you like,” Rodgers said after the Steelers’ 34-32 win over the Jets. “Kind of forgot about it. And then on Tuesday, guess what I got?”

The text message “wasn’t a short one,” Rodgers said, praising his receiver whom he believed “put a lot of time into it.”

The time appeared to pay off, with Metcalf posting a team-high 83 receiving yards on four receptions. Metcalf also led all NFL players in Week 1 with 16.8 yards after the catch per reception as Rodgers found his big-bodied, tough-to-tackle receiver in space with room to race up the sidelines.

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Rodgers and Metcalf still have room for growth in learning each other’s nuances, missing almost as many targets (three) as they connected on (four) — even with Metcalf somewhat lucking into a catch on a pass that Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner deflected before it ricocheted off three players and back into Metcalf’s hands.

But as the Steelers host the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday, the team that selected Metcalf in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft will have another chance to assess the player whom it traded after six seasons in March. The Steelers will take another step toward establishing their identity with Rodgers and Metcalf in house.

That identity might not be what the Seahawks are used to. In Week 1, it wasn’t.

“Not that similar,” Gardner told Yahoo Sports. “Not too, too similar. I feel like Aaron being the quarterback, Aaron runs his offense a different way. So he’s going to use players to their strengths.

“And DK has many strengths.”

Steelers traded for a receiver whom ‘there’s nobody like’

In six seasons with the Seahawks, Metcalf caught 438 passes for 6,324 yards and 48 touchdowns. The 2019 second-round draft pick developed a well-earned reputation as a size and speed mismatch. How many other 6-foot-3, 228-pound receivers were running a 4.33 40-yard dash at the scouting combine?

Metcalf didn’t check that speed and power at the door when he entered the league.

“He’s a specimen, he’s a freak of an athlete, freak of a physique,” one NFC defensive assistant told Yahoo Sports. “He’s built like an outside linebacker that plays outside receiver and can move inside [as], for lack of a better term, a big dude just running at you.

“There’s nobody like him in the league, when you think about it.”

Steelers wideout DK Metcalf, right, gave Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner a challenge in Week 1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)

The Steelers sought that size and strength for their quarterback-to-be-named when they traded a second-round pick (and swapped late-round picks) for Metcalf in March, Pittsburgh also giving Metcalf a four-year extension worth $132 million with $60 million guaranteed.

Tomlin said in March that competing against Metcalf three times showed him “there’s very little on the football field, from a wide receiver perspective, that he can’t do.”

“He’s got short game, he’s got long game, he’s a combat catch guy,” Tomlin said March 31. “He’s got run after [the catch]. He’s a devastating run blocker. We’re really excited about the addition of DK Metcalf and we’re going to use all those talents.”

In Week 1, the Steelers used some of those talents more than others. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Rodgers leveraged the defensive attention Metcalf’s presence demanded — hi, Gardner on 30 of 33 routes — to scheme four of Metcalf’s teammates for touchdown catches.

And while Metcalf muscled his way through defenders after the catch, especially down the sidelines, the Steelers did not prioritize Metcalf’s vertical threat. Instead, the 3.2 air-yard average per target was the fewest in Metcalf’s 98-game career, per Next Gen Stats.

Metcalf picked up a full 73 of his 83 receiving yards after the catch.

Gardner remembered that concept from practicing against Rodgers last season.

“Aaron is one of those guys where like, if DK is right there with a cut split, Aaron is going to put the ball in his hands early because he knows he’s a big guy, fast, strong and he’s going to be a hard guy to tackle,” Gardner said. “But it’s Week 1. So I’m sure it’s going to change throughout the season depending on who they’re playing against and how the defense is scheming their offense and things like that. But he’s a guy that’s capable of being a vertical threat and being a guy you can just give him a quick screen or give him a quick slant.

“Put the ball in his hands early and he‘s going to turn it into a huge explosive gain.”

‘Probably we can put 50 points on the board’

One game into his Steelers career, Metcalf spoke of the improvement he sought in catching passes from Rodgers.

He wasn’t celebrating his 23-yard gain on the first third-and-10 of the game so much as noting he wished it wasn’t necessary and he’d have caught the prior target on second down.

Of the three targets that Metcalf didn’t catch, Pro Football Reference credited one as a drop. Two talent evaluators in the league say an inconsistent track record isn’t new for Metcalf — particularly on contested catches over the middle, like the target Metcalf missed with 3:22 to play in the third quarter.

“He’s a Pro Bowl player who has to be used a certain way to be at his best,” one NFC talent evaluator told Yahoo Sports. “He’s tricky because he can’t run the full route tree like other high-level players.”

The evaluator said hitch, stop, comeback and corner routes best cater to Metcalf’s strengths, while downfield one-on-one shots are also often effective. Another evaluator believed Metcalf’s consistency was less dependent on his field position and more dependent on his leverage.

“When he looks like he’s running routes on air, meaning a defender’s on him but doesn’t get anything on him or play off on him, that’s probably where he’s at his best,” the evaluator said. “Those in-breaks when he’s catching on the run, not breaking stride — he’s a problem.”

The Steelers face a Seahawks defense coming off a two-pick game of Brock Purdy, Tomlin crediting Seattle’s secondary as the strongest position group on the team.

“They played as many as seven defensive backs in the game,” Tomlin said of the Seahawks’ opening personnel usage. “A very talented and deep group.”

Pittsburgh will aim to position Metcalf to make even that talented secondary group miss the way that the Jets missed Metcalf on the first third down in the opener.

“It’s our job to get him the ball in spaces where those talents show and sometimes it’s quick-hitting passes, particularly early in the game,” Tomlin said. “I think it was the first third down of the season: They pressured us, we were able to distribute the ball to him quickly. He was able to make a would-be tackler miss and go down the sideline for roughly 25 yards.

“I think those are indications of why we acquired him.”

Metcalf believes the indications are just beginning, the connection between Rodgers and receiver sure to grow from on-field opportunities and text message scouting reports alike.

The opener was a start. Metcalf dreams higher, after the Steelers onboarded a series of high-octane free agents this offseason with an expectation to contend beyond what Metcalf saw from the Seahawks.

“We put up 30+ points,” Metcalf said. “For our first time out there everybody, it was a good performance but it feels even better when you have something out there you can work on next week to get better. We do look forward to that and we do have some things we can get better at and probably we can put 50 points on the board.

“Next week will be a big tell for us playing the Seahawks.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/as-dk-metcalf-faces-longtime-team-seahawks-may-face-a-receiver-who-looks-less-familiar-than-they-expect-235443723.html