Ranking the Top 5 Seattle Seahawks Wide Receivers of All Time

Highlights

• Steve Largent is the Seattle Seahawks' all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.
• Tyler Lockett transitioned from a standout kick returner to a top-tier wide receiver.
• DK Metcalf has the potential to rise in the rankings rapidly.

There were times when the Seattle Seahawks were the laughingstock of the NFL. And even when the team was at its best, they always seemed to be centered around a star running back like Shaun Alexander or Marshawn Lynch. Despite all this, the Seahawks have a pretty impressive list of the franchise’s best wide receivers of all time.

The Seahawks have a relatively short history compared to most NFL teams. Only the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, (the new) Cleveland Browns, and Houston Texans have entered the league since the Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined in 1976. Still, Seattle has accomplished a good amount in a short time, and a lot of that is thanks to excellent wide receivers.

This list starts with a Hall of Famer and includes two who are still playing. So, while the top of the list of the best Seahawks wide receivers of all time won’t change anytime soon, this is a situation where the next few years could provide some movement in these rankings.

1 Steve Largent

As one of the top pass-catchers in NFL history, it's no surprise Steve Largent tops this list

It’s no surprise that Steve Largent leads the list of the best Seahawks wide receivers of all time. The legend was selected by the Houston Oilers in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL Draft but ended up with the expansion Seahawks via trade before his first game.

That deal surely seemed inconsequential at first, as trading a fourth-round pick usually doesn’t come back to bite you. But that’s just what it did for the Oilers.

Largent played 14 seasons in Seattle, and even though he retired following the 1989 campaign, his 819 receptions for 13,089 yards, and 100 touchdowns are still the most in franchise history by considerable margins.

The former Tulsa wideout made seven Pro Bowls but was somehow only a First-Team All-Pro once. He led Seattle in receiving yards for 12 consecutive years and led the NFL in that category twice, in 1979 and 1985.

Largent wasn’t the biggest, strongest, or fastest by any means, but he was an incredible route runner and had amazing hands. That’s why, when he retired, he held all the receiving records in the league. Those numbers have since been surpassed, but Largent’s greatness still deserves its due.

2 Tyler Lockett

From All-Pro kick returner to crucial veteran WR, Tyler Lockett has done it all for the Seahawks

Since Steve Largent retired, the team hasn’t had a superstar wide receiver like him. What they have had in recent years is a really solid pass-catcher in Tyler Lockett.

Lockett was a third-round pick out of Kansas State in 2015, and he made a little NFL history as a rookie, returning both a kick and a punt for a touchdown while also making 40 catches for 379 yards and a score. That earned him First-Team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl nod as a special teamer. He also ended up on the All-Rookie team three times, as a wideout, a kick returner, and a punt returner.

As Lockett got older, he matured and improved as a receiver while still holding on to his kick return ability. In his third season, he led the league with 949 kick return yards. In 2019, he had his first 1,000-yard receiving season and has since hit that mark three more times.

While Lockett isn’t on the return team anymore now that he is in his 30s, his dual-threat ability and growth into a No. 1 receiver is impressive, and it’s what puts him so high on the list of the best Seahawks receivers of all time.

3 Brian Blades

Brian Blades was just consistently good for the Seahawks over a long period of time, even when the team around him was not

Brian Blades was part of the Miami Hurricanes' rise to power in the mid-1980s, and he brought his swagger and sure hands to the Pacific Northwest as a second-round pick in 1988.

After a solid rookie season with 682 yards and eight touchdowns, Blades made his first and only Pro Bowl the next year with 77 catches for 1,063 yards and five scores. That would be one of his four 1,000-yard efforts in his 11 years in Seattle.

Blades retired following the 1998 season with 581 catches for 7,620 yards and 34 touchdowns. That puts him third, third, and eighth, respectively, on the Seahawks’ all-time list.

4 Doug Baldwin

Playing the way he did at his size took a toll, but Doug Baldwin was sure fun to watch

“Angry” Doug Baldwin was a joy to watch as the 5-foot-10, 192-pound Seahawks receiver ran and attacked the ball like a 6-foot-2, 260-pound middle linebacker. That’s not to say Baldwin wasn’t skilled. He just had an aggressive way of playing that made Seattle fans get excited.

Baldwin played his entire eight-year NFL career with the Seahawks and made two Pro Bowls along the way. He was a key part of the franchise's Super Bowl-winning squad in 2013 and led the league in touchdowns with 14 in 2015.

He retired after his age-30 season due to a recurring elbow injury, which speaks to how hard Baldwin played. When he hung up his cleats, the undrafted WR out of Stanford had 493 catches for 6,563 yards and 49 TDs. That goes down as the fourth-, fourth-, and third-best totals in those categories in Seahawks history.

5 DK Metcalf

Dk Metcalf is No. 5 for now, but still in his mid-20s, he could climb these rankings soon and quickly

All the Seahawks listed above succeeded despite not having the size, strength, and speed combination that you think of when you picture a strapping NFL WR1. When you do get that image in your mind, cross that with an Olympic-level sprinter and maybe The Hulk, and you’ll see DK Metcalf.

At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds with world-class speed, Metcalf is the embodiment of a big, physical, outside receiver in the league. He slipped to the second round coming out of Ole Miss in the 2019 NFL Draft but quickly made teams pay with 900 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie.

The next season, Metcalf bumped that up to 1,303 yards and 10 TDs, making the first of two Pro Bowls so far.

Just five years into his career, Metcalf already has 372 catches for 5,332 yards and 43 touchdowns. He is just entering his prime, so don’t be surprised if Metcalf starts rapidly making his way up this list of the best Seahawks wide receivers in the coming years.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.