Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett, with game-winning catch, again shows his quiet greatness

The image of Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett on Sunday afternoon, his hand outstretched, reaching over the pylon, scoring the winning touchdown in overtime in what was a raucous game, is typical Lockett. He is, of course, talented, but his talent isn't what makes him special. It isn't what defines his game. It's that effort. That desire. That push.

Lockett isn't Justin Jefferson, who is a galactic talent. He's not Tyreek Hill, who can outrun sound waves. Lockett isn't his muscular and abbed-up teammate, DK Metcalf, who catches footballs with his core. He doesn't have the dazzle of Cooper Kupp or nuclear fission of Stefon Diggs. Lockett isn't the fastest. The most talented. The most gifted. But he is, without question, one of the best.

Lockett is the most underrated player in the NFL. He might even be one of the most underrated professional athletes in all of American sports.

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Outside of Seattle, he isn't someone you'd notice in an airport. But Lockett, and a handful of players like him, are the lifeblood of the league. Players like him make the NFL go.

That scene with Lockett happened in Seattle's 37-31 overtime win over the Lions. Quarterback Geno Smith found Lockett on that final play, a 6-yard score, and Lockett did something receivers actually don't want to do, which is make that reach over the pylon. The ball can get knocked out. Like it did for Jefferson and the Vikings on Thursday night with his fumbled attempt ruled a touchback.

But Lockett, who has been in the league since 2015, knew he had to take the chance. It worked.

"It wasn't the way that we drew it up," Lockett told the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. "I kinda' ran into the corner, but Geno trusted me, threw the ball to me. I was able to catch it. We always talk about (how receivers aren't supposed to) reach for it. So I probably shouldn't have (done) that...The biggest thing is I was able to hold on to it. They called it a touchdown and the Seahawks win."

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When asked about the difference between Seattle's offense this week and in the opener, when they lost 30-13 to the Los Angeles Rams, Lockett said, "We just had to dial in. Honestly, the Rams are a great team, no matter what anybody else says, and they beat us. And so we had to be able to take that punch.

And we knew we were going against a great Detroit team. They went out there and beat (Kansas City). But we wanted to make our presence known. We went out there and battled. Had a lot of highs, had a lot of lows. But we stuck together."

Entering this season, and from 2019-2022, as longtime NFL journalist Doug Farrar points out, Lockett was 16th in the league in targets with 466, ninth in catches with 339, and he was tied for sixth in touchdowns at 35 with the Bills' Stefon Diggs and the Eagles' A.J. Brown. Few non-Seahawks fans knew this because, hell, I didn't know this and this is what I do for a living.

"Thing is, you don’t often hear Lockett’s name when we discuss the league’s most refined and productive receivers, but he’s earned such consideration after putting up these numbers in offenses that haven’t always been passing-friendly," Farrar wrote. "All Lockett does every season is show up and produce, and his efforts were buttressed, surprisingly enough, by Geno Smith’s command of a series of offenses that Russell Wilson seemed to have on lock for a decade."

This is the sign of a great receiver: able to produce in different types of offenses with different types of quarterbacks who always show immense trust in him.

Adding to the Lockett underrated persona is that he isn't a huge media talker. He doesn't really put the spotlight on himself.

In other words, Lockett is almost the true definition of a blue-collar player.

Maybe he technically shouldn't have reached for that pylon. Maybe the coaches will tell him: Hey, dude, in the future, don't do that. But those coaches, and true football types, can forgive him, because few receivers produce like he does. Are as great as he is.

And do so, so quietly.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Seattle Seahawks' Tyler Lockett could be NFL's most underrated player