(On Tyler Lockett…) JS: “Just a need, a strong need at the punt return position. I was actually with his father in Kansas City, which is amazing and makes me feel very old, but Tyler is a phenomenal kid: academically, driven, captain, leader of his team—both of these guys are actually big-time leaders of their team. Those are some of the things that stood out with both of these guys—highly driven, just instincts and catching the ball. He is a great fielder. He’s incredible as a slot receiver inside. The week he had at the Senior Bowl was phenomenal. We just felt like he is the premier returner in this draft—there were three players we felt like we wanted to come out of the draft with, and we got two of them. I can’t tell you who the other one was, it’s kind of a bummer.”
PC: “As a return specialist, he really adds that to our team, knowing that he can be our punt returner. He can be our kickoff returner. It’s just so obvious, we think that’s an area of our football team we needed improvement at and we could hit it with one guy. He is also a very accomplished receiver, you see his numbers and everything that he has accomplished, but the fact that we can put a guy back there with that kind of confidence and style and tremendous speed and explosiveness, and great history—he’s got all kinds of documentation. That’s why were so happy John made the move to get that done. I think it’s a really exciting thing to add to our football team.”
(On if Lockett will doth both punt and kick returns…) PC: “Both, we are counting on him to do both.”
(On Lockett, continued…) JS: “Yes, he is just savvy. He is a lot like his father—he wouldn’t say that, he would say he is much better than his father—he is just a real savvy route runner, he’s got a great feel for zone and sitting down. He just made plays all of the time. One of the teams was disappointed in not being able to acquire him and they called me and were like, ‘The guy just continues to make play after play after play.’ He is a smaller guy—I can’t say I am a smaller guy, but I am shorter guy—and they want to be you up all of the time as a football player, but you want to critique these guys for being a smaller player, but he made a lot of big plays.”
PC: “The part that we’re really looking forward to in the return game is great attitude and a willingness to wanting to be back there, and he has demonstrated that for years. He’s got the knack, he’s got the big play nature to him, but his attitude is perfect for wanting to jump in there. I would imagine he catches the first kickoff of the season. He will be back there doing it—he will compete to prove that—but it is hard to imagine anyone can outdo him back there.”
PC: “There’s a big difference in the production we had. Really, going back to Leon [Washington] too, when Leon was our kick returner, we went back and researched it very carefully to see that we could improve. We are just trying to get better as a team and I think this makes us a better team. The fact that we know that Tyler can jump in there and fill a spot in the receivers spot, too, and back us up—he will play Doug [baldwin]’s spot and back him up, that’s a real plus, too. He’s not just a returner, he can do other things, too, and we will bring him along, but it’s really the return specialist opportunity we thought was really unique, and there was nobody else like him in the draft.”