Tyler Lockett says Shane Waldron's offense brings more freedom

Seattle Seahawks v Arizona Cardinals

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RENTON -- Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett has always been lauded by teammates and coaches for his offensive acuity during his tenure with the team.

Lockett frequently draws up his own plays and brings his own ideas to the table with the offensive coaching staff to discuss possibilities to add or wrinkles to try in their various game plans throughout a season. Former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenehimer even acknowledged implementing his ideas at times over the past three seasons.

As someone who has been with the team under both Schottenheimer and Darrell Bevell at coordinator, his thoughts on new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron are of particular interest. While Lockett only just showed up recently after skipping most of the voluntary offseason workouts, he's already excited about what Waldron's offense could bring for the team this year.

"I think he's very brilliant," Lockett said of Waldron on Wednesday. "I think the things that he brings to our team is gonna really help us out a lot. And when it comes to just learning his offense, like I said, once you study it, you're able to see exactly what type of offense we're gonna be."

Lockett echoed comments from Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll about the offense bringing more tempo to the table, which Lockett just described as making an effort to get in and out of the huddle quicker. He also said the offense will give the receivers some more freedoms.

"When I think of his offense I think we have more freedom to do a lot of stuff. I mean, it's very different than the six years that I've been here," Lockett said.

"Everybody has certain ways they want you to run routes," he explained. "You have spread offenses, you have West Coast offenses, you have run-n-gun, you have so many different types of offenses that require you as a receiver to be different, to think different, to play different. Different releases, different techniques, all that different type of stuff. And so with the offense that Shane brings in, I think it brings us more freedom. More freedom to kind of be able to be the receivers that we can be. We got free range to do a lot of stuff, not saying that we could just go out there and do whatever we want, but the more and more sophisticated that you become in this offense, the more you're able to understand how you can switch your feet, how not to switch your feet, how to add an extra step, how not to add an extra step, rather than always just having to get to a certain point at this certain amount of time, you kind of have free range to play with it a little bit."

The way Carroll, Wilson, Lockett, DK Metcalf and others have talked about Waldron's offense this spring have seemed to indicate the approach of the team will be noticeably different than what was seen previously under Bevell and Schottenheimer. The team will certainly carry over many of the concepts and plays from the prior playbooks that Wilson and the team saw success with. However, the approach from Waldron and the continuity of the playbook and how the sequencing of the plays will interact seems to be where the biggest differences will come along.

"When you looked at the Rams on offense, you can kind of see how really sophisticated it was," Lockett said.

"Since I've been here I've been really excited about it. Just kind of picking his brain understanding that he's also a coordinator that wants to learn, and it's really cool when you have that. I've had that with the others as well. And so when you have people that are willing to learn, that are willing to continue to get better each and every day with you, you're able to grow with that person. As soon as Shane came in everybody's been picking it up, everybody's been doing a great job."

Notes:

-- DE Carlos Dunlap II did not participate in practice on Wednesday after being in attendance on Tuesday. He was excused due to an illness.

-- SS Jamal Adams, RB Chris Carson and DE Aldon Smith remained away from the team with excused absences. RB Rashaad Penny, WR D'Wayne Eskridge, RB Travis Homer and LT Duane Brown were in attendance but not participating for a second straight day. G Pier-Olivier Lestage was the only new player sidelined from workouts after taking part on Tuesday.

-- The Seahawks waived running back B.J. Emmons was waived prior to the start of practice to open a roster spot for tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson. Wood-Anderson briefly spent time with Seattle last year on their offseason roster.

Photo Credit: GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 25: Wide receiver Tyler Lockett #16 of the Seattle Seahawks runs with the football after a reception against the Arizona Cardinals during the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Seahawks 37-34 in overtime. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)


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