Doug Baldwin for sure deserves to be at the top of the list in anyone's analysis of top current and all time, route runners coupled with the most reliable WR hands in the NFL.
Any DB, who has ever been interviewed, and asked about Doug, will tell you that he is the most evasive and difficult WR they have ever covered, Richard Sherman, will echo that sentiment after trying to cover him this season, if he hasn't already from practicing with him.
You can't shut Doug Baldwin down, he makes it look so easy. He is so natural and fluid in his route running. He can stop on a dime and change directions without missing a step. He reminds me of a whitetail deer on the fly, the way he runs, sometimes, and it's crazy the way he holds on to some of the passesI can't even begin to count how many times, I've watched DB's fall on their asses trying to cut and run with Doug.
Tyler is damn good too and if he is able to play at a 100% again this season, I say look for him to move way up the lists in top WR in the game. Training, practicing and playing side by side with Doug, will show up in his game going forward as well. In reflection, prior to the crash and burn that cost Tyler a double broken leg, I would say that he was every bit as good as Doug, if not better.
Tyler struggled last years to overcome not only the physical challenges of his recovery, but more importantly, the mental challenges as well. It's hard to put an experience like that, out of your mind and let yourself go full out again, but he seems to have managed to do just exaclty that. The last few games of 2017-2018 showed all of us that Lockett the Rocket Man was back in full form and ready to stake his claim to fame in the NFL history books.
Look for big things from Tyler this year, putting aside another crash and burn, I think he will be remembered as a one of the biggest game changers in this upcoming season. This is not intended to hijack this post to honor Tyler or to detract any attention from or in any way diminish Doug's extraordinary contributions to the Seahawks or to the NFL in general,
I think, barring any injuries that would take him off the field of play that our expectations of Doug, in 2018-2019, will only exceed what he has accomplished in previous seasons and set him apart from the rest of the WR pack. Doug has demonsrated that he is almost bullet proof, over the years, endouring physical punishment that would sideline most all of his competitors, only to pick himself up, walk it off and take the field for the next play.
I also think it's realistic to say that Doug Baldwin is very much in his prime right now at the age of 29. I would not be at all suprised to see Doug play at the top of his game for another 3 to 5 years. I also look to see him retire his Jersey in Seattle and join others in the NFL Hall of Fame one day. He is a going to break many more NFL WR records before he hangs up his helmet.
Doug is a great person on so many levels. He is a very thoughtful and elequint speaker, who I suspect will continue to be a voice for many of the players in the NFL and many of their fans as well.
I look for crazy good things from the Seahawks, offense and defense in 2018-2019, I'm one of the many growing number of 12's that still believe, and trust that we may very well find ourselves in the 2019 Super Bowl. I think the whole NFL community are in for one hell of a shock, when this team takes the field this season.
Go Seahawks!