There are two ways to play fantasy football. You can play it safe, or you can swing for the fences. It’s always risky to chase outliers, but outliers are how we separate from our competitors.
With that in mind, we’re going through bold fantasy takes for every NFL team, with this installment looking at the Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle Seahawks Bold Fantasy Prediction: DK Metcalf Finishes as a Top-5 WR
Ever since his breakout 2020 season, fantasy managers have been waiting for DK Metcalf to become an every-week WR1. After averaging 17.0 fantasy points per game in 2020, Metcalf has been between 13.3 and 14.4 ever since.
Metcalf is still an incredibly talented receiver. He just hasn’t had the right combination of play-calling and quarterback play. This could be the year everything comes together.
The Seahawks moved on from Pete Carroll, bringing in a defensive head coach in Mike Macdonald. He hired former University of Washington OC Ryan Grubb to run the offense.
Grubb likes to push the ball downfield. Do you know who is built to dominate downfield? A 6’3″ specimen of a human who runs a 4.33 40-time at 228 pounds.
Metcalf’s WR18 ADP could look mighty low as early as October.
DK Metcalf Fantasy Profile
Metcalf’s drop in targets from 2022 to 2023 is probably the biggest concern on his fantasy profile, going from 141 to 119 with JSN’s arrival and Smith’s struggles under center.
For those who are wondering, that’s a drop from a 25.5% target share to 22.9%. Although it’s not a meteoric type of descent, it’s certainly enough to have an impact on Metcalf’s fantasy production.
It’s not that Metcalf was bad by any stretch of the imagination, but Smith simply wasn’t able to make all three quality receivers big-time fantasy producers last season.
Could the arrival of new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb help this passing game in 2024? It’s certainly plausible, considering how much he contributed to Michael Penix Jr.’s success in tossing the ball over the yard to Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, and Ja’Lynn Polk at the University of Washington last year.
Still, it will depend on how effectively Smith performs under center. One very encouraging sign for Metcalf’s fantasy outlook was his high usage near the end zone (tied for fifth with 23 targets in the red zone in 2023). He produced 10 receptions for 79 yards and six scores on those highly valuable fantasy targets.
Check out Pro Football Network’s full fantasy football profile of DK Metcalf right here.Â
