RENTON — When his chance finally comes, Dee Eskridge plans to be ready.
Through the early part of the 2022 season, Eskridge has been a seldom-used part of the Seahawks passing attack. After a concussion-shortened rookie year and a preseason that was marred by a hamstring injury, the second-year wide receiver had just three receptions and 16 total yards through the first five weeks.
But Eskridge finally broke through with a career day on Oct. 16 against the Cardinals with three catches for 39 yards, for an average of 13 yards per reception.
While those numbers won’t get him on a highlight reel quite yet, it was an important step for Eskridge as he works to secure a foothold in the NFL.
“It means a lot to me, for sure,” Eskridge said. “Obviously it did feel good to get some catches in and everything, but I already know what I’m capable of. So you know, I’m just trying to leverage my way into getting trust. Everything that I need to do on offense to be able to go out there and do that every play, instead of just, you know, those three plays.”
His next game wasn’t as good, as Eskridge finished with zero catches, while getting flagged for offensive pass interference and fumbling a pitch from quarterback Geno Smith in Seattle’s 37-23 Week 7 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
He also fielded two kick returns for Seattle for a total of 45 yards.
Expectations were high for Eskridge when he was drafted No. 56 overall by the Seahawks in the 2021 draft, but injuries have kept him from becoming a consistent contributor. He missed seven games last year with a concussion, and finished his rookie season with just 10 receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Eskridge came into his second season ready to “play free” as he grew more comfortable with the playbook and hoped he could cement his status as the team’s No. 3 receiver behind Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf. That hasn’t happened yet, but head coach Pete Carroll still sees a lot of potential, comparing Eskridge to former Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate, himself a bit of a late bloomer.
After getting drafted by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft, it took until his third season for Tate to finally have his breakout year, where he hauled in 45 receptions for 688 yards and seven receiving touchdowns.
“It took Golden a while to get caught up with everything and to be able to express the beautiful talent he had,” Carroll said. “I’ve always looked at guys that are really natural athletes that everything comes really easy to them. Sometimes, they don’t pay attention to all the details because they can do stuff anyway, and they can make things look right and (Eskridge) is just like that. He is as natural as he could be.
“… This isn’t just unique to (Tate) and to (Eskridge). A lot of young guys come into the league, and it takes them a while to realize how detailed the wide receiver position is so the quarterback can function accordingly, and that’s the whole key to it. You can see it; he’s blossoming right now. He’s really going, and we are going to keep working him and utilize him as much as we can.”
Geno Smith has relied mostly on Lockett, Metcalf and Seattle’s tight ends in the passing game so far, but he has been impressed with Eskridge’s growing understanding of the professional game.
“(Eskridge) and I have been studying together. I’ve been talking to Dee every day,” Smith said. “I think what he is doing and how he is coming along is so tremendous because he has all of the physical tools and all of the talent in the world. He can make all of the plays and mentally, the game is slowing down for him. You can see that when the ball is in his hands, he is dynamic. As the game continues to slow down, he’s going to play that much faster and be that much better.”
One of Eskridge’s biggest issues has been his availability, but there is no question from those around him that he is putting in the hard work necessary to earn more targets. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is hopeful that Seattle can get its 2021 second-round pick more involved in the weeks to come.
“He’s had bad luck as far as not always being able to be on the field, but he’s kept his head down and worked.” Waldron said. “We are starting to see some of the progress being made where he is on the field more and more in practice and that practice performance is now starting to lead to the production in the games. So, looking forward to him being more a part of it as he keeps going.”