Seattle, WA
Does Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf have another gear?
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf has had a highly productive start to his NFL career.
With his rare combination of size, speed and strength, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Metcalf is one of just nine players with at least 5,000 receiving yards and 40 touchdown catches over the past five seasons. The 2019 second-round pick has reached 900 yards in all five seasons and 1,000 yards three times, including a career-high 1,303 yards in 2020.
However, that 2020 season was the only time Metcalf has finished in the top 10 on the NFL’s receiving leaderboard. After ranking seventh in receiving yards that year, he was 27th in 2021, 16th in 2022 and 18th in 2023.
Is there another level of production the ultra-talented 26-year-old wideout can reach? That question came up during a discussion Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.
“I look at DK’s size, speed, combo, strength and ability as a receiver and I just wonder if there’s another gear he can hit,” Stacy Rost said.
Under previous Seahawks offensive coordinators Brian Schottenheimer and Shane Waldron, there were times when Metcalf would seemingly disappear from games and go for long stretches without a target. With new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb now in charge of Seattle’s offense, former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus thinks Metcalf could be better-utilized. Grubb excelled at putting receivers in position to succeed across town at UW, where he directed one of the best passing attacks in college football as the Huskies’ OC the past two seasons.
“I think that (Metcalf) having a coordinator who understands who he is and how to push the ball down the field and get him in his matchups (will help),” Bumpus said. “We’ve seen him move to the slot and do some of that stuff during some of their minicamp (practices this spring). So just like I always connect receiver play to linemen and quarterbacks, it’s connected to the offensive coordinator as well.
“How are you gonna use him? Because I think a lot of coordinators will look at a receiver like DK Metcalf and say: ‘All right, he’s a big X receiver. Put him outside, run a go, run a post.’ That’s what they said about him coming into the NFL. He only played one side of the field. … It’s up to the coordinator to get him outside that box and challenge him to do other things, and I think that’s gonna happen this year.”
Bumpus also thinks Metcalf can take a step forward in adjusting to the ball in the air. Over his career, one of the few weaknesses in Metcalf’s game has been his occasional struggle with dropped passes. After a drop rate of 12.1% and 10.8% in first two seasons, he improved to 5.1% and 5.3% in his next two years, according to Pro Football Focus. However, his drop rate went back up to 8.3% last season. That was tied for 64th out of 80 receivers who had at least 50 targets.
“He has to get better at adjusting to footballs,” Bumpus said. “And there were clips that I saw from him catching footballs from Russell Wilson (in a recent training session) and it looks like he’s getting more nimble, if you can do that at his age and his size. It looks like he’s doing that, adjusting to the football and catching the tough ball over his head. If you had to point to a part of his game that he can improve on, that was it for me. And I think that’s where he can excel a bit.”
Listen to the full conversation with Bump and Stacy at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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The Seattle Mariners have been staring down a difficult decision for weeks now and it’s only getting closer as Bryce Miller nears the end of his rehab assignment.
Two factors Hyphen sees in Bryan Woo’s recent struggles
When Miller makes his return to the big league club, which is now less than two weeks away barring a setback, the Mariners will have six capable starters but only five rotation spots.
The assumption when Miller started the season on the injured list was that he would replace Emerson Hancock when he returned, but Hancock has been Seattle’s best starter thus far, posting a 2.59 ERA over seven starts while striking out batters at a career-best 28.9% clip.
Now it looks as if veteran Luis Castillo could be the top candidate to taken out of the rotation. In seven starts this season, the right-hander has produced a 6.29 ERA and minus-0.8 bWAR.
ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan weighed in on the possibility of Castillo being taken out of the starting rotation when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday.
“I think it all depends on where Luis Castillo’s frame of mind is,” Passan said. “If Luis Castillo is open to going to the bullpen, you consider that. And if he is not, then you take a look and see what his willingness to go on the injured list is. And if that’s not the case, then maybe you do consider a six-man rotation. I think there are just lots of different possibilities here.”
For Passan, what Castillo has done for the organization, which includes helping the team reach the playoffs twice, is also an important part of the equation.
“I think what also factors in is Luis Castillo has done this for a really long time at a really high level and been a really important part of the success that you’ve had organizationally, and I don’t take that lightly,” Passan said. “I think the way that you treat people who have done right by you and helped you get into the position (you’re in), they’re not disposable. So you can’t just say to Luis Castillo, you’re not performing right now, you’re going to the pen.
“Well, you could. I just don’t know how well that goes over and I don’t know what sort of precedent that sets for treatment of players going forward.”
Passan added that moving Castillo to the bullpen is the type of “cold” decision a contender has to make sometimes, but that having a productive Castillo is also key for the team.
“Having a productive Luis Castillo makes them much likelier to be a World Series team,” Passan said. “You can get rid of your manager and survive that. But knowing that Castillo has to be around still, you just need to be mindful of the way – not even the way that you’re treating him, because the way that you’re treating him is through your perspective. The question is, how does he feel like he’s being treated? That is imperative here, and if you can thread the needle and figure out a way to solve your problem while still keeping Luis Castillo content, then that’s the ideal (situation). That’s the goal, that is the aim of this whole thing. And it’s a very delicate and difficult subject.”
Castillo in line for positive regression?
While it has been a struggle for Castillo early on, Passan sees some reason to believe his numbers will level out with more starts. He pointed to Castillo’s 4.25 FIP, which is nearly identical to Bryan Woo’s and better than Logan Gilbert’s. However, he is concerned with Castillo’s career-low groundball rate.
“Ever since he’s come to Seattle, he’s been much more of a flyball pitcher. But he’s down to a 33% ground ball rate this year. Not good,” Passan said. “I will say this, the positive regression is going to come in the form of runners being stranded. He’s got a strand rate right now of only 58.8%, league average is somewhere in the 70-plus range.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
Seattle Mariners coverage
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The West Seattle Junction space formerly occupied by Willow, preceded by Fleurt, will not be empty for long. A familiar Junction fashion entrepreneur is moving into 4536 California SW – here’s the announcement:
Well-known West Seattle staple Carmilia’s announced today that it will open a new store in the Alaska Junction, offering everything from skincare products to fashion accessories. The new store, located at 4536 California Ave SW, formerly home to Fleurt and Willow, will do a soft opening on Art Walk Night, May 14, 2026. Carmilia’s owner, Linda Walsh, is at the helm of the project.
The store will be filled with all of Walsh’s favorite things: shoes, accessories, and gifts, at a variety of price points. It’s the perfect place to find unique and playful items for your next celebration or shopping spree. The store’s scheduled hours are Wednesday-Saturday 11 am-6 pm, and Sunday 10 am-4 pm.
Walsh told us she hasn’t yet settled on a name, so if you pass the future shop’s windows you will probably see “Watch This Space” as a placeholder!
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