It's not often you hear about veteran players signing contracts the day before the NFL Draft. Usually it's after, when a team doesn't find what it's looking for during. But Tennesse's addition of Tyler Lockett makes some sense.
There's a 99 percent chance that the Titans will be drafting Miami passer Cameron Ward tonight, and probably at least a 75 percent chance he's their starting quarterback in Week 1. (Sorry, Will Levis, Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle.) And the guy is gonna need some help from a wide receiver who catches most passes thrown his way. Lockett has always been that, and it doesn't seem like Tennessee had one on the roster.
Fantasy-wise, Calvin Ridley is better. He's gone over 1,000 yards for three different teams since 2020, including the past two seasons for the Jaguars and Titans. Lockett the last two seasons has been under 900 yards in both, and had slipped to being Seattle's 3rd-best wideout last year. He'll be 33 in September.
But there's something to be said for being a reliable target, and Lockett has been that over his career. He has a catch rate of 71 percent over the past 10 seasons, and hasn't slipped too much in that regard as he's gotten older.
Over the past four seasons, Lockett has caught 68 percent of the passes thrown his way. That's 11th among the 40 wide receivers to see at least 300 targets in that time frame. Ridley grades out a little worse: last, catching just 55 percent.
| WR CATCH RATE, 2021-2024 (300-PLUS TARGETS) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Ctch% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | 570 | 430 | 4851 | 11.3 | 33 | 75.4 |
| Chris Godwin | 461 | 335 | 3726 | 11.1 | 15 | 72.7 |
| Adam Thielen | 401 | 288 | 3071 | 10.7 | 25 | 71.8 |
| Cooper Kupp | 484 | 346 | 4206 | 12.2 | 33 | 71.5 |
| DeVonta Smith | 441 | 308 | 4011 | 13.0 | 27 | 69.8 |
| Tyler Boyd | 331 | 231 | 2647 | 11.5 | 12 | 69.8 |
| Jaylen Waddle | 444 | 309 | 4129 | 13.4 | 20 | 69.6 |
| CeeDee Lamb | 609 | 422 | 5404 | 12.8 | 33 | 69.3 |
| Tyreek Hill | 623 | 430 | 5707 | 13.3 | 35 | 69.0 |
| Michael Pittman | 537 | 365 | 3967 | 10.9 | 17 | 68.0 |
| Tyler Lockett | 420 | 285 | 3702 | 13.0 | 24 | 67.9 |
| Ja'Marr Chase | 582 | 395 | 5425 | 13.7 | 46 | 67.9 |
| Keenan Allen | 517 | 350 | 3877 | 11.1 | 24 | 67.7 |
| Jakobi Meyers | 457 | 308 | 3504 | 11.4 | 20 | 67.4 |
| Stefon Diggs | 542 | 365 | 4333 | 11.9 | 32 | 67.3 |
| Justin Jefferson | 605 | 407 | 6032 | 14.8 | 33 | 67.3 |
| Brandon Aiyuk | 350 | 234 | 3557 | 15.2 | 20 | 66.9 |
| Christian Kirk | 368 | 245 | 3256 | 13.3 | 17 | 66.6 |
| Nico Collins | 334 | 218 | 3230 | 14.8 | 18 | 65.3 |
| Tee Higgins | 404 | 263 | 3687 | 14.0 | 28 | 65.1 |
| Jerry Jeudy | 388 | 249 | 3426 | 13.8 | 12 | 64.2 |
| A.J. Brown | 505 | 324 | 4900 | 15.1 | 30 | 64.2 |
| Chris Olave | 301 | 191 | 2565 | 13.4 | 10 | 63.5 |
| Deebo Samuel | 385 | 244 | 3599 | 14.8 | 18 | 63.4 |
| Terry McLaurin | 499 | 315 | 4342 | 13.8 | 27 | 63.1 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 377 | 237 | 2956 | 12.5 | 23 | 62.9 |
| D.J. Moore | 557 | 350 | 4375 | 12.5 | 25 | 62.8 |
| Brandin Cooks | 362 | 227 | 2652 | 11.7 | 20 | 62.7 |
| Drake London | 385 | 241 | 3042 | 12.6 | 15 | 62.6 |
| Mike Evans | 487 | 304 | 4418 | 14.5 | 44 | 62.4 |
| Davante Adams | 665 | 411 | 5276 | 12.8 | 41 | 61.8 |
| Courtland Sutton | 432 | 262 | 3458 | 13.2 | 22 | 60.6 |
| D.K. Metcalf | 497 | 297 | 4121 | 13.9 | 31 | 59.8 |
| Garrett Wilson | 469 | 279 | 3249 | 11.6 | 14 | 59.5 |
| Marquise Brown | 369 | 218 | 2382 | 10.9 | 13 | 59.1 |
| Diontae Johnson | 470 | 277 | 3135 | 11.3 | 16 | 58.9 |
| Darnell Mooney | 368 | 216 | 2954 | 13.7 | 12 | 58.7 |
| Amari Cooper | 449 | 262 | 3822 | 14.6 | 26 | 58.4 |
| Elijah Moore | 348 | 200 | 2162 | 10.8 | 9 | 57.5 |
| Calvin Ridley | 308 | 171 | 2314 | 13.5 | 14 | 55.5 |
Of course, catch rate isn't everything, nor is it all on the wide receiver. It's also dependent on the quarterback, and Ridley last year was working with scattershot Levis.
But he was catching balls from Matt Ryan and Trevor Lawrence the other years; those guys are OK. And while the kind of routes players are running are important, both Lockett and Ridley have been at 13-13.5 yards per catch in that timeframe. For his career, Ridley's drop rate is 5.3 percent; Lockett's is just a little over half that (2.9).
I don't know that Lockett will be a fantasy factor. But he's probably going to be Tennessee's No. 2 (contract is one year, $4 million, worth up to $6 million), and his presence in the lineup and on the field should be a plus for Ward. So, good signing by the Titans.
--Andy Richardson