NFL’s most underrated: Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin
The Seattle Seahawks are certainly known for the Legion of Boom and Russell Wilson, but one player that doesn’t get near the credit he deserves is wide receiver Doug Baldwin.
In this part of our ‘most underrated’ series spanning the entire NFL and profiling one player from each team, Baldwin isn’t necessarily a guy that’s playing at a superstar level, unlike some of the players we might find here. He’s not going to go into free agency and command the kind of contract that Demaryius Thomas, Dez Bryant, or even Randall Cobb command.
As far as being underrated goes, Doug Baldwin probably should be underrated, but I think he deserves to be recognized for some of the incredible plays he’s made on the biggest stage, and the way he’s helped the Seahawks to consecutive NFC titles as well as a Super Bowl title in which he was an instrumental piece.
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Baldwin came into the NFL a relatively unknown, underwhelming receiver out of Stanford. In 2011, Pete Carroll and the Seattle scouting department dug really deep, and found this 5-10, 189 pound small receiver out of Jim Harbaugh’s program, one that would also produce star cornerback Richard Sherman (from Baldwin’s Stanford WR position group).
The 71st ranked wide receiver by NFL Draft Scout that year, Baldwin would have been considered a Rivals 2-star coming out of college and moving into the NFL. His senior season at Stanford with Andrew Luck proved to be a fruitful one, catching a team-leading 58 passes for 857 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Seahawks saw some of that playmaking skill translating to at least a training camp opportunity, and Baldwin turned it into a heck of a rookie season for an undrafted player playing one of the toughest positions in the NFL to learn. As a rookie, Baldwin caught 51 passes for 788 yards and four touchdowns.
Like I said, not bad at all for the rookie out of Stanford playing on the last non-playoff team and non-Russell Wilson led team the Seahawks would have. He was the first rookie to lead his team in receptions and receiving yards since 1960.
While he’s since earned a reputation for sort of an aggressive, angry style of play on the field, Baldwin is a really good route runner with quickness and solid deep speed, but he’s also a very good run blocker. He’s consistently graded out as one of Seattle’s top run blocking receivers the last few seasons, and that has helped — in a way — pave the way for Marshawn Lynch to run wild over the rest of the NFL.
In the Seahawks’ Super Bowl season of 2013, Baldwin finished with the highest cumulative grade of any receiver on the team between the regular season and the playoffs, racking up a +8.7 in the regular season and a +5.7 in the playoffs. Baldwin’s +5.7 in the playoffs was also the highest for any Seahawks offensive player.
He has consistently found a way to make big plays, though he’s never eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark in a season. His 825 yards last year are a career high, and his five touchdowns the year before that area also a career high.
However, he has caught a touchdown pass in each of the last two Super Bowls, and has been one of Seattle’s most important offensive players, proving he can make big plays down the field, in the slot, near the sideline, helping Russell Wilson out of a jam, and in the biggest possible spots you could ask a receiver to make a play.
This is an extremely underrated player, but it’s nothing Baldwin’s not used to. He’s almost due for a new contract, and with the Seahawks giving out so much money recently to defensive players, he might have to take a discount to stay around.
Especially if Russell Wilson gets the payday he’s asking for…
I don’t know that it would bother Baldwin all that much. He’s used to being overlooked, but at this point, he can’t be undervalued.