Rookie Baldwin set to lead Seahawks in receiving
RENTON, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin could become the first undrafted player since the merger to lead his team in yards receiving as a rookie.
To Baldwin, it’s not good enough. The Seahawks aren’t going to the playoffs. To him, that’s all that matters.
“It’s kind of a disappointing year for me just because of the fact that we’re not in the playoffs when we had an opportunity to be in the playoffs,” Baldwin said.
The rookie out of Stanford signed with Seattle before training camp and quickly began to show that teams made a mistake in not taking him in the draft.
Baldwin scored a 55-yard touchdown in the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers and former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh and proved he was ready to be a major contributor for the Seahawks.
“From the first couple days he was on the practice field to the preseason to now going into game 16, he’s a rock-solid part of this team and we’re counting on him,” coach Pete Carroll said.
Baldwin has 48 catches for 748 yards and four touchdowns on the season. He’s excelled working as a slot receiver, with his knack for finding holes in zones and getting first downs.
His best game of the season came in a 30-13 win over the St. Louis Rams on Dec. 12. Baldwin had a 37-yard kickoff return, downed a punt inside the 5-yard line and caught seven passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Even with the season he’s had, he continues to focus on the catches he didn’t make and the games in which he didn’t play.
“For me, my focus is going to be looking at those games, particularly the Cleveland game where I didn’t have a catch, and finding ways to get better. Finding ways of why I didn’t have a catch,” Baldwin said. “This last game I had seven targets and only two catches and I know there’s things I can do to improve.”
After two seasons under Carroll, the Seahawks’ roster has finally started to take shape.
The front office has shuffled the roster constantly over Carroll’s first two seasons and the team has finally found a group of core young players that is signed and will be back with the team next season.
After a 2-6 start to the 2011 season, the Seahawks have won five of their past seven games. In its two losses, against Washington and San Francisco, Seattle held fourth-quarter leads, but was unable to hold on.
Seattle has found value in players such as Baldwin, fifth-round pick Richard Sherman and CFL castoff Brandon Browner. It’s something Baldwin and the Seahawks can build on for next season.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that most of these guys in this locker room are going to be returning and us having an opportunity to push for a playoff run next year,” Baldwin said.
Notes
WR Ben Obomanu (knee) practiced Friday and is expected to be able to play against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. … DT Anthony Hargrove (calf) and T Breno Giacomini (abdominal) are listed as questionable, but both fully participated in the team’s practice Friday. … Marshawn Lynch was fined $10,000 by the league for wearing shoes that had a graphic depicting Skittles on the side.