Jake Bobo, an undrafted rookie wide receiver, made the Seahawks’ 53-player roster after an impressive preseason. But fellow receiver DK Metcalf knew Bobo could play in the NFL well before the preseason.
In fact, Metcalf knew before he had ever even practiced with Bobo. Metcalf spent much of the offseason working out on his own, but he would watch practice film of the Seahawks’ Organized Team Activities to keep tabs on what the team was doing, and Bobo stood out then, too.
“At a position where I thought, speed kills, or speed wins everything. I was watching, I wasn’t here the whole OTAs. So, I will pull up my iPad and watch some of the competition periods of seven on seven. I’m seeing this white kid getting open every play. I called up Tyler [Lockett], I’m like, ‘who is this? Who is number 19?’ He said, ‘Oh, that’s Bobo man, he’s a tall receiver,’” Metcalf recalled, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of TheAthletic.com.
Metcalf said that when he did practice with Bobo, he was blown away by his work ethic.
“Then I got up here and I’ve seen the way he ran routes and the way he practices, he practices hard — harder than me,” Metcalf said. “Like he’s more detailed than I ever will be, and I use that as motivation to practice harder and make sure I’m honing into more details because he’s doing all the little things right. And you know, he’s reaping the benefits of it because he’s very consistent every time he lines up on the field. You have to know where 19 is, that’s just what I’m going to say off the rip. Watching him I’m very curious how he gets open every time. So, I asked him about his skip release, or I asked him about what do you see here or what do you see there. So I mean, he’s just a unique player in my opinion, who’s going to make a lot of noise.”
With Metcalf, Lockett and first-round rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks think they have a very talented trio of starting receivers. But no one should overlook the Seahawks’ other rookie receiver, Bobo, who may surprise some people with his contributions this year.
