Rookie D’Wayne Eskridge's Return Brings Exciting Dynamic to Seahawks' Offense

Second-round pick D’Wayne Eskridge is back for the Seattle Seahawks after missing nearly three weeks with a toe injury. Seattle activated the Western Michigan product off the PUP list, and he figures to factor into the team’s offense in a major way. 

“He’s in incredible shape,” head coach Pete Carroll said of Eskridge after practice on Tuesday. “We really waited a long time to get him to the point where he would demonstrate that he could pound it with his breaks and bursts and full speed efforts and stuff like that. So now it’s all the learning stuff that he hasn’t been able to do by being on the field so I don’t know how long it’s gonna take putting all of that together.”

Eskridge will have a major role for Seattle as the team’s No. 3 receiver behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. 

Last season, Seattle saw its offense, and Russell Wilson, fade fast after a hot start because of a lack of weapons on the outside. While both Metcalf and Lockett surpassed 1,000 receiving yards, no other Seattle receiver topped 420 yards on the season. 

Eskridge, who has blazing speed, could open up the field for Seattle in its first year under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Allowing more space for Metcalf and Lockett to operate, while also taking away double teams, will be key for the Seahawks to succeed in 2021. 

“We all think that he should be ready and raring to go by the opener. We’re not concerned about that time frame,” Carroll said of Eskridge. “It’s whether or not he can make it to this game in a couple weeks that, you know, we’d love for him to get some play-time to get started. I don’t know that that can happen. And we’re not going to press that.

“We did see him enough to see what he could do (in OTAs), you know, and he teased the heck out of us with his early showing and so we’ve been really waiting. Shane (Waldron)’s got a real good plan for him and how we’re going to incorporate him. Like I said, we’re not gonna overload him but we’re going to try to get him involved and that will happen. Well we’ll get that done.”

WynnBET has the Seahawks at +2500 to be the NFL’s highest-scoring team this season, which is tied for 14th on the odds list. Eskridge, who has a lot of competition with rookie wideouts, is +6600 to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award, but if he carves out a legit role for himself, it’s possible he finds himself in the conversation among this draft class’s best receivers.

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