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Tyler Lockett's outrageously efficient 2018 season: Behind the numbers

Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports

Tyler Lockett might be the NFL's most underused superstar.

Though traditional box score statistics reveal that the Seattle Seahawks' wide receiver broke out in 2018 with 57 receptions for 965 yards and 10 touchdowns, those stats fail to capture the full ridiculousness of his season.

Let's start here: Lockett was arguably the most productive receiver in the NFL from an efficiency standpoint. His 13.8 yards per target not only led all players with at least 50 targets, but it was more than two yards better the next-best player in the category (Mike Evans at 11.0) and was light years ahead of other elite receivers such as Tyreek Hill (10.8), Julio Jones (9.9), DeAndre Hopkins (9.6) and Michael Thomas (9.6), per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Lockett's 81.4% catch rate is impressive enough on its own (No. 2 among WRs with 50 targets), but the context of it is preposterous. Thomas, the leader in the category at 85%, attempted to catch passes that averaged 7.7 yards downfield. Lockett's averaged 13.5 yards downfield.