Former Kansas State receiver Tyler Lockett views NFL Draft as a time to relax, celebrate
MANHATTAN – After four months of hard work, Tyler Lockett is ready to relax. At least for a day or two.
The former record-setting Kansas State receiver will get the opportunity starting Thursday when he settles in with family and friends to watch the NFL Draft. As a surefire selection, he is not worried about when his name gets called during the three-day event. He simply wants to kick back and live out a childhood dream.
“I am just excited,” Lockett said Tuesday. “When the week started, all I could think of was hurry up and be Thursday already.”
Another reason he wants time to move quickly: Curiosity for his watch party, which he had no role in planning.
“I can’t tell you where I will be watching the draft,” Lockett said. “All I can tell you is that I will be in Kansas City. My dad rented out a hotel somewhere. I don’t know what the hotel is called or what parts of it he rented. I don’t know anything about the whole deal.”
“My dad told me I did all the work to get in this position, so he would take care of everything else. I will gladly leave it to him. He has been there before.”
Indeed, Lockett’s father, Kevin, was a second-round pick in 1997. He should know how to throw a draft party. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him 47th overall, launching a seven-year pro career after he also graduated from K-State.
If there is any drama to be found this week, from Lockett’s perspective, it will be whether he can beat that number. After breaking every significant receiving and returning statistic at K-State, including his father’s, he is confident.
“I want to go before 47,” Lockett said. “My agent told me a couple months ago I was somewhere around there, and I have done everything I can to prove people wrong since then. So I will be watching Thursday with the expectation that there is a chance I go in the first round. But if I don’t, I will just wait until Friday. If I don’t go before 47, it’s not the end of the world, either. I have done everything I can.”
Lockett is comfortable with what he showed NFL scouts over the past four months, because he thinks he disproved criticism.
After catching 249 passes for 3,710 yards and 29 touchdowns, he was shocked to hear some experts label him as drop prone, because he mishandled a potential touchdown pass against Auburn and in the Alamo Bowl as a senior. So he went to the Senior Bowl and made one highlight-reel catch after another in practice.
He also had a hard time believing it when his agent told him some were calling him slow, coming off a college return career in which he totaled 2,684 yards and six touchdowns. So he went to the NFL combine and ran the 40 in 4.4 seconds.
“I had a couple of easy drops that 9.9 out of 10 times I make, and all of a sudden I can’t catch the ball?” Lockett said. “I had 106 catches as a senior. If you add up the throws between me and Jake (Waters), we had an 85-percent completion rate. Then to hear someone say I was slow.... I went out and proved to them I could catch the ball at the Senior Bowl, at the Combine and then again on pro day. I proved I could run. I did it it again and again.”
Most experts now project him to go in the first three rounds, and possibly help a team immediately as a slot receiver or a returner. He said he has received interest from 22 teams. He worked out for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts and visited the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chiefs scheduled visits, but canceled them because they had enough information on him already.
“Tyler will surprise some people when he gets there,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “Because more often than not, people are looking at the return element, but there is so much more there ... He will be competitive and he will work at it to be a team guy. He will go out and make everyone else better, and he will turn heads.”
The one critique Lockett couldn’t shake was his size. At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, he lacks the typical reach of a lead NFL receiver.
But there was nothing he could do about that. Nor is there anything he can do to alter his draft party.
He might as well kick back and relax.
“I’m just going to have fun watching,” Lockett said. “If I go Thursday, perfect. We can celebrate. But I won’t put too much pressure on myself. I don’t care when my name gets called. I am just happy that my name is going to get called.”
Reach Kellis Robinett at krobinett@wichitaeagle.com. Follow him on Twitter: @kellisrobinett.
K-State draft outlook
B.J. Finney, OL
6-4, 303, Andale
Analysis: A four-year starter for the Wildcats, Finney appears ready to take his game to the pros. Though the former walk-on played predominantly center at K-State, he could move to left guard or right guard in the NFL. That versatility, which he showed by playing three positions on K-State’s line, should make him an appealing plug-and-play prospect.
Projection: Fourth, fifth or sixth round.
Ryan Mueller, OLB
6-2, 245, Leawood
Analysis: His big junior year – 11 1/2 sacks – gave Mueller a shot a pro career, and he put up impressive numbers at his pro day. But he is changing positions from college defensive end to pro linebacker, and that’s not always an easy transition. Still, the All-Big 12 defensive end will get some looks.
Projection: Seventh round or free agent.
Jake Waters, QB
6-1, 210, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Analysis: A record-setting quarterback at K-State, Waters has the tools to make it in the NFL. And he probably would have been a late draft pick had he not required surgery on his throwing shoulder after his senior season. But with little opportunities to impress NFL scouts over the past four months, he may have to win over coaches as a free agent.
Projection: Seventh round or free agent.
Curry Sexton, WR
5-11, 183, Abilene
Analysis: A 1,000-yard senior season convinced Sexton to try and make a NFL roster. He has the skills and brains to make catches at the next level as a pro slot receiver. He should at least get invited to a training camp.
Projection: Free-agent signing.
Jonathan Truman, LB
5-11, 219, Kechi
Analysis: After leading K-State in tackles as a senior, Truman will try to take his fundamentally-sound game to the NFL. At 5-11, he lacks the size of typical pro linebackers, but the former walk-on should get an opportunity to prove himself at a camp.
Projection: Free-agent signing.
This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 9:46 AM with the headline "Former Kansas State receiver Tyler Lockett views NFL Draft as a time to relax, celebrate."