The Seahawks signed an undrafted free agent wide receiver out of Stanford last season, a time after the Draft and shortly after the lockout ended, and they lured him to Seattle with a handwritten note from GM John Schneider and a sizable signing bonus. Any given rookie free agent has a pretty slim chance of making a team's roster and sometimes the best they can hope for is to stick around on the practice squad for a season or two and wait for a shot.
In 2011, that Stanford undrafted free agent, Doug Baldwin, not only broke into the Seahawks' 53-man roster, he ended up being the team's most dependable wide receiver. Clare Farnsworth put together a pretty interesting article over at Seahawks.com's blog that breaks down each Seahawk receiver's production and efficiency over the season, and not surprisingly, Baldwin was one of the top producers in terms of efficiency. As Seahawks' receivers coach Kippy Brown puts it - "To me, it's just about production. It's when you have an opportunity; do you take advantage of it and make the play?"
Doug had 51 receptions on 85 targets over the season, meaning he made a catch 60% of the time the ball was thrown his way. Not bad for a guy that didn't get drafted.
Two receivers bested that percentage, as Farnsworth shares. Ben Obomanu's numbers were 37 catches on 61 targets, a .602 catch rate and he averaged 11.8 yards per catch. Second-year wide receiver Golden Tate caught 35 passes on 58 targets, for a .603 catch rate, and had a 15.1-yard average per reception.
Also per that article, "two others were "better than average" - tight end Zach Miller (.568, 25 of 44) and wide receiver Sidney Rice (.561, 32 of 57). Each was signed in free agency last year and more is expected from each in 2012."
Interesting numbers.