DK Metcalf Is Already One of NFL's Best WRs—and He's Getting Better

Great players show up in the biggest moments because they want the ball. This is true in any sport—whether LeBron James secures his fourth NBA championship or a 22-year-old wide receiver by the name of DK Metcalf snags the game-winning touchdown pass during a 27-26 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. 

Metcalf's latest prime-time performance showed he's ready to elevate his status into a completely different stratosphere. 

"It's unbelievable that Russell Wilson this week told us all that he thought DK Metcalf was going to be one of the greatest receivers of all time," NBC color analyst Cris Collinsworth said during the telecast after Metcalf secured the deciding score. "He said he wanted to be Joe Montana because he expects him to be Jerry Rice." 

Sure, six receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns look great on paper. But those numbers don't necessarily elicit talk of the greatest wide receivers in the game's storied history. 

But how and when he got them were worthy of comparisons to the game's greats.

Let's rewind for a moment because the Seahawks wouldn't have even been in a position to win the game if not for Wilson trusting his playmaker to come down with the football in an earlier do-or-die play.

On 4th-and-10 from Seattle's 23-yard line, the quarterback lofted a pass deep down the field, which Metcalf located and grabbed to keep the Seahawks' hopes for a 5-0 start alive. 

There's been a change to the Seahawks offense this season. A year ago, Tyler Lockett still served as Wilson's favorite option. Lockett drew 110 targets and led the team with 1,057 receiving yards. Granted, Metcalf was a rookie who still excelled in his first year. But a clear-cut delineation between the primary target in the offense didn't exist at the time. Now, it does. 

"When I said me and him can turn into Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, hopefully, we get to play that long. He's only 22. Think about that. For me, I mean his work ethic," Wilson said in a postgame interview on NBC. "He's old-school in his approach. We train offseason together one-on-one and spend so much time in the heat. ... He's still growing and I'm glad I get to be part of the process with him." 

The ball will go to Metcalf in tough situations, and Sunday's outcome shows exactly why. 

With the game on the line and the Seahawks in the red zone, Seattle had four shots at the end zone. Wilson and Lockett failed to connect on first down. The next three targets went to Metcalf. 

First, the second-year receiver appeared to have a touchdown catch, but Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes made a wonderful play on the ball to knock it loose. Wilson attempted a fade to the back pylon with the two unable to connect on third down. Metcalf worked through traffic and across the field on fourth down before coming open with Wilson finding him for the winning connection. 

"He made an unbelievable catch, tough and in traffic," the quarterback said. "I had to kind of shoot in there, and he did a great job making that play." 

Certain performers rack up plenty of stats but their overall impact is never truly felt, especially on bad teams. To achieve a higher standard, an individual must deliver when things matter the most. Metcalf has now entered that stage. 

From a macro point of view, the Seahawks' WR1 ranks second behind the Arizona Cardinals' DeAndre Hopkins with 496 receiving yards through five games. Technically, Metcalf should already be deemed an elite wide receiver. 

Yet the second-year target understands that he has a long way to go in his development and that his potential is unlimited. 

Physically, Metcalf can do everything asked of a receiver—besides run a fast three-cone drill. Though that's said in jest, concerns arose when the massive target didn't display outstanding change-of-direction skills at the NFL Scouting Combine.

According to Mockdraftable, Metcalf finished in the bottom 5 percent of professional wide receivers in both the three-cone and short shuttle. Basically, many looked at the Ole Miss product as receiver incapable of running a full route tree. 

At 6'3" and 228 pounds with a chiseled physique and 4.33-second 40-yard-dash speed, Metcalf is an impressive athlete. Yet the fluidity he showed during his time in Oxford was forgotten in favor of a small portion of his predraft workout, which led to the standout receiver falling all the way to the final selection of the 2019 draft's second round. Eight different wideouts heard their names called before Metcalf did.

The free fall was unexplainable then and remains so today. For the couple of negatives that could be brought up about the wide receiver's traits, one simple, yet vitally important, question seemed to be forgotten: What does Metcalf do well? He's a big receiver with the physical prowess to completely overwhelm defensive backs. When looking at it from that point of view, he's exactly what his college resume advertised. 

For example, the Vikings knew of the receiver's speed and tried to offset the potential mismatch only to see Metcalf eat up Minnesota's cushions and exploit a soft defensive approach, as NFL Next Gen Stats noted: 

When comparing Metcalf to the best the NFL has to offer right now, he's right behind Hopkins in overall production while being one of the rare few who stacks up with the Atlanta Falcons' Julio Jones when it comes to natural tools. 

"In my mind, I feel like I'm getting to that point," Metcalf told reporters when asked if he's already one of the league's best wide receivers. 

Of course, he is. More importantly, Metcalf is only going to get better as his route running continues to develop, he sees different approaches and becomes more comfortable finding the weak spots in coverage schemes. Wilson will be there leading the way and showing his receiver exactly what he needs to do to reach the lofty expectations already set forth. 

With the game on the line, the current leader in the MVP race knows exactly who he's looking for to make a big play. 

"The great ones want the ball in big situations," Metcalf told reporters. "I want to be considered one of the greatest."

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.