RENTON, WA - While Ru sell Wilson cooked under center during the first half of the 2020 season, the star quarterback understandably received the majority of the acclaim as he lit up opponents with 28 touchdown pa ses in the first eight games.But behind the scenes, while receiving minimal recognition for his efforts, senior offensive a sistant Sanjay Lal played a crucial role in the succe s of Seattle's aerial attack. Tasked with coaching up receivers and helping develop offensive game plans, he helped bring out the best in superstars DK Metcalf Xavier Grimble Jersey and Tyler Lockett as well as rookie Freddie Swain to give Wilson one of the NFL's most potent receiving corps at his disposal.In those first eight games, under the tutelage of Lal, Metcalf posted 788 yards and eight touchdowns and Locked produced 615 yards and seven touchdowns, putting both receivers on pace to surpa s 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns. If that pace would have continued through 16 games, they would have become the first pair of teammates to accomplish such a feat in the same season.Despite setting a franchise record for points scored in a season, however, coach Pete Carroll decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer after a disappointing 30-20 wild card round lo s to the Rams put an ugly exclamation point on an otherwise excellent season. With Shane Waldron coming onboard as a replacement, Lal bolted out of town with Schottenheimer to take an a sistant coaching job with the Jaguars under Urban Meyer.Scroll to ContinueFast forwarding a year later, after Seattle's pa sing game took a major step backward in a 7-10 campaign and Jacksonville endured a train wreck with Meyer at the controls on the way to another No. 1 overall pick, Lal couldn't be more relieved T. J. Watt Jersey to find his way back to the Pacific Northwest for the 2022 season.Very privileged to come back, really," Lal told reporters after the Seahawks final open OTA se sion last Tuesday. "I thank coach Pete Carroll for the opportunity, especially after leaving. And then the first time I was here, there were a lot of connections made and it felt like home to come back. So it was a no-brainer if Pete was on the same page.In an offseason defined by transformation for the Seahawks, including the departure of Wilson in a blockbuster trade to the Broncos, the elevation of Clint Hurtt to defensive coordinator, and the hiring of defensive a sistants Sean Desai and Karl Scott, Lal's return has hovered under the radar. But given the current state of the team and his obvious impact two years ago, bringing him back may be the most important coaching move made by Carroll this spring.While Wilson and the Seahawks cooled off substantially in the second half of the 2020 season due to a myriad of factors, including schematic adjustments by opposing defenses towards more two-deep safety looks, Lal's receivers continued to play at a high level down the stretch. Metcalf broke Steve Largent's single-season record for receiving yardage, while Lockett became the first receiver in franchise history to hit 100 receptions in a season and Swain put together a solid rookie season as a sixth-round pick.With Lal relocating to Florida last fall, Metcalf and Lockett remained productive as expected, with the former scoring 12 touchdowns and the latter eclipsing 1,100 yards. But the effects of his departure could be seen on the field as opponents kept dialing up Cover 2, Cover 4, and other two-deep safety schemes.Although he couldn't tell reporters just yet what his defined roles will be as pa s game coordinator in his second stint in Seattle, he expects to be involved in game planning once again. Understanding how important it will be for skill players to be able to work themselves open against two-deep coverages - which he said have become "more prevalent Joe Haden Jersey in the league" over the past two years to erase star receivers on the outside - he hopes he will work with running backs and tight ends as well as receivers to ensure they all are running crisp routes, especially with either Drew Lock or Geno Smith under center.Aiding Lal's efforts, the Seahawks started to transition towards running more two-high looks last season and that trend should continue with Hurtt and Desai at the controls as former pupils of defensive guru Vic Fangio. As a result, he will be able to test his players on the field by requiring them to regularly identify such coverages several steps into their route, which should bode well for improvements against these looks on game day.Receivers have to be really good. Our defense holds their disguise really well. It's not even at the line of scrimmage," Lal explained. "It's three steps into the route. We do a lot of reading the triangle, the John Stallworth Jersey backer, the corner, and the safety and they have to get really adept at doing that on the run. A lot of conversions on routes, a lot of understanding of how the defense is trying to take a certain guy away, and then what that does to the other side of the field too.If there's another reason for optimism on this front, Lal already has an excellent working relationship with Metcalf, Lockett, and Swain from their lone season together in 2020.In particular, Lal gave Metcalf the ultimate compliment, calling him the "best receiver I've ever been around that took techniques from practice into the game." Elaborating, he revisited two of the former All-Pro's top plays from that record-setting season pitted against two Hall of Fame-caliber cornerbacks in Patrick Peterson and Stephon Gilmore, which our own Matty F. Brown ."If we ran a stutter-hinge versus Patrick Peterson, how it looked and walked through, how it looked in an individual period, how it looked in team is exactly how it looked against Arizona. You can look at the tape. I've actually made cut-ups of, here's how he did it here, and here's how it looked in the game," Lal explained. "The Stephon Gilmore V route, pylon route that he caught, we've got walkthrough reps of him running it exactly like that. He had to get a yard inside the hash. He had to get his eyes back for a count, otherwise Stephon would not undercut him. It's very rare for a receiver under dure s, under the lights to go do that in a game and he did it perfectly."You watch the clip, as soon as he touches the hash, his eyes come back inside, Steph goes underneath, and he puts his foot in the ground and goes over the top. Had it been one yard off that play wouldn't have worked. Even with all that precision, it was still a bang, bang play downfield. So he's the best I've seen at that.Po se sing rare physical skills at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, Metcalf already has proven himself to be a quick study and diligent worker, leading Lal to call him a "sponge" with no limits on his ceiling. A suming he Arthur Moats Jersey receives a new contract and doesn't hold out to begin training camp, he should continue to grow and develop as a route runner, especially against two-deep coverages that have caused major problems for the Seaha