The Seattle Seahawks have yet to feature tight end Jimmy Graham this season. It's a fact not lost on Graham, who was said to be "frustrated" with his use, according to reports from earlier this season, or fantasy owners who likely expected quite a bit more output from the athletic Graham to this point. Still, Graham's limited production isn't likely to continue for the long haul, as his mediocre output to date hasn't been lost on Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell either.
"We want Jimmy to catch balls, I know you'll probably ask me that every week," Bevell said recently, via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. "We want him involved, we want him to catch balls, there's a lot of things that we ask him to do, whether it's catching, whether it's blocking, whether it's being a decoy. You can just go on and on, and we expect him to do it the best that he can."
A season after posting 85 receptions for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns - what could rightly be considered a good season for most of the league's wide receivers, but was actually only a middling performance by Graham's lofty standards - with the New Orleans Saints, Graham was shipped to the Hawks and immediately presumed to be the salve that would cure whatever ails had caused the Seattle passing game woes.
Unfortunately, four weeks into the 2015 NFL season, Graham's best game has been a seven reception, one touchdown performance against the hapless Chicago Bears in late Sept. He's been nothing close to the game-breaking weapon he was in New Orleans and somehow has been targeted less than wide receiver Doug Baldwin by Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
Of course, the entire Seattle offense has been bogged down this year, thanks in part to an offensive line that has surrendered 18 sacks already and would have likely given up plenty more were it not for Wilson's escapability. Still, they're on pace to log 72 quarterback takedowns, which would be five more than the franchise record and only four less than the NFL record set in 2002 by the Houston Texans.
Free rushers or no though, Wilson has to find a way to get a weapon like Graham the ball. If the Seahawks are going to get back to being an elite team, they'll need production from an offense that's been wholly mediocre to this point in order to create balance for a Seahawks defense that is rounding into form after safety Kam Chancellor's return.
That's on Wilson and it's on Bevell. Graham certainly can't get the ball to himself.
"There's a lot of things involved," Bevell argued, per Condotta. "There's times he's the number one guy, times he's the number three guy, times that we've got him on the far side, we don't even want him involved in it. We're moving the ball around. We're not just going to sit here and throw him 5,000 balls. He's in our thoughts."
