USA TODAY International Edition
GRAHAM GETS IT TOGETHER
New tight end learns the Seahawks’ way
RENTON, WASH. Any assessment of Jimmy Graham’s impact with the Seattle Seahawks should carry a couple of important caveats.
One: The Seahawks are a run- it team that threw the ball 205 fewer times than the New Orleans Saints did last season.
Two: Making the transition from pocket passer Drew Brees to escape artist Russell Wilson at quarterback is practically like learning to play a different sport.
“All my football’s been played one way,” Graham, the Pro Bowl tight end, told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve never really had another system or anything like that. For us ( in New Orleans), it was fifth step and the ball is out. You turn your head and the ball would be there.
“Here, for me, it’s something that you have to constantly work on — just reminding yourself that, after you break out of your route, sometimes that’s the beginning of the play and there’s going to be another five seconds of running.”
Graham, 28, wasn’t making excuses as he sat at his locker amid preparations for Sunday’s showdown with the Arizona Cardinals. He was just confirming some of the context that makes it easy to believe the big offseason pickup’s next eight games with Seattle will be more productive than his first eight.
Remember, Graham was a college basketball player who played just one year of football at Miami. He learned the game in New Orleans. And after the Seahawks acquired Graham in a March trade that involved a first- round draft pick, they needed to learn each other, too.
There have been signs of progress, dating to Graham’s eight-catch, 140- yard performance in an Oct. 18 loss to the Carolina Panthers — none better than a 45- yard catch against safety Roman Harper after Wilson broke the pocket and Graham turned up the sideline.
“I would say in my career with Drew, I scrambled once. Maybe. In a preseason game,” Graham said. “But that’s what ( Wilson’s) good at, and he’s extremely talented on extending the play, especially in big moments, third downs and whatnot. This team’s been special doing that, because it opens things up. That’s how they get these big, big plays.”
The Seahawks have rules about how receivers are supposed to work those situations, just to give them a starting point. From there, it can turn into backyard ball, which is all about feel between the quarterback and the players he’s trying to throw it to.
“You can see all of our guys do a really nice job of it,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said, “and then Jimmy comes in and he’s so used to the ball being like a quicker tempo that it’s like, ‘ OK, here’s what you need to do and here’s how you need to fit in.’”
It was around Week 4 that it started to click in games, Bevell said. For all of the scrutiny of Graham’s numbers, he now leads the Seahawks in catches ( 38) and yards ( 450) — ahead of his pace from 2014 in the latter category on a team that ranks 31st in pass attempts ( 234).
The next step is exploiting the mismatches Graham can create in the red zone, which was an area the Seahawks targeted for improvement during the bye week. In 78 regular- season games over five seasons with the Saints, Graham scored 51 touchdowns. In eight games here, he has two.
“People probably don’t want to hear it, but we have really skilled players at other positions as well,” Bevell said. “There’s the cat- and- mouse game of setting things up to get Jimmy open. Look at what happened last week in Dallas.”
The Cowboys defense jumped Graham on one in- cut, opening the seam for a big play to fellow tight end Luke Willson. Graham’s mere presence is capable of pushing teams that focus on stopping Marshawn Lynch to unload the box at times, too.
Graham is carrying about 265 pounds on his 6- 7 frame, which is 10 pounds lighter than he usually was in New Orleans — a conscious effort inspired by Tony Gonzalez to lighten the load on his joints.
He says he feels particularly fresh on Sundays because there’s so much less running in the Seahawks’ practices.
The Cardinals’ fondness for playing man coverage behind their blitzes sets up Sunday night as a potential breakout game for Graham, who says, “I know I’ll have my opportunity this week,” but emphasizes it’s about the overall productivity of an offense that hasn’t been as explosive as in past years so far.
“I haven’t really looked at numbers or anything like that. ( But) when the ball’s thrown my way, I want to make a play on it,” Graham said. “I want to be special for this team. I want to help this team win. Just the newness of everything — I see myself playing better.”