Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham has been a hot topic this week, following last weekend’s one-catch, 11-yard performance against Green Bay. Graham was Seattle’s big offseason acquisition, but he has yet to revolutionize the Seahawks’ passing game the way many were expecting. Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was asked about Graham extensively on Wednesday.
There were rumblings following Sunday’s 27-17 loss at Green Bay that Graham was frustrated with his role in Seattle’s offense. Bevell said Graham was frustrated, but not because of his role.
“I think Jimmy’s frustrated,” Bevell said. “I think he’s frustrated that we’re 0-2, not frustrated that he’s not getting the ball. I have a great relationship with him. … We talked about it today, he just wants to win. He’s an ultimate competitor. If you say he’s frustrated, he’s frustrated that we’re 0-2, not that he only had one catch. Does he want to be involved in it? Sure he does. He wants to be involved because if he’s making plays, we’re being successful.”
Graham was targeted just twice in Sunday’s game by Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. So what happened?
“Well, there’s a lot of things that go into it, there’s plays where he’s targeted,” Bevell said. “There’s plays where he’s the primary target and the ball goes elsewhere. Guys do different things in coverage, the quarterback looks a different way, protection breaks down and can’t hang onto it long enough, so there’s so many things. I’m not just going to sit here and point out one thing. Is there an emphasis to try to get Jimmy the ball? We want Jimmy involved in our offense, there’s no question about it. We want him to make catches, we know that he’ll do great things for us. But there’s also other guys who do great things for us as well. … So it’s not something that you just go out there and force every ball to him, but we definitely want him to have more of an impact.”
Graham wasn’t asked to do much blocking during his years in New Orleans. However, he’s been asked to pick up more blocking responsibilities with the Seahawks, and that may have something to do with his reduced output as a receiver.
“We’re obviously trying to send him out, he’s a big part of the receiving game,” Bevell said. “But as a tight end, there’s times for strategic advantages and things that go on that you want to hold him in and get some better protection. So we did that a couple times. We don’t do it all the time, but we’re going to mix that up and try to keep the defense off balance.”
Does Graham have to do something himself to get more involved in the offense?
“I don’t think he needs to do anything,” Bevell said. “I think he needs to do his assignment right. He doesn’t have to change anything. He has to go out and do his assignment right, and he’s doing his assignment right. We just have to get better, and we just have to execute better all across the board, and all that stuff is going to take care of itself. There’s a growing process there. I don’t know what he had in the first game, five or six catches [six catches for 51 yards and a touchdown], then he had one. We’ve seen that before. Zach Miller had eight catches one game, then he has zero, and that’s not something we try to do, but sometimes that’s how the game goes.”
Graham’s slow start harkens back to the Percy Harvin experiment. The Seahawks paid a hefty price to acquire the fleet wide receiver, but things never clicked between Seattle and Harvin, and he was dispatched to the New York Jets midway through last season. However, Bevell said the situations are completely different between Graham and Harvin.
“Speaking specifically to Percy we were trying to do things obviously to incorporate Percy in, and I don’t think that Jimmy is in the same category as that,” Bevell said. “He’s a tight end, we’re able to plug him in and use him that way, and I think everything’s going to be fine. We don’t really have an issue getting him the ball.”
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