Rashid Shaheed didn’t play top-level college football.
He didn’t get drafted into the NFL out of Weber State of the Big Sky Conference. “I knew I was going to get an opportunity, at some point,” he said. “I just didn’t know where.
“I just knew I had to be ready for the opportunity.”
The New Orleans Saints gave him one, in the spring of 2022. Shaheed scrapped his way onto the Saints’ roster that summer. In his first two seasons in the league, he went from rookie free agent to unlikely All-Pro wide receiver and kick returner.
Now the lightning bolt who can change preconceptions and games has become something he’d never before been in the NFL.
Sought.
On Tuesday, the Seahawks traded two draft choices to the Saints to get the 27-year-old Shaheed. On Wednesday, he arrived at Seattle’s team headquarters for the first time just before 9 a.m.
Less than four hours later, before his first practice with the Seahawks, Shaheed said this when asked about his contract ending at the end of this season and whether he’ll just worry about that then:
“No,” he said quickly, “I’m here to stay. I’m here to stay. I’m excited.
“We’ll figure something out after the season ends.”
So he already sees Seattle as his new home?
“Long-term, yeah,” he said. He smiled.
That also makes Klint Kubiak — plus Sam Darnold, Kenneth Walker and Mike Macdonald — smile.
Kubiak is the Seahawks offensive coordinator and play caller. He was that for Shaheed and the Saints last season. Kubiak knowing how the 2023 All-Pro wide receiver’s speed and deep route running changes defenses is one reason Macdonald, the head coach, and general manager John Schneider agreed to send New Orleans a fourth- plus a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft for Shaheed.
“Obviously has familiarity with Klint and our system,” Macdonald said. “So hopefully it’s expedited getting (him) up to speed.”
Asked if Shaheed will play Sunday when the Seahawks (6-2) attempt to stay in first place in the NFC West against the Arizona Cardinals (3-5) at Lumen Field, Macdonald laughed.
“I’d hope so,” the head coach said.
Shaheed said he’s “super excited” to be back with Kubiak.
And vice versa.
Last season, before Shaheed tore the meniscus in his knee and was done for the year after six games, Kubiak had him zooming deep down the field on long pass patterns. He averaged 24 yards per catch in each of New Orleans’ first two games of 2024. Those Saints scored 47 and 44 points in blowing out Carolina then Dallas to begin last season. This season, Shaheed ran almost 22 mph on an 87-yard touchdown catch and run against the New York Giants. He has two of the 10 fastest runs with the ball in the NFL this season.
“Being able to stretch the field vertically, it opened up a ton,” Shaheed said of Kubiak’s offense with New Orleans in 2024. “I feel like that’s why we had so much success going on at the start of last season.
“That was kind of the name of our game on offense last year.”
It’s why Kubiak, Macdonald and the Seahawks are seeking with Shaheed now in Seattle. They also seek a boost in the return game. Macdonald said Shaheed will do what he also did for the Saints, return kickoffs and punts for the Seahawks. But Macdonald also said rookie wide receiver Tory Horton will continue to be the team’s primary punt returner.
At least for now, that is.
Shaheed was talking with special-teams coach Jay Harbaugh at the start of practice Wednesday. Then he went back with Horton to field some of Michael Dickson’s punts. Loosening defenses stacked vs. Seattle’s run
The Seahawks have faced more “stacked boxes,” defenses bringing a safety and sometimes more for eight or more defenders near the line of scrimmage to defend the run, on 120 plays this season, per ESPN research. That’s the most times facing stacked boxes in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Kubiak has had lead back Kenneth Walker and the Seahawks running the ball 49% of the time. That’s the league’s highest run rate this season.
But all that running has been mostly into brick walls. The Seahawks are averaging just 3.7 yards per rush. That’s 31st in the 32-team league. Meanwhile, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been leading the league in yards receiving, running mostly intermediate routes behind those extra defenders nearer the line of scrimmage. Last year with Kubiak calling his plays with the Saints, Shaheed’s pass patterns averaged 17.6 yards from the line of scrimmage, on his 41 targets in six games.
By comparison, Smith-Njigba is averaging 12.5 yards per target this Seahawks season, his career high. Horton has been Seattle’s deep threat so far, averaging a team-leading 15.3 yards per target.
Veteran Cooper Kupp is at just 6.6 yards per target. The Seahawks signed the 32-year-old former Rams Super Bowl MVP this offseason to be their new number-two receiver. That was after the team traded DK Metcalf and released Tyler Lockett in March. Even without Shaheed for the first eight games, Darnold leads the NFL with 20 pass completions of 20-plus yards downfield, behind all those stacked boxes. He’s also first in completion rate on passes of more than 20 yards (71.4%). Smith-Njigba leads the league with 11 receptions gaining 20-plus yards this season.
And now the Seahawks have even faster, deeper-running Shaheed.
The idea of adding Shaheed includes making defenses pay for sending one of their two safeties close to the line of scrimmage to defend Seattle’s runs. Eventually, Kubiak seeks to force defenses to push a second safety back off the line to guard against Shaheed zooming deep at single-high safety coverages for big pass plays from Darnold. Removing an extra defender from the box should then make running the ball more worthwhile than 3.7 yards per rush.
Macdonald was asked multiple ways Wednesday if that’s the Seahawks’ plan with trading for Shaheed.
“Yes,” the head coach said.
“It’s tough to (be definitive). Different teams operate in different modes of operations and philosophies. We’re a shell defense (two safeties back deep) with single-high complements. That’s how we roll. A lot of teams are single-high with split-safety complements, based by situation and people you put on the field.”
Macdonald said “the great defenses” don’t junk what their philosophy if the team they are facing that week — in this case Arizona Sunday, or the Rams next week, against Shaheed now on the Seahawks — has a speedy receiver that runs more deep pass patterns. Seattle’s defensive architect and head coach uses a simile from baseball, a sport he played through high school.
“The great defenses have their fastballs, and they throw those,” Macdonald said. “And then they have their change-ups and curveballs off of it.”
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