Jimmy Graham doesn’t seem happy with his role in Seattle’s offense

AP

Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham caught one pass for 11 yards in Sunday night’s loss in Green Bay, and afterward he didn’t seem happy about it.

Graham avoided the media after the game, and Michael Silver of NFL Media, who tried and failed to get Graham to answer some questions, writes that Graham “clearly wasn’t thrilled.” Silver suspects that Graham didn’t want to talk to reporters because if he said what he really felt, he’d say something negative about what’s going on in Seattle’s offense.

After the Seahawks gave up a first-round draft pick and starting center Max Unger to acquire Graham in a trade with the Saints, it seemed that Seattle would make its passing game revolve around Graham. But in reality, Graham has been a non-factor. Through two games he has seven catches for 62 yards and one touchdown, putting him on pace to have his lowest statistical totals since his rookie year.

It’s only two games into the season and not time to overreact. Maybe Graham will turn things around and become the All-Pro in Seattle that he was in New Orleans. But so far, this trade isn’t looking like a great deal for the Seahawks.

128 responses to “Jimmy Graham doesn’t seem happy with his role in Seattle’s offense

  1. Graham was WIDE open for multiple TD grabs the first week. Wilson wasn’t looking his way. II don’t know about yesterday.

  2. it was strange how they didnt really target him that much. Maybe Hyde was doing such a good job covering he was never open, but you’d still think this guy could win a could of jump balls against a small db

  3. Wilson is a run first QB that has no idea how to run a structured offense. Harvin , Tate…all hated this offense. No surprise Graham feels the same way. Wilson is a just an RG3 shot to the knees way from financially crippling Seattle

  4. Wait are we abandoning ship on the Seahawks SuperBowl champs talk that everybody wanted to crown them with after the JG trade already?! Everybody knows Seahawks Offense isn’t meant to be high powered and Tight End Wilson is Russell Wilson security blanket. Also everyone knows Jimmy Graham doesn’t like blocking. You’re not in NO anymore brother!!!

  5. I thought the comment made during the telecast made a lot of sense. He is from a system where he had to be in a certain spot at a certain time (with Brees) and now he is in an offense where freelancing is part of the deal. He is being asked to do something he has never had to do before – though you would think Seattle would have thought of this before making the deal.

  6. Graham was WIDE open for multiple TD grabs the first week. Wilson wasn’t looking his way.

    ————–

    This is true as well. Saw him open a lot and instead Wilson threw it to Kearse or Baldwin.

  7. The guy has great hands but doesn’t like to get hit, only catches passes in traffic reluctantly and can’t block to save his life.

    This was a bad trade for both parties.

    The seahawks are still a very talented team but Carrol’s coaching flaws are starting to come through (yet) again and they have made some serious personal mistakes over the last couple of years.

    Their window is rapidly closing.

  8. The guy is a huge mismatch in the passing game, yet they don’t even throw it to him. On top of that, their Oline is bad and they traded their starting center for a guy they don’t use. They should trade him for an offensive lineman if they don’t plan on using him.

  9. The Seahawks need to pick up some blocking TEs and treat Graham more like a receiver. Why pay a guy that much and then get him to do the opposite of what he is good at. Makes no sense. Play to his strengths.

  10. He went from a team that threw 650 times a year with multiple offensive targets to a team that throw 400 times a year, whose targets are mostly just, well, offensive.

    What did he think was going to happen?

  11. When the Seahawks were 3-3 last year they were “done”…

    Long season…but I do hate bevelle. 3rd and 4 and he just hands it to Marshawn for 2? Smh

  12. He’s basically been a permanent decoy to this point. Not only is Wilson not throwing it to him but he doesn’t even seem to be the primary receiver in any of their plays.

  13. Graham Sucked last year too…he was only successfull with one of the best QB’s of all time Drew Brees in his prime playing at an elite level. Sadly Brees seems to have fallen off.

  14. Hated this trade from the beginning. Why would you add an $8 mill cap hit for a player who really doesn’t fit your system? Especially when you had so many new contracts coming up. Line misses Unger and there were some good players still on the board when Hawks first round pick came around.

    Graham’s hit go to 9 and 10 mil the next 2 years…what was JS thinking?

  15. Their offense reminds me so much of the old viking offense when Bevel was there. Boring. Run first. Not many designed down field plays. it wasn’t until Favre got to the vikings when things kicked in gear, because Favre took control of the offense. Wilson has taken control at times, but their offense is simply not designed for a big threat tight end. Bevel prefers blocking tightends.

  16. Hawks better shape up. I still want to see the most hated teams face off in the SB. Pats vs Hawks.

    The rivalry between the Hawks and the Packers is getting nasty. It was really tense last night. I guess the Hawks haven’t figured out how to use their new super weapon.

  17. I wish I had a job that pays me millions and they don’t use me for anything. Seriously it’s 2 games Jimmy. Give it a chance.

  18. Said over and over they weren’t going to use him right and that he was on the wrong team for his skill set….nobody listened. Pete is making the same mistake he made with Harvin.

  19. From the sounds of stuff coming from the players, Kam Chancellor holding out was the only problem they had. How are they going to use this to prove that him holding out makes their offense look like it’s running in concrete?

    Also, like many of you, I’m totally baffled about how little they are using Jimmy Graham. You bring in someone like that and then don’t use him? It’s not like they have Calvin or Julio Jones playing WR for them. Graham is probably their best receiver. Their offense has been underwhelming. That team is on the verge of an implosion.

  20. And…getting Bevell a player like Graham is like giving a high performance sports car to a blind man

  21. “But so far, this trade isn’t looking like a great deal for the Seahawks.”

    It’s not looking too swift for the Saints either. They just lost to the crummiest team in football, at home, and are just as 0-2 as the Seahawks are.

  22. Stiller43 says:
    Sep 21, 2015 11:51 AM
    He’s gone from playing with Drew Brees to Russell Wilson…that will happen.

    ————————————————————

    Right because Drew Brees and the Saints look phenomenal this year? No doubt Jimmy is better off in Seattle, much better team overall. He’s simply frustrated after a loss.

  23. Or maybe Silver’s making something out of nothing. Maybe JG just had a headache, or didn’t feel like talking to Silver, as hard as that may be to imagine. When all else fails, take the divide and conquer route!

  24. Hey, if you fleece your team you need to be prepared for this possible outcome.

    The Saints ended up having to play ball with Graham’s salary demands and they found themselves cap-strapped. The solution was to ship him out and get whatever value they could for him. Too bad that he’s unhappy, but he’s under contract.

  25. Just a team fixated on paychecks and personal glory. Pete has lost control……just like every other team he lingered too long on. Seattle reminds of the greatest show on Turf Rams…so much talent but couldn’t handled getting popped in the nose by the World Champion Patriots. Once that happens….implosion. It was a nice two year run but it is over.

  26. I’m tired of receivers complaining about getting the ball – they should try taking snaps and understanding what the QB sees and deals with before demanding the ball.

  27. LOL…I avoided him like the plague in my drafts. I knew he would not be the threat he was with Brees but I did think with Wilson’s floating passes, he had a chance at winning a few jump balls, I was wrong.

    Couldn’t happen to a classier team or fanbase.

  28. “Wilson is a just an RG3 shot to the knees way from financially crippling Seattle”

    Except Wilson is a bit smarter and actually slides from what I’ve seen instead of taking the hits to the news that RGFragileEgo took.

  29. More important than how Graham feels about Seattle and their offence my question is why on earth do you give up a first round a pick and a starting caliber Center for a player you do not either need or embrace?

    Much is said about how great the team draft and pick up players but this pick up is a total head scratcher to me.

  30. I can’t believe that Bevell’s name keeps getting mentioned for head coaching jobs. This guy seems clueless right now… He makes the stupidest play call in Super Bowl history and then tries to make up for it last week and now he seems to have forgotten his 6’7” receiving target. I agree with what Marshawn’s mom has said.

  31. People, they got him so they can make their pick/slant passes in the Super Bowl and not be knocked sideways by a defenseman 10% smaller. Seems pretty obvious to me.

    In the meantime, Graham, cash those checks and find a candy tie-in.

  32. Maybe both teams can have a do over with that trade, the Saints sure aren’t any better for it.

  33. Wasn’t there an article from training camp where the Seahawks coaches were quoted as saying something like, “the great thing about Jimmy is that you can just plug him into our offense and go”?

  34. Jimmy, its math….

    Wilson 2014
    300+yd games= 2
    250-300yd games= 2
    200-250yd games= 5
    LESS than 200yd games= 7
    217ypg avg

    Brees 2014
    300+yd games= 8
    250-300yd games= 6
    200-250yd games= 2
    LESS than 200yd games= ZERO
    310ypg avg

    And in 2014 Brees didn’t target Graham nearly as much as he did in previous years

    And somehow Wilson is making more money than Brees…. who would have thunk that up

  35. This is the only trade I can think of right off the bat where not only did neither team “win” the trade, but it looks like both teams “lost” the trade.

    I honestly can’t recall such a scenario ever happening before, but my memory isn’t the best.

  36. God told Wilson not to throw to Graham. You have to listen to the big Guy. Give Jimmy some of that holy water!

  37. I forgot Seahawks gave a 1st round pick on top. What were they thinking? That one play in the Superbowl has clearly had an rippling effect on them.

  38. Funny, everyone and their mother talked about the role of the TE in Seattle’s offense after the trade. Somehow Jimmy didn’t get in on those conversations. Now he’s surprised. Too bad nobody told him he’d be a TE not a WR, as he has often seen himself.

  39. What’s funny is that out of all the players involved in this trade, it’s not Jimmy Graham or Max Unger that looks like the best player – it’s Stephone Anthony.

  40. He’s a receiver, not a proto-typical blocking tight end. Wasted a pick on him for sure and won’t be able to afford him soon anyway.

  41. You buy American Pharoah, turn him into a plow horse, and can’t understand why he’s unhappy. If you wanted a plow horse, you could have gotten one far cheaper.
    And if you’re American Pharoah, you don’t sign up as a plowhorse and think they’ll still let you run races.
    Graham is what he is, the Hawks are who they are, and they never should have gotten together. Y’all are like a woman who marries a playa and expects him to happily change into a 9 to 5 stay at home and mow the lawn kind of guy, while the playa thinks the woman is going to still let him play…
    Just stupid… and blackman510 is right, he looks just as happy and productive as Moss did in silver and black. Predictably so… and oh yeah, I and a whole lot of others did just that, the day the move was made.
    Just stupid on all parts.

  42. I don’t know about last week, but yesterday it looked like Hyde had him blanketed the whole game. Not sure how much of that was Hyde playing great or Graham playing poorly..

  43. Let’s see … Drew Brees – a pure pocket passer, in which Graham will light it up with gaudy numbers. Russell Wilson – a wishbone bootlegger with half the plays to run, in which Graham can be factored in. Not exactly rocket science here. Put Gronk on a team without a pocket passer and the same thing will happen.

  44. Two words- Darelle Bevell. He is the weak link on this team. I was worried when we got Graham he would get lost in the mix.

    Two targets all game. He was never flexed out once in the 1st half and maybe once in the whole game. Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin can beat man coverage if given the chance. But hope just keep running the ball directly into blitzes and bubble screens that never work.

    Any other team Bevell would be fired after the Super Bowl. These two games were pathetic calls on offense. He is holding this team back.

  45. Remember when clueless NFL fans and fantasy statboys were saying Graham was better than Gronk? LOL…………..good times.

  46. Graham was supposed to be a monster in the red zone for the Hawks. Graham looks like he’s getting open or he has good positioning.

    Russell Wilson can’t find him in red zones situations.

    After what we learned this summer, is anyone surprised that Russell Wilson can’t pull the trigger?

  47. Kind of a silly story. I would be more upset if Jimmy was “just fine” with a one-catch effort. Of course he’s not happy. He’s a professional NFL-er.

  48. I feel for Graham. Still not sure why NO trade him exactly though they did get a decent deal. Then not sure why Seattle gave up so much for him to not use him. It isn’t like they have a strong receiver corps to begin with.

    But I have to say, I did predict last February, the day after the SB, that the Seahawks wouldn’t make the playoffs this year and listed the actual reasons – internal strife and poor management being the primary ones. We’ll see how it turns out, I guess.

  49. redrew says:
    Sep 21, 2015 11:58 AMWilson is a run first QB that has no idea how to run a structured offense. Harvin , Tate…all hated this offense. No surprise Graham feels the same way. Wilson is a just an RG3 shot to the knees way from financially crippling Seattle
    ************************************
    Wait a minute redrew, RW isn’t calling his own plays here so don’t get him confused with Jim Kelley’s Bills and the “K-Gun” ! he’s running the plays that are called that may or may not have an option. Let’s not get down on him just yet, but the OC needs to get his act together. In my wildest dreams I would never have expected Graham to be so underutilized , if that’s going the be the case here on out then why in the heck trade for the man???

  50. docsmith54 says:
    Sep 21, 2015 11:57 AM
    Yep, and yapping will get you more throws. Dumb jock.
    =====================

    He did not comment to the press after the game.

  51. People saying Wilson is the problem like he designed the offense and calls the plays are extremely stupid. The problem isn’t Wilson or Graham. The problem, as others who actually have a clue have said, is Darrell Bevell. He has no idea how to use a weapon when he gets one. Sure, Harvin was a head case and a cancer, but he’s a dynamic player and Bevell had no idea what to do with him. Graham has proven that he’s a great pass catching tight end and is a real weapon. But Bevell is married to his boring and predictable offense of almost nothing but bubble screens that NEVER work or running the read option when literally everybody on earth knows what’s coming. When they finally got away from that last night, the offense finally opened up and started moving the ball and putting points on the board.

    Nobody knows what kind of a leash Wilson has in changing plays, but as a fan, I can only hope that he starts to take over at some point like Brett Favre had to do with Bevell. Bevell just has no idea how to use the weapons he has.

  52. captainwhodat says:
    Sep 21, 2015 3:18 PM

    confused: don’t understand why the Aint’s traded him; don’t understand why the Sea Hags under utilize him…
    ===

    Win-win for 30 franchises.

  53. Lynch not happy
    Bennett not happy
    Irvin not happy
    Graham not happy
    Chancellor not happy

    Pete will not take blame for anything and throws players under the bus. Half the team think RW is a squid. The turmoil has just started.

  54. You mean just like how they didn’t know how to use Percy “Jet Sweep” Harvin? Surprise, surprise! It seems like most of their offensive production for the receivers comes from guys freelancing once Wilson evades a sack and creates time, rather than the play calling.

  55. He was an odd fit in their offense to begin with …. They need a complete TE up there, gotta be able to block. Weak TE class probable forced the trade but they are wasting him unless your gonna have him do those things that make him special.

  56. Anyone knows if you watch the Seahawks and Russell Wilson enough that he is not the kind of QB to go into a game and say I’m going to go to this WR or TE this many times in the game. He’s not a good enough passer to have a “go to” WR/TE. He gets rattled in the pocket and loves to scramble… scrambling makes it hard to execute a game plan for a specific WR/TE

    Whoever is open when he leaves the pocket is who he is going to throw too. It works for now because he has a ton of defensive talent around him to keep games close..I don’t see it working for the long term.

  57. Someone told me Jimmy Graham is better than Gronk. I laughed at them for 5 minutes. 5 straight minutes. Then I went, refilled my drink and kept on laughing.

    Jimmy Graham should seriously consider representing Pillsbury. He’s that soft. Although, he would face problems from Julius Thomas is just as soft.

    To get a $9.0 million tight end, pay your tier 2 QB $21.5 million, not draft an OL with your first pick, fail to go after Jake Long or any OL in the supplemental draft is asking for trouble.

    Looks like the 12th man is figuring out what everyone else said about the Hawks. They have an amazing D and equally amazing back, but OL isn’t an issue to overlook.

  58. God thinks Graham is over rated and deserved to play on the same offense as his over rated QB. I know this cuzz Russel told me God said so.

  59. It’s not the trade that’s the issue. It’s Seattle’s coaching and system. They have shown to be inflexible and not the kind of down field aerial attack that Graham was a huge part of in New Orleans.

  60. Graham’s crapoy attitude about not getting WR status and playing like a dead flunk all last year got him outed. DA.

  61. Yes I agree I have heard him on Fox once say I wish I was back in New Orleans and he would do better there as there is too many Chiefs in Seattle and not enough regular people.. Send Him back to New Orleans

  62. “Silver SUSPECTS that Graham didn’t want to talk to reporters because if he said what he really felt, he’d say something negative about what’s going on in Seattle’s offense.”

    It couldn’t be that he just lost the game and was emotional.. there couldn’t be any other possible explanation? This is not news.

  63. Not to be a cynic, but this reminds me of having to cater the offense to Harvin when we did. Can’t do that just to make them happy. We may be dealing with the ‘too many stars on one team’ syndrome. Stay tuned.

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