Seahawks new TE has impressive resume
By Dan Viens
The Seattle Seahawks have signed TE Chase Coffman to take Jimmy Graham’s roster spot.
On the surface, new Seahawks TE Chase Coffman might look like a journeyman. After all, he’s 29 years old and Seattle will be his fourth NFL team. His “best” year came in 2014 when he caught……..SIX passes for the Tennessee Titans.
But dig a little deeper and you’ll find a player who possess unique physical skills for the position and was remarkably productive in college. He’s 6’6″ and around 250 pounds. NFL.com noted his “rare size potential for the position” in Coffman’s draft profile. In his final year as a Tiger, with Chase Daniel throwing to him, Coffman won the John Mackey Award after catching 90 passes for 987 yards and 10 TD’s. He was drafted in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was injured early in his rookie year and never really got a chance to show what he could do with the Bengals. He bounced around from Tampa Bay to Atlanta before landing with the Titans prior to the 2014 season.
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That’s where it gets interesting. He’s looked outstanding in the last two preseasons, but wasn’t helped by coaching changes or the QB changes in Tennessee. And then there was an incident during a game against Baltimore in 2014. After Zach Mettenberger threw an interception on a pass intended for him, Coffman threw a Ravens assistant coach to the ground. You can see the footage here, along with FOX’s Jay Glazer’s commentary where he calls it the “cheap shot of the year.” Coffman was fined $30,000 by the NFL for the incident.
As a player, Coffman offers some upside. Although he doesn’t have the straight line speed of Graham or Luke Willson, he’s known for his outstanding hands and route-running ability…. AND he has a reputation of being a solid blocker as well.
Pete Carroll indicated today that his may be a guy who serves as more than just a little-used 3rd-stringer.
Carroll on addition of Chase Coffman: "We've had our eye on him for awhile in case we needed someone."
— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) December 2, 2015
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Despite similar physical skills, don’t expect Coffman to suddenly fill the void left by Jimmy Graham. Willson will no doubt become the primary TE target in the passing game. But there may be an opportunity for Coffman to push Cooper Helfet as the second option at that position. He’s bigger, stronger, and might be a better blocker than Helfet.
As far as mid-season signings of street free agents goes, this looks like a move that has more potential to have an impact than most.