Seahawks bye-week grades: How good are the receivers this season?
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks have a talented receiving group. The team is 3-2 going into the 2017 bye-week. How well have the receivers done to contribute to that record?
Receivers
I am including Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham in this group, of course. And Graham has, like Russell Wilson, had an interesting year. He did finally catch a red zone touchdown. Graham also let a pass go right through his paws that resulted in a Wilson interception. He is in the last year of his current Seahawks contract. Has he done enough to get another?
Wilson has targeted Graham 35 times in 2017, third in the league as far a tight ends go. Graham has 21 catches, tied for fourth in the NFL. The problem is that Graham only has 179 yards receiving, or 8.5 yards-per-catch, and one touchdown. Seattle needs better pass efficiency with Graham.
Doug Baldwin’s number are a lot like Graham’s. Baldwin has 39 targets this season and 27 catches. But he only has one touchdown and just 10.5 yards-per-reception. Most likely, Baldwin and Graham’s lack of yards and touchdowns has more to do with the offensive line and Wilson. The Seahawks simply are not explosive. Can this be blamed on these two players?
Paul Richardson is third on the Seahawks with 27 targets. But his connection with Wilson has only worked half the time. Richardson has 14 catches. He does have two touchdowns, though. I still think Richardson needs even more targets as his explosiveness is rivaled only by Tyler Lockett.
Richardson’s issue in the past is not running crisp routes. He doesn’t really appear to be doing much better in that regard this year. Many times he cuts off routes to early.
Lockett is still not 100 percent. That seems obvious. The reason I say this is because his kick and punt returns are less than thrilling now. He looks pedestrian, and this is not how Lockett should ever look. The receiver has 16 catches but needs more for Seattle’s offense to really be successful.
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Maybe this really falls back to the offensive line. Wilson doesn’t have time to get the ball to his speedy receivers. But if the Seahawks want to make the Super Bowl, the receiving numbers need to increase drastically.
Grade: C