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Seahawks don’t miss Jimmy Graham one bit, are back on their game

By Todd Vandenberg

SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 23: Ed Dickson #84 of the Seattle Seahawks poses with teammates after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at CenturyLink Field on December 23, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 23: Ed Dickson #84 of the Seattle Seahawks poses with teammates after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at CenturyLink Field on December 23, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /
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Luke Willson in his Seahawks days
SEATTLE, WA – DECEMBER 17: Tight end Luke Willson #82 of the Seattle Seahawks reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams during the third quarter of the game at CenturyLink Field on December 17, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr /Getty Images) /

Graham was never the right fit for the Seahawks

Compare that to Graham’s output. Last year he had 57 catches and 10 touchdowns. Nice, except it took him 96 targets to get those stats. I know it isn’t fair to compare the entire Seahawks roster this year to just Graham, so I’ll add in Luke Willson and Vannett’s stats from 2017. Willson had 15 catches and four touchdowns – markedly more efficient than Graham, I’ll note. Willson was exactly the tight end Seattle needed, not Graham.

Nick Vannett added 12 catches and a score. At this point it should be clear that Vannett is a really good guy to have on the roster, but he’s not likely to ever be the main guy. And that’s okay. Overall, the tight ends had 84 catches and 15 touchdowns in 2017. Which is great, until you realize it took 133 targets to make that happen.

That’s 64 more plays than the tight ends have seen so far in 2018. Assume they’ll get another five targets against the Cardinals (their average so far), and it’s still about 60 plays difference. Those 60 plays have basically gone to the running backs. You may recall the Seahawks weren’t exactly the best running team over the last few years. This year they lead the NFL in rushing. A big part of that is the coaches no longer feel compelled to keep throwing to a $10 million tight end who drops way too many passes.

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