The Seattle Seahawks loved what they saw from Rashid Shaheed in limited action last season. Despite not being involved in the offense as much as he contributed to special teams, they liked him enough to write him a fat check this offseason.
With a three-year, $51 million contract, expectations were much higher ahead of the season opener vs. the New England Patriots. Likewise, that's also why he might be a victim of recency bias after his no-show.
However, as easy as it is to sound off the alarms after watching him be a non-factor, context matters, and the fact of the matter is that circumstances weren't helpful. It's way too early, and he should be just fine.
Rashid Shaheed should do a lot for the Seattle Seahawks
Let's begin by stating the obvious. With all due respect to him, and as much as he should get his flowers after the win, there's a big difference between having Sam Darnold run the offense and having Drew Lock warm up and take the field.
Darnold's presence changes everything. The playbook is wide open, the vertical game is a real threat, and he had some solid connections with Shaheed last season. Having him ride the pine is obviously a big downgrade for the passing game; that's pretty much self-explanatory.
Brian Fleury was calling plays for the first time in his career, and it showed. There was some sloppy execution; the play was late a couple of times, and there were some miscues typical of someone just learning the ropes of the job. That should also be better.
Shaheed finished the game with one catch on three targets for a grand total of four receiving yards. He also had three kicks returned for 80 yards and one punt returned for nine yards. That's probably as bad as it gets for a player who was expected to move past Cooper Kupp in the pecking order.
Still, we should also give credit where it's due. Even in the one series Darnold played, their defense was smothering and physical, and all Seahawks pass catchers not named Jaxon Smith-Njigba struggled in this one. As for special teams, they also did a solid job of giving the Seahawks a long field and staying close to Shaheed to prevent his big returns.
Week 1 often leads to overreactions, both good and bad, and most of the time, the truth is somewhere in between. It's hard to blame Shaheed for this disappointing first game of the campaign, given the circumstances.
Of course, he won't get the benefit of the doubt every week, and whoever is behind center will benefit from getting him involved and using his mesmerizing speed. But for now at least, we ought to cut him some slack. Seahawks won; everything else is secondary.
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