It didn't take long for new Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham to warm up to a Seattle attack that unabashedly puts the ground game first.
"That's why I'm excited to be a part of it," Graham said this week, per The Seattle Times. "No. 1, with maybe multiple tight end sets, that's gonna just open it up. These last couple of years for me, playing against guys who aren't concerned about the run at all. They know I will try to do a double move and run this go route. It makes it more difficult. So this will just make my job easier when it comes to the passing game."
Graham averaged 138 targets per year during his past four seasons in New Orleans, where the three-time Pro Bowler was the favorite target of quarterback Drew Brees. Seeing routine double coverage, Graham relied on his dominant 6-foot-7 frame to win matchups.Â
"I know I'm probably not going to get targeted 130 times," Graham said of his new team. "But that's not my concern; I just want to win games. And I know there will be times -- big moments in a game -- where I'm going to have to go out there and make a play. That's what I'm focusing on."
With Seattle already drawing up plays to highlight Graham's gifts, early reports from OTAs suggest that the former basketball player has been "unstoppable" in practice, per Scout.com's Rob Rang.
"It's really cool," play-caller Darrell Bevell said of having Graham on the roster. "We missed him a couple of days when he had to go down south (for a funeral). But it's good to see him out here. You could see him show up in the ways that we're hoping he's going to be able to. It's really cool. The sky's the limit for us right now."
Around The NFL scribes routinely ranked Seattle first or second in our recent offseason NFL power rankings. The team has retained its own stars, injected youth and traded for one of the league's bona fide game-changers in Graham. Seahawks fans: You're in for another wild ride.
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