Back in August, Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said he wouldn't have any trouble making the most out of Jimmy Graham.
Talking about the Pro Bowl tight end acquired in a trade with New Orleans, Bevell noted that "the cool part about Jimmy is we can just plug him in," adding: "We really don't have to do anything special."
Easier said than done, with Graham catching just 18 passes heading into Week 5, sixth among tight ends and a far cry from the 32 grabs he had with the Saints after four games last season.
"It's always going to be a question for us, I know that," Bevell said this week, per The Seattle Times. "We're doing everything we can to try to get everybody involved in the offense. We want Jimmy to catch balls, I know you'll probably ask me that every week. We want him involved, we want him to catch balls, there's a lot of things that we ask him to do, whether it's catching, whether it's blocking, whether it's being a decoy. You can just go on and on, and we expect him to do it the best that he can."
Quarterback Russell Wilson has targeted Doug Baldwin more than Graham in the passing game, with Jimmy's 18 grabs just seven more than Seattle's tight ends had at this point in 2014.Â
The adjustment period is natural for an offense that still centers itself on the run and Wilson's ability to make plays with his feet. After acquiring a talent like Graham, though, the expectation was for a tweaked attack that would make endless use of his massive frame and playmaking gifts.
"There's a lot of things involved," Bevell argued. "There's times he's the number one guy, times he's the number three guy, times that we've got him on the far side, we don't even want him involved in it. We're moving the ball around. We're not just going to sit here and throw him 5,000 balls. He's in our thoughts."
Bevell is tired of being asked about Graham. Until the mammoth tight end looks at home, though, the questions will continue.
