Seattle Seahawks: Why Jimmy Graham will be missed

Jimmy Graham did not perform as well as he was expected to with the Seattle Seahawks, but he was still a great contributor on the offense.

Jimmy Graham did not perform as well as a member of the Seattle Seahawks as the team expected when they traded for him in what was supposed to be a huge deal that would revolutionize their offense. While he never replicated the success he had with the New Orleans Saints, Graham still meant a lot to the Seahawks offense.

Now he has signed a three year deal worth roughly $30 million with the Green Bay Packers and is leaving the Seahawks with a lot of offensive production they need to replace.

In his three years with his second team, Graham recorded 170 receptions, 2,048 receiving yards, and 18 touchdowns. He also made the Pro Bowl in his last two years in Seattle. 2016 was his most successful campaign with the Seahawks, when he caught 65 passes for 923 yards and six touchdowns.

Those numbers are down from his time in New Orleans where he averaged 60.9 receiving yards per game. He got just 47.6 in Seattle. To be fair, Luke Willson, who started for the team in 2014, the year before Graham arrived, averaged just 24.1 receiving yards per game.

Graham really didn’t offer much in terms of blocking. Despite being listed at 6-7 and weighing 265 pounds, he is better suited for being lined up like a receiver rather than a classic tight end. But that’s one of the things that makes Graham so attractive to teams. Not his inability to block, but rather his freakish size and ability to play like a receiver.

Cornerbacks can’t guard him because of his size and linebackers have trouble keeping up with him as he ducks in and out of routes. Even his physical presence alone is enough to draw one of the defense’s best players and that opens holes for other pass catchers or for run plays.

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Why the Seahawks will miss Graham the most is that they just don’t have a player on their roster who can replace him. Both he and Willson left the team in free agency, and now Ed Dickson, Nick Vannett, and Will Dissly have to replace their production, which seems unlikely. Any offense will suffer some setbacks and struggles when they lose a player as good as Graham, now the Seahawks have to find a way to deal with it.