Jimmy Graham "Barely Practiced" during the week before games

[Siouxhawk]

That's flat out wrong. I don't think Bevell was the main problem or the one deserving the most blame. I think the health of Wilson and the offensive line were far and away the biggest issues. You can also give credit the coaching staff and still be objective. We're not talking in terms of infallibility here. Everyone, including Bevell can do better, to say otherwise borders on delusion.

OK, my apology austin, you are not as harsh as others on this topic.

Yeah, you ask a good question and I think the biggest thing Bevell and Carl Smith can do leading into next year is convince Russ that he has to believe he can make those throws into tighter windows in the red zone and to anticipate when the break is coming so that the ball will be presented before the defender can react.

As we all know, Jimmy is going to usually be in tight coverage. But his assets are his height, girth, jumping ability and good hands. He only needs a crumb of space to win those battles and if Russ can have the ball in a catchable spot when he looks for it, we'll have a nice combination there.

 

[Ozzy]

No worries. The internet makes this stuff hard sometimes lol.

I do agree at least in part. I do want to see Russ trust Jimmy more. I think Graham getting back to 100%, possibly an upgrade on the line and Wilson taking a few more chances will definitely help a ton.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'd like to not only see him trust Jimmy more, but for them to actually make play calls for him. Imagine that.
And maybe him trusting Butterfingers Kearse a little LESS :2thumbs:

 

[Siouxhawk]

I'm sure you'll see Jimmy being hugely productive in our offense next year. Not Saints numbers, but hugely productive nonetheless.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I'm sure you'll see Jimmy being hugely productive in our offense next year. Not Saints numbers, but hugely productive nonetheless.

He was this year, almost 1,000 yards............in this crap offense with a terrible line and gimpy QB.

But it's Graham to some people? huh wat.

 

[mistaowen]

Overall I'd like to see his targets per game go up. He definitely had a few big games to help those numbers. Still he put up pro bowl stats.

My hope is they spend a lot of time this off season developing a new red zone game plan. It's an area he can dominate and I think it needs some polish. Russ needs to develop trust to make tough throws and I think they should focus on scheming jimmy into favorable match ups.

 

[Siouxhawk]

I'm sure you'll see Jimmy being hugely productive in our offense next year. Not Saints numbers, but hugely productive nonetheless.

He was this year, almost 1,000 yards............in this crap offense with a terrible line and gimpy QB.

But it's Graham to some people? huh wat.

I agree Sgt. And I'm probably in the minority on this, but I was glad he took on the role of being a blocker ... and did it quite well in Pete's estimation. I like a guy who's willing to sacrifice individual glory for the good of the team. Plus it makes him multi-dimensional and keeps the defense guessing if he's going to block or go out for a pass.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I'm sure you'll see Jimmy being hugely productive in our offense next year. Not Saints numbers, but hugely productive nonetheless.

He was this year, almost 1,000 yards............in this crap offense with a terrible line and gimpy QB.

But it's Graham to some people? huh wat.

I agree Sgt. And I'm probably in the minority on this, but I was glad he took on the role of being a blocker ... and did it quite well in Pete's estimation. I like a guy who's willing to sacrifice individual glory for the good of the team. Plus it makes him multi-dimensional and keeps the defense guessing if he's going to block or go out for a pass.

I have ZERO issues with Graham.

Of course I want more RZ targets and TD's, but that's not even on him. Russell either misses him, didn't see him or has ZERO time for the play to develop...........or teams do what teams have always done with Graham, bracket and double/triple team him in the RZ cause we have a bunch of midgets for WR's that can't pull away double coverage.

So if you want to free up Graham, get the hell rid of Kearse and get a real flanker/split end. Someone who's tall and also a load in the RZ to pull away coverage from Graham.

 

[brimsalabim]

I just hope Russell is healthy enough to work with Jimmy now that he can go full tilt again.

 

[captSE]

Jimmy was great at the beginning of the season. Then ... the olilne needed him to stop the bleeding. Then ... nobody realized what it did to Jimmy's flow as a receiving tight end. Then ... we can all talk hind sight.

 

[Hawks46]

It seems like the Jimmy Graham thread quickly evolved into a Darrell Bevell thread.

I'm no Bevell fan, but I have to stick up with him somewhat with regard to his play calling. Russell's injuries, our horrendous offensive line play, especially at tackle, the weak spot of our weak spot, where the tight end is frequently called upon to support, and a lack of a consistent running game, all conspired to limit play calling.

For example, split Graham out as was mentioned above and you can't count on Russell having anymore than 3 seconds to get rid of the ball, especially those times when his knee injury was affecting his mobility. That limits what kind of pass patterns our receivers can run.

Another example. With Russell injured, the read option, or at least him keeping on the read, was not respected by defenses. For the past 4 years, the read option and variants off the read has been one of our primary bread and butter plays that had to be scratched until the last few weeks of the season.

Play calling with this offense is a little like putting lace around a bowling ball.

I agree with both of your points about play action and read option. Problem is, the last half of 2015 our OL was bad and we went to a quick hitting passing game that just tore teams up. We ran out of spread formations more often and used the pass to open up the run. We have a history of being successful in getting the ball out of Russ's hands more quickly.

The one thing I'd disagree with you about is splitting Graham out wide, especially in the red zone. Using the divisional playoff round as an example, we split Graham out wide. He had Keanu Neal on him, one of the better young safeties in the game. Neal never had a chance. Splitting Graham out wide enables him to use his body right away. You don't need time for that to develop. it's a bang-bang play. Getting the ball out of Russ's hands in under 2 seconds negates poor OL protection and pass rush. We should know, teams did it to us a lot this season to negate our pass rush.

How about lining up Graham as the Y, then motioning him out wide ? Now you get to see how the defense adjusts, and you know what coverage they're in. This helps Russ, as deep in the red zone, things get condensed and you can disguise coverages easier.

The entire point is that Graham is the ultimate Red Zone weapon. He's traditionally one of the very best in the league. We don't utilize him correctly. The only apples to apples comparison here is that Graham was correctly used by one of the better offensive minds in the NFL. He came here and wasn't used correctly.