BROCK AND SALK

Trent Dilfer: Jimmy Graham doesn’t fit with Seahawks’ offensive identity

Nov 19, 2015, 1:26 PM | Updated: 2:37 pm

Trent Dilfer believes Seattle has an “identity crisis” by trying to fit Jimmy Graham in...

Trent Dilfer believes Seattle has an "identity crisis" by trying to fit Jimmy Graham into its system. (AP)

(AP)

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Russell Wilson hasn’t played well, the running game is stagnant and the offensive line has holes. And from the perspective of ESPN NFL analyst and former Seahawks quarterback Trent Dilfer, each of those issues stem from one source: The Jimmy Graham trade.

“I would say the Jimmy Graham trade forced their hands to try to evolve into this system that is not best for the rest of their personnel,” Dilfer told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” on Thursday.

Dilfer said Seattle has been less inclined to run the ball this season because of Jimmy Graham’s continued issues with blocking. The result is that the typically power-running team can’t play to the identity that led it to back-to-back Super Bowls.

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“You can’t (run) it with Jimmy Graham on the field,” said Dilfer, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens. “I can’t think of a team in the NFL, I can’t think of a team in recent memory that’s been a dominant run team without an in-line blocking tight end.”

Dilfer said an in-line tight end who can set an edge, work double teams, block down on defensive ends and continue blocking to the second level of defenders is a key to Seattle’s zone run-blocking schemes.

“You don’t have to dominate, but you have to be willing, physical – you have to have great effort,” Dilfer said.

Dilfer said Graham still works in certain personnel groupings, mainly with one running back, two tight ends and two receivers.

“Well, even in that personnel group you still have to have some willingness to block,” he said. “Jimmy can’t and he doesn’t really have the willingness to do it.”

Brock Huard said Graham seems to be working hard and making the blocks during practice, but Dilfer said it’s not showing up on game film – whether it’s a matter of fatigue, flexibility or otherwise, he doesn’t know for sure.

“If I had 15 objective pro football people watch the game tape, they’d all say the same thing: he doesn’t have the willingness or want-to to get involved in the run game,” Dilfer said.

“I don’t think he has a lot of power in his body,” he added. “I think he is a long, lean, fast guy with obviously exceptional ball skills. He doesn’t show a lot of power in his game. There’s not a lot of punch. There’s not a lot of explosion from the ground when you watch his game, especially in the run game. So yeah, he’ll put his arms out, he’ll engage a guy at times, but that guy will typically throw him around or disengage.”

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Dilfer said the Seahawks are stuck in “an identity crisis” because their offense is typically led by a stubborn run game, but they can’t do so effectively right now.

“Ever since Pete Carroll started coaching football he’s had an offense with a stubborn run game to protect his defense,” he said. “That’s how they want to play football. But they’ve learned this year that it’s nearly impossible to do if Jimmy Graham is playing (in certain roles).”

Dilfer said Graham does not create a ton of separation, meaning he can run certain routes split out as a receiver – slants and hitches – but “you can’t run the breadth of your route tree because he’s not going to be a big separation receiver.”

“He’s not a tight end,” Dilfer said. “I feel like I’m ripping Jimmy Graham all the time, and I’m really not because in New Orleans, he wasn’t a tight end.”

The offensive system change has forced Wilson into a pass-first role that doesn’t best suit his skills and isn’t best for a patchwork offensive line that has struggled in pass-protection.

“We’re in a reality in the NFL now where you can’t pay everybody, so their choice… was to not pay the offensive line,” Dilfer said. “So if you’re going to have JAGS – just another guy – playing on the offensive line – which is fine, a lot of teams are doing it, a lot of teams are having success doing it – if that’s the philosophy, then your system needs to protect those guys. So by making the Jimmy Graham trade you’re in an identity crisis because now the other 10 aren’t playing the type of system that they would thrive most in.”

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Trent Dilfer: Jimmy Graham doesn’t fit with Seahawks’ offensive identity