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Started By
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USA today gets the Graham trade...
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:27 am
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:27 am
LINK
Winners:
New Orleans Saints
Losing Jimmy Graham might look like a step backwards for the Saints offense, but it could end up being a net positive. Drew Brees is at his most effective when he has to climb the pocket and drive the ball; but with mediocre interior line play, there was no room to do so last season. Acquiring Unger should remedy that. The Saints also picked up a first round pick in the deal, which can be used to find Graham’s replacement. Michigan’s Devin Funchess, a talented receiver who could make the switch to tight end, could be that guy.
Losers:
Jimmy Graham
Graham just went from a future Hall of Fame quarterback and one of the most creative offensive minds to a run-first team with a quarterback who operates best out of structure. There will be games where Graham doesn’t get the targets he’s used to, and that will take a toll on his stats.
Marshawn Lynch
With the Graham trade, the Seahawks continued their transition from a Lynch-centric attack to an offense built around Wilson. Graham is a weak run blocker, and Unger’s importance in Seattle’s zone running game cannot be overstated. Lynch can operate without a lot of space, but his degree of difficulty will be raised considerably in 2015.
Wait and See:
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks landed the best player in the Graham-Unger deal but took on a lot of risk to do so. Graham has been constantly injured and may be a bad fit in Seattle’s locker room given his past feuds with Michael Bennett and Bruce Irvin. He also comes with a large cap hit and will cost the Seahawks a first round pick. The last time the Seahawks made a similar move, it didn’t work out so great. Just ask Percy Harvin.
Drew Brees
Brees should have a cleaner pocket to work with in 2015, which should result in marked improvement for the Saints downfield passing game. Brees missed on a lot of deep opportunities because of poor protection, but many of those downfield shots were directed at Graham, who is now gone. But don’t forget: The Saints were lighting up scoreboards well before Graham arrived in New Orleans.
Winners:
New Orleans Saints
Losing Jimmy Graham might look like a step backwards for the Saints offense, but it could end up being a net positive. Drew Brees is at his most effective when he has to climb the pocket and drive the ball; but with mediocre interior line play, there was no room to do so last season. Acquiring Unger should remedy that. The Saints also picked up a first round pick in the deal, which can be used to find Graham’s replacement. Michigan’s Devin Funchess, a talented receiver who could make the switch to tight end, could be that guy.
Losers:
Jimmy Graham
Graham just went from a future Hall of Fame quarterback and one of the most creative offensive minds to a run-first team with a quarterback who operates best out of structure. There will be games where Graham doesn’t get the targets he’s used to, and that will take a toll on his stats.
Marshawn Lynch
With the Graham trade, the Seahawks continued their transition from a Lynch-centric attack to an offense built around Wilson. Graham is a weak run blocker, and Unger’s importance in Seattle’s zone running game cannot be overstated. Lynch can operate without a lot of space, but his degree of difficulty will be raised considerably in 2015.
Wait and See:
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks landed the best player in the Graham-Unger deal but took on a lot of risk to do so. Graham has been constantly injured and may be a bad fit in Seattle’s locker room given his past feuds with Michael Bennett and Bruce Irvin. He also comes with a large cap hit and will cost the Seahawks a first round pick. The last time the Seahawks made a similar move, it didn’t work out so great. Just ask Percy Harvin.
Drew Brees
Brees should have a cleaner pocket to work with in 2015, which should result in marked improvement for the Saints downfield passing game. Brees missed on a lot of deep opportunities because of poor protection, but many of those downfield shots were directed at Graham, who is now gone. But don’t forget: The Saints were lighting up scoreboards well before Graham arrived in New Orleans.
This post was edited on 3/11/15 at 10:34 am
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:32 am to adamb2151
quote:
Graham is a weak run blocker, and Unger’s importance in Seattle’s zone running game cannot be overstated.
USA Today must be the only ones that watch Saint's games.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:35 am to adamb2151
They actually hit every aspect of the trade.
Both sides won and lost. Great analysis.
Both sides won and lost. Great analysis.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:37 am to adamb2151
That's the most spot on analysis I've seen since this happened.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:38 am to adamb2151
X-ray tech needs to read this.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:41 am to adamb2151
I get that we needed cap relief for future flexibility and all but what I dont get is why we didn't go after maybe lets a top tier CB or some of the other better centers than Unger in this trade. Wisniewski is still ava. in FA and is better than Unger, the eagles center Kelce is younger and better than Unger and they've obviously shown they'll take practically whatever lol. Why not take a younger solid developing corner and 2 years worth of 1st rounders which would give you the same cap relief and then you bring in Wisniewski?
Big picture: When you look at teams such as ourselves giving away 7 rounds worth of pick for players like Ricky Williams, Julio, etc and we just traded potentially the top TE in nfl history for a pretty good center [top 10] and the 32nd pick. It's over and done with now but Jesus we could have hit a homerun here
Big picture: When you look at teams such as ourselves giving away 7 rounds worth of pick for players like Ricky Williams, Julio, etc and we just traded potentially the top TE in nfl history for a pretty good center [top 10] and the 32nd pick. It's over and done with now but Jesus we could have hit a homerun here
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:43 am to adamb2151
They seem to have forgotten Graham was the best receiver on the team. Drew may now have a cleaner pocket but he no longer has a matchup nightmare he can rely on.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:49 am to adamb2151
quote:
They actually hit every aspect of the trade. Both sides won and lost. Great analysis.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 10:58 am to adamb2151
quote:
But don’t forget: The Saints were lighting up scoreboards well before Graham arrived in New Orleans.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 11:05 am to adamb2151
I love this article and I love you for posting it. Hell, we should move in together.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 11:06 am to adamb2151
quote:
The Saints were lighting up scoreboards well before Graham arrived in New Orleans.
Exactly. Good TE's are great and great TE's are even better, but I've never know a great TE to be the linchpin of a Super Bowl Champ. Good offensive lines make everyone on the offense better. Give me a great QB, a very good OL and a good front 7 on defense, and everything else will fall into place.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 11:42 am to adamb2151
They nailed just about everything. I think this will be a win for Brees though, and most likely the seahawks as well. Graham definitely lost and for the trade to be worth it Lynch is going to have to lose carries.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 11:58 am to adamb2151
quote:
But don’t forget: The Saints were lighting up scoreboards well before Graham arrived in New Orleans.
do people not realize that those guys are gone? and the ones that remain (Colston) are on their last legs? Those guys have been slowly but surely washed out, and Jimmy Graham was the bridge that kept the offense ticking.
Henderson- got old
Meachem- failure
Nick Toon- failure
Moore- got old
Reggie- traded
Sproles- traded
Pierre- released
we've lost a ton of guys, and as 2013 showed, what we had left started to slow up big time. Jimmy Graham was the bridge. We a bunch of moves to make to be back in position to where we were pre-Graham.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 12:22 pm to adamb2151
There's hope for us all...reporting facts is not dead.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 12:25 pm to adamb2151
quote:
The Saints were lighting up scoreboards well before Graham arrived in New Orleans.
thread
Posted on 3/11/15 at 1:46 pm to adamb2151
Absolutely spot on.
The article also fails to mention that Graham was often injured and reportedly becoming a locker room titty baby. Those two factors alone make him expendable.
The article also fails to mention that Graham was often injured and reportedly becoming a locker room titty baby. Those two factors alone make him expendable.
Posted on 3/11/15 at 1:49 pm to adamb2151
comparing percy to grahm is pretty damn stupid even in a down yr grahm was better then percy's best lol
seattle just got a monster wr/te for a the 31st pick i think they came out awesome
seattle just got a monster wr/te for a the 31st pick i think they came out awesome
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