Waldron Watch: Bring on the tight ends

The Seattle Seahawks are doing a lot of things this year that we haven’t seen them do for essentially an entire decade, and almost none of these things are good. Losing streaks, juggling quarterbacks due to injury, losing veterans to the cliff that appears to have swallowed up Carlos Dunlap and Duane Brown while faintly beckoning to even the seemingly immortal Bobby Wagner. However, even in the toughest of times, some moments of optimism may shine through. One particular instance of positivity has arrived in the form of a free agent who decided to call Seattle his home in 2021, as well as the rejuvenated health of a player who is in the midst of his fourth season as a Seahawk.

Of course I am referring to Seattle’s talented duo of tight ends. Free agent acquisition Gerald Everett has pretty clearly made an emphatic case for Seattle’s best offseason pickup, and while Will Dissly hasn’t reached the Icarian heights that he approached in his first and second season, he is settling nicely into his role on this team. I’m going to keep Waldron Watch short this week, as I have little desire to wax misanthropic while Seattle’s offense waxes myopic. So without further adieu, let us turn our heads to the wonderful work of Parker Lewes, who breaks down Gerald Everett and Will Dissly’s performance over the previous two weeks.

During these last two weeks, Gerald Everett has caught 11 of 12 targets — including 8 for 8 against Green Bay — for a total of 100 yards on the dot. While he hasn’t found the End Zone since Week 1, he continues to provide stability and represents one of the more significant changes that I have seen the Seahawks make to their offense under Waldron; look at the first play in the montage above for an example of this. Everett motions from the right side of the line to behind the formation and runs a swing route towards the left sideline out of 11-personell. Easy completions that allow Gerald the space to utilize his impressive physical and athletic tools can be money for a squad with an ailing quarterback (or any squad for that matter). Similarly, while Will Dissly is operating with a small volume, his three catches over the last two weeks have netted him 38 yards and two first downs. Even second year player Colby Parkinson got to see some action, although he has yet to make a significant impact in his young career thus far.

Here is where it gets really telling: in the last two weeks, Russell Wilson has managed to throw for 17 first downs. Of these, 8 have gone to either Gerald Everett or Will Dissly, who have 6 and 2, respectively. Having accounted for nearly half of the passing plays that have resulted in moving the chains seems to be a relatively clear indication to me that whatever this team is doing when they target their tight ends is working... so maybe they should try to do more of it.

The moral of this story is that the Seahawks aren’t utilizing the talents of their talented tight ends on a consistent enough basis, but they are largely successful when they do. And in a season that is shaping up like this one, that could make all the difference. Somehow, incredibly, Seattle is still in reasonable contention for a Wild Card spot right now.

If they want to lay claim to that spot and make a late season run, they are going to need to find some consistency on the offensive side of the ball, to say the least. While they have more than a few leaky holes to patch, they can start bailing some water out of this sinking ship by looking to the leadership of their veteran tight ends. And if nothing else, we will at least get to have the opportunity to see Uncle Will bust out that patented stiff arm a few more times if all goes right.