A year ago, the Seahawks were a mess at wide receiver. Paul Richardson was recovering from a torn ACL, Jermaine Kearse had played horribly in the two biggest games of the year, and Doug Baldwin had temporarily changed his name to Dookie. 

The Seahawks knew they had to get better at receiver, so they made two blockbuster trades — acquiring Jimmy Graham and Tyler Lockett.

Those two were just what Russell Wilson needed. Even though the offense struggled early in the season behind a poor offensive line and coaches who did not know how to use Graham (send him vertical!), the unit eventually took off.

Yes, they lost Graham to a torn patellar tendon in Week 12, but the stellar Lockett helped Baldwin and Kearse put together their best seasons.

Graham will spend this offseason recuperating and thus miss out on further developing rapport with Wilson until possibly September, but Richardson is back — already full speed as he works out with Wilson, Lockett and others in California. Kearse is back, too, on a three-year deal. And Baldwin is back for the final year of his old contract, pending a major extension.

Continue reading Receiving unit looks so much better a year later →