Often times in life, when one question is answered another one arises. New Orleans Saints fans have often asked the question “Will the Saints use Jimmy Graham in the red zone?” all season when the fan-favorite pass-catcher was idling on the bench as a healthy scratch while their offense was failing to end drives with touchdowns.
And over the past two weeks, Graham has been successful enough inside the 20-yard line to create a new question: “Why isn’t he used more often?” Graham played a lot of snaps early in the season when Juwan Johnson was injured (including a staggering 42 of them against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4) but he was asked to work as a run blocker (73 snaps), not a pass catcher (61 snaps), more often than not.
Graham’s success rate in his specialty role as a red zone scoring threat is ridiculous. On the season, he has 4 catches for 3 touchdowns and an additional first down.
Why not expand the role? Graham could be used not just as a red zone specialist but as a weapon on third downs, too. No one should expect him to turn back the clock a decade, but he’s shown enough in a limited capacity to draw more targets. That expansion could help a struggling passing attack that finds itself low on weapons.
