AP

When Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said this week that the solution to tight end Jimmy Graham’s woes is that Wilson has to “keep trying to find him,” it was an indication that Wilson wants to throw the ball to Graham more often. And that sounds, at first, like a good idea.

Graham has been targeted on only 27 passes this year, and his 21 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns this season put him on pace for 67 catches, 653 yards and six touchdowns over 16 games. All three of those would represent his lowest totals since his rookie year.

But the problems with Graham go beyond just not getting enough passes thrown his way. When Graham does get the ball, he’s not making the big plays he used to. Graham has never averaged less than 10 yards a catch, never had first downs on less than 60 percent of his catches and never scored a touchdown on less than 10 percent of his catches in any season of his career. But this year, Graham has career lows across the board: He’s averaging a career-low 9.7 yards a catch, gaining first downs on a career-low 52 percent of his catches and scoring touchdowns on a career-low 9.5 percent of his catches.

In Seattle’s offense, Graham just isn’t the big-play threat he was in New Orleans. In his four years as a starter for the Saints, Graham averaged 14.25 catches a year of 20 or more yards, and two catches a year of 40 or more yards. This year he has just three catches of 20 or more yards, and his longest catch went for 30 yards.

Wilson may want to try to get Graham the ball more, but considering that receivers Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse are both having good years, and rookie Tyler Lockett has shown a lot of potential, forcing the ball to Graham may not be such a good idea. What the Seahawks really need is for Graham to do more with the balls he gets, not to throw the ball to Graham more often.