The Seattle Seahawks made a move for wide receiver Rashid Shaheed at the perfect time, though probably unintentionally. General manager John Schneider wanted to improve his team, not fill a need. He might have done both.
Entering Week 10 against the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle will be missing Jake Bobo and Dareke Young, and rookie Tory Horton is doubtful. Cooper Kupp is questionable, though he did practice fully on Friday. Still, Seattle is likely down at least three receivers.
But being new to a team and immediately getting a lot of reps can be difficult. The advantage Shaheed has by joining the Seahawks is that he knows offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system because he played in it last year when both were with the New Orleans Saints.
Mike Macdonald says what every Seattle Seahawks fan is thinking about Rashid Shaheed
But will Shaheed be on a proverbial pitch count in game one with his new team? Maybe, but head coach Mike Macdonald said Seattle has a plan for the wide receiver. He also uttered what most Seattle Seahawks are thinking about the team's newest wideout.
Speaking with the media ahead of the Cardinals game, Macdonald said, "He's doing great, just keeps attacking it...We've got a plan for him, and I can't wait to see him play. He's done a great job."
Exactly. The coach thinks the same way fans do in one aspect: 12s cannot wait to see Rashid Shaheed in a Seahawks uniform. He is billed as an explosive player, and Seattle needs that. He could immediately provide some splash moves.
Judging the wide receiver's raw statistics is somewhat difficult. His quarterback play this year has been terrible with New Orleans, and last year, quarterback Derek Carr missed seven games. Now that he is receiving passes from Sam Darnold, Shaheed's numbers could greatly improve.
He will still yield to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in terms of targets, of course, because JSN isn't just the best receiver on Seattle's roster, but he's arguably the best receiver in the entire league currently. But Shaheed's presence might make Smith-Njigba even better.
At some point, Kupp is going to get back to appearing in games (possibly even in Week 10), and while Seattle doesn't use tons of three wide receiver sets anymore, when they do, having Kupp, JSN, and Shaheed on the field at one time is going to be a real problem for opposing defenses.