Jimmy Graham Emerges as Another Key Weapon for Drew Brees on Monday Night

Filed under: Saints, NFC South

ATLANTA -- Jimmy Graham, the Saints rookie tight end, is 6-foot-6. He is a former basketball player at the University of Miami. So it figures that the Saints might throw some jump balls to Graham in the end zone, you know, the fades to the corner and let him go up get it.

William Moore, the Falcons' safety, figured that, too. He was head up on Graham for a moment at the Atlanta 6-yard line with 3:28 to play Monday night. It was third-and-3. The Saints trailed 14-10.

At the moment before the snap, Moore scooted to his left. He was taking away the fade, trying to disrupt the timing.

It was a mistake. He gave away the inside. The play was a slant, a quick bullet from quarterback Drew Brees to Graham and it was an easy touchdown for the winning points in a 17-14 game.

"I've pretty much run all fades all year, he was kind of stepped outside and I gave him a little move," Graham said.

New Orleans called a timeout before the play and changed it to a call for Graham. It is a situation that might call for a veteran to catch that kind of pass, but the Saints went with the rookie.

They bunched three receivers to one side and split Graham right. He was far enough outside that Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon could not get into the path of the slant to help out Moore.

Graham had eight catches the first nine games of the season. He has 21 receptions the last six games.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/28/jimmy-graham-emerges-as-another-key-weapon-for-drew-brees-on-mon/

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