The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the biggest disappointments early this season, stumbling to a 2-3 start.
While their defense has been lagging — not entirely surprising since Kam Chancellor held out for all of preseason and the first two weeks — their offense has been surprisingly lackluster.
Injuries have affected the slow start on offense, but part of their sluggishness has been a result of the blockbuster trade they made for Jimmy Graham over the offseason.
A lot of focus has been placed on the acquisition of Graham, but it is easy to forget that the Seahawks quietly paid a big price for Graham, trading Pro Bowl-center Max Unger and a 2015 first-round draft pick.
Graham was expected to fix the Seahawks' biggest weakness by becoming a dynamic target for Russell Wilson, but instead has gotten off to a slow start, with just 204 receiving yards and two touchdowns through five games.
Maybe more importantly, the Seahawks have dearly missed Unger. According to Football Outsiders, the Seahawks' offensive line is dead last in pass protection, with a 12% adjusted sack rate (sacks plus intentional groundings per pass attempt adjusted for down, distance, and opponent) and 22 sacks on the year. Last season, the Seahawks were slightly better, ranking 24th in pass protection, with an 8.7% adjusted sack rate and 42 sacks allowed.
The Seahawks have given up more than half of their total amount of sacks from last year in less than half of this season — an eye-opening statistic. While it can't be chalked up solely to Unger's absence, the offensive line is clearly making life difficult for Russell Wilson:
And even when Wilson isn't getting sacked, he's forced to make extremely tough plays while avoiding oncoming defenses:
Graham also hasn't done the Seahawks many favors as a blocker (which the Seahawks use him as far more than the Saints ever did):
