“You felt him all the way since we traded for him,” Macdonald said. “But finally, the ball finds him. Then the return game, as soon as he breaks through that first level, there’s no way anyone’s going to catch him. He made some great plays in conversion downs, too, which are really, really important.”
Seattle knew Shaheed would be an addition to the Seahawks offense and it wasn’t a question of if he was going to contribute, but just a matter of when.
“Obviously, he had a huge kick return, but he makes plays all the time at practice,” quarterback Sam Darnold said. “For him to actually be able to come out here and have success the way that he’s been doing. He’s been executing at a high level throughout these games ever since he’s gotten here, he just hasn’t had necessarily the opportunities that other guys have had. The fact that he finally got his today was special to see.”
With a pass catcher like Shaheed, it helps other receivers on the team, including Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“He can run every single route and his speed is dangerous,” Smith-Njigba said. “So team’s got to respect that, especially if you got eyes on me or whoever he’s going to spring open and just when opportunity, when hard work meets opportunity, I know he’s going to shine. And you saw a little bit of that today. So the future is bright for him in this offense.”
This was Shaheed’s fifth game as a Seahawk and his connection with Darnold is only going to continue to get stronger and he says “timing” is where he’s seen the most growth.
“Just knowing where I’m going to be and what he’s expecting,” he said. “That takes time to build and I feel like we’ve grown a good amount in the little time I’ve been here.”