Well-Versed in Shane Waldron's System, Seahawks TE Gerald Everett Playing Role of 'Teacher' to Teammates
RENTON, Wash. - Inserting himself into a decade-long established culture, new Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron hasn't had to enter the next chapter of his coaching career alone. In his move from Los Angeles to the Pacific Northwest, Waldron is accompanied by former Rams assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, now Seattle's run game coordinator, and tight end Gerald Everett.
Waldron and Everett have virtually been joined at the hip since the latter's entrance into the NFL in 2017. While Waldron was eventually promoted to passing game coordinator the following year, he was the South Alabama product's position coach for his rookie season and the two maintained a close relationship from that point forward.
Four years later, as fate would have it, Everett's rookie contract expired and his mentor had just accepted a job helming the offense of a team with a superstar quarterback and a need at tight end. If the Seahawks wanted him, that's where Everett wanted to go—and they did.
Since his signing in March, Everett has served as something of a schematic translator to the many Seahawks players learning the ins and outs of Waldron's offense.
"Any question that I can be there and answer or any helpful tips that I can, you know, help tight ends, or receivers or running backs—anything that I see, you know, I'm gonna speak on until they tell me not to," Everett told reporters following Wednesday's mandatory minicamp practice. "We just wanna be our best selves so, I mean, coming from L.A. and being kinda [more] familiar than these guys with this scheme, you know, I wouldn't be the best teammate if I wasn't being a helping hand."
Although Waldron is incorporating some of Seattle's core philosophies, at its heart this is the system Everett has grown up in over the past four seasons. And in each of them, he's seemingly added something new to his utility belt.
Unfortunately playing second fiddle for most of his Rams tenure to Tyler Higbee, Everett holds a modest career stat line of 1,389 yards and eight touchdowns on 127 receptions. But despite not filling up box scores on a weekly basis, he's made clear improvements as the years have gone by and offers a vast skillset unique to the tight end position.
"Gerald brings some factors that we have not had here before," coach Pete Carroll revealed on Tuesday. "His route running ability, his speed. You know, if you watch his stuff, his run-after-catch is excellent. He's a very, very aggressive runner with the football, which is really exciting. Catching and running, you know, he can get the ball in his hands and he'll make things happen. And he's been a really active, willing blocker in our scheme as we've seen in the Rams program. He's an incredibly exciting addition."
In his final season with the Rams, Everett made plays all over the field. Taking jet sweeps, blocking and producing after the catch, he's turned himself from an average pass-catching tight end into an all-around offensive weapon with even more room to grow.
"Because of the flexibility, you can line him up out of the backfield, he can be in the slot, he can be outside, all of that stuff," Carroll gushed. "He's got wide receiver ability as a tight end, so that's a real positive for us and I'm really pumped about that."
Clearly enamored with his versatility, the Seahawks seem to be planning to use Everett in a multitude of ways. Whether some of that differs from his responsibilities in Los Angeles or not remains to be seen, but when asked in general to compare the two offenses, he alluded to some slight learning curves.
"A good bit of it [is different]," Everett explained. "But I would say most of it I understand. I've been in it for a couple years, just being able to be that versatile player and line up anywhere, you know, be anything in the offense and for the team. Just trying to be that teacher and be that guy on the field who they expect me to be."
Along with his leadership, Everett now has more of a featured role within Seattle's offense. Joining an overhauled group of tight ends that severely underperformed and was bit by the injury bug in 2020, he's optimistic about spearheading a significant turnaround this fall.
"I think our tight end group is pretty well-rounded," Everett stated. "We have tight ends that can complement each aspect of the game and the offense, and we're all gonna play collectively to make a really good unit."
Working in tandem with Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson, Everett aims to rectify one of the team's biggest weaknesses from last year: winning in the middle of the field and taking some of the attention off the star receiving duo of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Some of that should come natural if Seattle executes its offensive plans to perfection, creating mismatches with an uptempo approach.
The Seahawks' tight ends will especially play a key role in doing so, and given the variety of play styles in the unit, they have nightmare fuel aplenty for opposing coaches.
"The variety has no limit or ceiling on it," Everett boasted. "Any guy can play any spot, run any route, get the ball or block, you know? So it's just, like, knowing your assignments and being where you need to be. ... It kinda really limits [the opposing defense's] gameplan or their defensive scheme of who they really want to key-in on, because you can't really predict where we'll be on any given play or any point in time in the game, so it's just, like, you know, keeping them on their heels pretty much."
Again, all it comes down to is the execution, and the Seahawks have failed to follow through on such tactics in the past. This is far from the first offseason they've talked about upping the tempo of their offense, but they've never been able to find a consistent groove and have infamously struggled with clock management.
For Everett, only time will tell how much Waldron's influence impacts the Seahawks and how the offense may differ from the one the new play-caller helped craft in L.A. But he's confident this particular group can right the wrongs of past Seattle offenses and build a championship-caliber attack.
"It's a different team than we were a part of last season and in seasons prior, but it's only one way to really tell and that's time. And when Week 1 comes and we get into the role and the thick of things in the season, that's really when we'll be able to tell and really be able to see just how powerful this offense can be."
