SEATTLE — Just a year ago, Jimmy Graham went through a public battle for his football identity. Was he a 6-foot-7 wide receiver who also lined up at tight end, or a 265-pound tight end who also split out like a wide receiver?

Caught in a contract dispute with the New Orleans Saints, the distinction meant the difference of millions of dollars. But the issue really hit on something more abstract — trying to peg a unique player with traditional labels. His coaches in New Orleans resolved the matter with their own vocabulary.

“We called Jimmy Graham a joker,” said Carter Sheridan, a member of the Saints’ staff during Graham’s five-year career. “He’s that guy you don’t know how the defense is going to play him, how they’re going to match up with him. Whatever they did the previous three, four or five weeks, we weren’t going to get what they were giving other teams because of Jimmy.”

Graham, the Seattle Seahawks’ newest weapon, is part tight end, part wide receiver and full-time matchup nightmare. He is big enough to overpower cornerbacks, fast enough to run by linebackers and coordinated enough to catch passes in traffic. (Officially, the league ruled last year that Graham was in fact a tight end.)

“He’s a freak,” Sheridan said.

Graham, 28, had a down season last year — and still caught 85 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns. He struggles blocking and has been susceptible to teams who are physical, the Seahawks included.

Heath Evans, a former NFL fullback and current NFL Network analyst, called the combination of Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson and Graham “almost not fair.”

“You don’t have to work to get Jimmy open,” Evans said. “You don’t have to work to create a play for Jimmy. Jimmy is the play.”

The Saints lined Graham out wide by himself because it forced defenses to tip their hand. If a safety lined up over the top of Graham, it usually meant man-to-man coverage. If a cornerback followed Graham wide, it typically meant zone.

“Drew Brees could get a good read on what play he likes, and a lot of those were called at the line (of scrimmage),” Sheridan said. “He knew what coverage he was getting based on how defenses lined up on Jimmy.”

Some of Graham’s most celebrated work is in the red zone. His size and height allow him to outmuscle or out-jump defensive backs, and his basketball background makes him a natural pass-catcher.

“You can have him perfectly covered, but you can’t cover as high as he can jump,” said David Thomas, a former backup tight end for the Saints.

“I know there were balls that if I would have been in the game, Drew would have thrown it out the back of the end zone.”

Graham has developed into a consistent route runner. He makes the first 10 yards of his routes look similar, like a pitcher keeping the same throwing motion for a fastball and change-up, so defenders cannot tell if he is going long or short.

For all he does well, Graham still is not a consistent blocker. The Saints did not ask him to do much blocking, particularly last season when Graham battled a shoulder injury, and he will not be able to replicate former Seahawks tight end Zach Miller in the running game.

The other knock on Graham is one that Evans, Sheridan and Thomas each mostly disagreed with: that Graham struggles with toughness and physical teams. Part of that is true.

“I would say he has to get better in the run game,” Thomas said. “When you get up in his face and you have a big, physical guy who can jam him, that’s a tough matchup for him because he is so long and there’s a lot of surface area.”

But Thomas “completely disagreed” that Graham was not tough, and Sheridan said Graham played through a painful shoulder injury last season that hampered him.

“That is ridiculous,” Sheridan said. “That guy is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen. He’s one of the more physical pass-catching tight ends I’ve seen.”

As good as he has been, Sheridan thinks Graham could be even better. His addition allows Seattle’s offense to evolve. He is a weapon that can harm defenses in multiple ways, from all over the field, and yet he has not tapped his potential.

“If he does, he could be a Hall of Fame tight end,” Sheridan said. “Easy.”