Fowler: Seahawks OC increasing shifts, motion

Shaheed reportedly had “major” performances throughout spring practices, hitting it off with QB Sam Darnold. Per Fowler, the Seahawks will continue to use WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba on PPR-friendly short and intermediate routes that helped him finish as the overall WR2 in total PPR scoring. But, rather than keeping Shaheed stuck in a field-stretching role, they plan to direct more short-to-intermediate stuff to Shaheed as well. Shaheed still has to go out and score more points this season, but this is the exact type of role change he needs to elevate above a frustratingly volatile fantasy profile.

It’s a Super Bowl rematch for the two teams, who will get the new league year started on Wednesday, September 9th on NBC, the preferred broadcasting network for football watchers. Sam Darnold and the Seahawks will look to get the season started on a strong note against the Patriots and Drake Maye, who looked wildly out-matched the last time these two teams met. It’s one of two games the Seahawks will play on NBC this season, as they will also take on the Chiefs in Week 7 on Sunday Night Football.

The Seahawks will reportedly begin their title defense at home with a rematch against the Patriots. Seattle won the Super Bowl matchup handily, cruising to a 29-13 victory to hoist the Lombardi trophy. The teams will look mostly the same, with some key differences. The Pats won’t have 2025 leading wide receiver Stefon Diggs, while Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker left the Seahawks for the Chiefs. Still, the NFL is starting strong with an immediate Super Bowl rematch.

Fleury’s theoretical ability to run a similar offensive system is ostensibly one reason that the Seahawks hired him. Fleury served as the 49ers’ run game coordinator and tight ends coach last season. Former Seahawks OC and new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak served as the 49ers’ pass game coordinator in 2023. We can expect to see the Seahawks again feature shifts, motion and play action. Although Fleury has called plays defensively and for special teams, he has never done so offensively. He will do so this season, and he told reporters that he has already begun preparing to execute that assignment.

This has the feel of a heat-check hire for the Seahawks, who bring on someone who has never called offensive plays before and only has a single season as a run game coordinator with San Francisco in 2025. The process didn’t exactly yield a ton of “easy” candidates — it was a down year for offensive coaches and many of them had been picked over while Seattle was busy winning a championship. Still, we have very little that says Fleury is qualified for this job from the outside beyond “was a close Kyle Shanahan personal circle friend.” Despite winning Super Bowl LX, the Seahawks’ run game struggled at times last season. Fleury’s hiring may bode positively for the run game’s outlook in 2026. ESPN’s Brady Henderson previously reported that the Seahawks’ new offensive coordinator will call plays this season.

Fleury has an interesting background, having held diverse coaching and operational roles after playing quarterback in college. Fleury coached at Maryland, Sacred Heart and Towson from 2003-2012, serving as a graduate assistant, secondary coach, outside linebackers coach, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator. He entered the NFL coaching ranks with the Bills in 2013, serving as a quality control coach. The Browns then employed him as an assistant linebackers coach (2014) and outside linebackers coach (2015), where he notably coached alongside 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Fleury signed on with the Dolphins as a football research analyst in 2016 before being promoted to director of football research in 2017. He became the 49ers’ defensive quality control coach in 2019 before switching to the offensive side of the ball in 2020. He has since served as the 49ers’ offensive quality control coach, tight ends coach and run game coordinator.

It wasn’t always the prettiest performance, but Darnold stood tall in the face of pressure — both defensive and otherwise — and avoided turnovers while taking only one sack. He could never hit on one of his patented deep completions, but did more than enough as the Seahawks’ defense absolutely smothered the Patriots’ offense to claim the second Super Bowl title in franchise history. As for the regular season, Darnold completed his multi-season comeback story, shaking off his “big game” collapse from 2024-25 to set a new career high in completion percentage (67.7) while keeping his touchdown percentage above 5.0. He finished top five in completion rate over expected, and was amongst the league leaders in average depth of target. That’s the long way of saying he paired efficiency with explosive plays, the latter of which were nearly all directed Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s way. Still on the right side of 30 and signed for the next two seasons in Seattle, Darnold should remain a priority streamer in fantasy. Despite his career revival and sterling “real life” play, Darnold’s volume is limited just enough to keep him outside the top 12 in offseason ranks.

Up until Thursday, Darnold had been a limited practice participant since injuring his oblique during the Seahawks’ final Divisional Round practice. As of Friday evening, he has two full sessions under his belt. Last time we saw Darnold on the field, he threw for a season-high 346 yards and three touchdowns. He is good to go for Sunday’s game.

This is great news. A report from this afternoon indicated that Darnold would again participate in a limited capacity, as he has done since injuring his oblique during the Seahawks’ final Divisional Round practice. Darnold is ready to go for Super Bowl LX against the Patriots. Seahawks LT Charles Cross (foot) remains limited.

This was always the expectation, but we will continue to update Darnold’s practice participation level and his official game status. Darlington adds that Darnold was limited again today, as has been the case since he suffered the injury during the Seahawks’ final Divisional Round practice. He threw for a season-high 346 yards against the Rams in the NFC Championship Game, assuaging all performance-related concerns.