Brian Fleury’s first season running the Seahawks offense has started with some uneven results, and the early numbers show it.
Through six games, Seattle sits 17th in points per drive at 2.0 and 25th in EPA per play, according to Sumer Sports. That’s a step back from last year’s Super Bowl-winning offense under Klint Kubiak, when the Seahawks finished 11th in points per drive at 2.3 and 13th in EPA per play.
One of the clearest differences, at least from a play-calling standpoint, has been how often Seattle has been able to spread production beyond Jaxon Smith-Njigba. On Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, The Athletic Football Show co-host Derrik Klassen said Fleury has had a harder time than Kubiak did last season finding ways to get the rest of the passing game going.
Last year, the Seahawks had three players averaging at least 30 receiving yards per game: Smith-Njigba at 105.5, Cooper Kupp at 37.1 and tight end AJ Barner at 30.5. This season, Smith-Njigba is the only one hitting that mark, at 119.5 receiving yards per game.
“Last year, when Kubiak needed to find a play that wasn’t to JSN, I think that he had better answers,” Klassen said. “… And I think other than some of the JSN plays, I think we’ve seen Fleury struggle a little bit to find ways to get these auxiliary pieces going.”
Klassen also pointed to the reality Fleury has been dealing with in the backfield, where injuries have thinned out the options. Kubiak had Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet last season, with Walker eventually earning Super Bowl MVP honors. Fleury, meanwhile, has had to piece together the last three games with Emanuel Wilson and George Holani.
“It would be really hard in my mind for almost any offensive coordinator to have a good run game with the state of the running back room right now,” Klassen said. “Like, I think even Kyle Shanahan, I think that this would be a little bit of a difficult thing to put together.”
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