Fleury takes over a Super Bowl-winning offense in 2026 and has some rather big shoes to fill.
New Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury has some rather big shoes to fill in 2026.
Coming in for the now departed Klint Kubiak, who had the Seahawks offense humming en route to a Super Bowl win, Fleury comes in and is tasked with keeping the level high.
Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are the two big weapons, along with others, in Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed in the passing game.
Jadarian Price looms as the starter at running back, and considering Fleury's recent work in San Francisco, many think he'll bring some of what made the 49ers good over to Seattle.
But the one thing he has to do is not make the Seahawks so one-dimensional in the passing game. Last season, JSN posted 1,793 yards, but the next best receiver was Kupp with 593. As far as receptions, JSN led with 119 while Kupp was second with just 47 among receivers.
And for ESPN's Ben Solak, the measuring stick for Fleury is how to get the offense more balanced, while still having JSN as the centerpiece.
"Consider Smith-Njigba's receiving yardage share. It's absurdly impressive but also unhealthy," Solak wrote. "Fleury has worked under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco since 2019 and has seen an offense rotate through a cast of viable leading target getters week over week. One day it's the George Kittle game.
"Then it's Deebo Samuel week. Here comes a 10-target Christian McCaffrey performance. Insert a random Kendrick Bourne spike here. Fleury's offense will inevitably rely more on Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner as secondary pass-catching options -- and rightfully so.
"But the last guy got Smith-Njigba to post 1,793 receiving yards. And that's the measuring stick which Fleury stands against."
It was Smith-Njigba as the most effective weapon for the Seahawks, but defenses will now look to take him away through a variety of means, and that will see Fleury and Darnold pivot to someone else to move the chains.
Yes, Smith-Njigba will get his targets, but others are going to have to step up, and Fleury has knowledge of how to spread the ball around to all the playmakers, not just one.
There will be growing pains, no doubt, but the foundation of Seattle's defense has remained intact, and how Fleury looks to build on that with JSN being the centerpiece is going to be an interesting watch.
But we can't measure Fleury's pending success on whether or not JSN hits over 1,700 yards. More so, I think if Brian can have a more balanced offense instead of a one-man band in JSN leading the way.
