Will new OC mean more of Seahawks FB Robbie Ouzts?

The Seattle Seahawks’ offense is expected to look similar in 2026 to what it was this past season, but there will also be some changes as first-year offensive coordinator Brian Fleury replaces Klint Kubiak.

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Fleury spent the past seven seasons under head coach Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers. He also worked alongside Kubiak there in 2023 and Klay Kubiak, the younger brother of Klint, from 2021-25. All of those coaches are disciples of the the Shanahan-Kubiak system that gained notoriety when head coach Mike Shanahan (Kyle’s dad) and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak (Klint and Klay’s dad) won back-to-back Super Bowls coaching together with the Denver Broncos in the late-90s.

As Fleury pointed out during his interview with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on the day he was announced as the Seahawks’ new offensive coordinator, there are ways the system evolved under Kyle Shanahan that differ from what Klint Kubiak did during his one season in Seattle.

During his Four Down Territory segment on Monday during Bump and Stacy, former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus pointed to one difference he saw between last year’s Seahawks and 49ers offenses that has him wondering if Fleury will unlock one of Seattle’s young players, which is how often San Francisco used a fullback.

The 49ers ran two-back personnel a league-high 45% of the time last season. The Dolphins (43%) were the only other NFL team who came close to that number.

The Seahawks did increase their usage of two-back personnel as expected under Kubiak, ranking sixth in the league at 24%. That came after the team used a fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft on Alabama’s Robbie Ouzts to be its fullback.

Ouzts played 203 offensive snaps in the regular season and was on the field for 27.1% of the team’s offensive snaps in the 12 games he played. His time was limited as he missed four games from Weeks 4-7 with an ankle injury and was a healthy scratch in Week 15. He also missed Seattle’s final two playoff games with a neck injury.

“If the Niners are running two-back personnel 45% of the time, how’s Fleury gonna insert Ouzts into this whole thing?” Bumpus said. “We understand that (the 49ers) have the best fullback in the game over there in (Kyle) Juszczyk, a different type of fullback, but maybe (Ouzts) can be unlocked just the same way Kubiak kind of unlocked (Jaxon Smith-Njigba). JSN always had the talent, but Kubiak kind of got him going.”

With Seattle adding 228-pound running back Emanuel Wilson in free agency, Bumpus is eager to see what he and Ouzts could do lined up in the backfield together.

“Imagine you have big old Ouzts and then you have Emanuel back there as well. That’s a lot of weight. It’s a lot of body back there,” Bumpus said.

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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