Hasselbeck: How Seahawks’ offense can reach next level

The Seattle Seahawks had one of the more productive offensives in the NFL last season, ranking 11th in points per drive.

Under new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, how can the reigning Super Bowl champions make their attack even more dangerous?

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According to former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, one way is by making the running backs a bigger part of the passing game. The Seahawks targeted running backs on just 13.6% of their pass attempts last season, which was the fifth-lowest rate in the league, according to FantasyPros.

“What I thought the Seahawks really needed to improve last year was I never really felt like the running backs were ever one or two in (a passing play’s) progression,” Hasselbeck said on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “Like, if the running backs were gonna catch a pass, it was because it was just a designed screen or they just were like a check-down. But they were never number one.”

Fleury, who spent spent the past seven seasons as an assistant on Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers staff, hails from the same Shanahan coaching tree and will run a similar scheme in Seattle as previous Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

But it’s possible the running backs could be a larger part of Seattle’s passing game this year, given Fleury’s background in a 49ers offense that features the NFL’s premier pass-catching running back in Christian McCaffrey.

“That’s where I think the full mix of this offense – kind of more the 49ers/Shanahan version of this offense – can really take off and make (the Seahawks) harder to defend,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s not just wide receivers and tight ends that you’ve gotta think about.

“Having the running backs out of the backfield with a free release, that’s a very helpful thing to a quarterback and it’s very difficult on the defensive coordinator in terms of being ready for your blitz adjustments. Like, you want to blitz us? Hey, we’ve got a plan for that. Your defensive ends now have to be ready to peel and stuff like that.”

One of the big mysteries with Seahawks rookie running back Jadarian Price is his pass-catching ability – simply because of his limited opportunities at Notre Dame, where he was the No. 2 back behind fellow first-round draft pick Jeremiyah Love.

But when his number was called, Price was an effective receiver. Over his three seasons at Notre Dame, he turned 15 catches into 162 yards and three touchdowns.

“If Jadarian Price can do some of that, I just think it’s gonna be a great fit for us,” Hasselbeck said.

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with Matt Hasselbeck at this link or in the audio player above. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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