New Seahawks OC Kubiak likes what WRs are bringing to run game

The Seattle Seahawks’ offense has undergone a pretty noticeable overhaul at some key areas since last season.

The most obvious is quarterback, where Sam Darnold, a first-time Pro Bowler in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings, comes in after Geno Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders.

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A close second is the wide receiver position, where DK Metcalf was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tyler Lockett was released, and veterans Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling were brought in to complement last year’s leading receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

And third, there’s a new offensive coordinator. That would be Klint Kubiak, who came to the Seahawks after spending last year with the New Orleans Saints.

The arrival of Kubiak comes with the expectation that he would put a focus on the run game – an area where Seattle does have a good number of returning contributors – for second-year head coach Mike Macdonald that wasn’t there last year under previous OC Ryan Grubb.

So perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that when Kubiak joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy during training camp at Seahawks headquarters, even his positive points about his receiving corps had something to do with that run game.

Initially, Kubiak complimented the team’s receivers on how well they fit together.

“We’ve got guys that can take the top off, we’ve got guys that are really good inside, we’ve got guys that do both really well,” he said. “And we’re really honestly moving them around a lot to get a better feel for what they do best.”

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Then he brought it together with the less flashy role the receivers have in the offense.

“But I think overall, the coolest thing about our receiver group is that they’ve really bought into the run game,” he continued. “They have been really physical and helping us spring some big runs, and that helps them a lot in the play-action game. So (wide receivers) coach Frisman Jackson does a phenomenal job of making them complete receivers.”

Kubiak’s point about the receivers fits in well with the overall ambition for Seattle. Being “complete receivers” should help the offense’s ability to be connected from one position to any other.

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“Coach Macdonald’s goal is for us to be connected, and that’s a really big thing that he harps, and it’s a big part of how we meet,” he said of his offense. “And so it’s really important that we meet together quite a bit offensively, that we’re all on the same page, we’re all speaking the same language, we’re holding each other accountable together.

“The quarterback knows the tackles’ responsibility, the tight ends know what the receivers’ route adjustments are. And so being connected is really important for us right now.”

Hear the full Bump and Stacy conversation with Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak in the podcast at this link or either of the audio or video players near the top of this post. Catch Bump and Stacy live from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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