The Seattle Seahawks have already added one elite Indianapolis Colts player in the person of Quenton Nelson. The team might be tempted to add running back Jonathan Taylor, too. Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury makes that decision moot, though.
Forget about Seattle already having Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price, too. While the duo might be capable of excellence, Charbonnet is a free agent next year, and Price is still a rookie. Taylor would be better than both, and he has proven that.
The problem is that Fleury is struggling in his first season calling plays. It is easy to see the OC as the scapegoat for Seattle only being 4-4. The offense is inconsistent and out of sync. Fleury did himself no favors by forgetting about running the ball for most of the first three quarters in Week 8's meltdown against the Chicago Bears, only to run it too much late in the game.
Seattle Seahawks should pass on Jonathan Taylor with Brian Fleury as offensive coordinator
The Seahawks took a chance on hiring the obviously intelligent, longtime offensive assistant from the San Francisco 49ers this season, but his growing pains as a play-caller have set the offense back to the pre-Klint Kubiak seasons.
Fleury was supposed to have a good idea of how to run the ball effectively and be able to do so with a fairly even pass-run ratio. That hasn't developed. To make matters worse, the Seahawks have struggled in the red zone and in short-yardage. Those are the areas in which a truly great offensive coordinator shines and shows their creativity. Fleury has failed.
Does that mean that he won't turn into a good OC? He still could, though that probably means the 2026 season is sacrificed. Sometimes, great assistant coaches don't make for great coordinators.
But Fleury's lack of being able to produce a quality rushing attack, and not even taking the chance to do so as he could have earlier in the Bears game, means that, should the Seahawks try to trade for Jonathan Taylor, Seattle would, in essence, be giving Indianapolis high-end draft value only to have Brian Fleury waste the elite Taylor in Seattle.
Great players can only do so much. The scheme has to work, too. Fleury's wouldn't work with Taylor, even as great as the running back is.
The positive part is that Taylor would be under contract through 2028, so the Seattle Seahawks would have him under team control. Zach Charbonnet could sign elsewhere, and the future duo of Jadarian Price and Taylor would theoretically be one of the best running back groups in the NFL.
But only if they are used correctly in combination with a blocking scheme that works. So far, that doesn't exist with Fleury. Adding Taylor would mean Seattle has a shiny new toy, but one that might as well be left on the shelf instead of being ill-used in whatever Fleury is trying to do.
The Seahawks are 23rd in yards per rushing attempt at 3.9, 27th in third-down conversions at 35.6 percent, and 29th in red-zone touchdown conversions at 46.4 percent. Would Jonathan Taylor fix those numbers if he were acquired for multiple high-round draft picks? One would assume, but not with Brian Fleury as OC.
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