The Seattle Seahawks drew mixed reviews when they appointed Brian Fleury as Klint Kubiak's replacement. Notably, bringing in an offensive coordinator with no play-calling experience for a defending champion with a defensive-minded head coach was a particular choice.
Nevertheless, Fleury comes from the same Kubiak-Shanahan coaching tree, so he'd give the team a sense of continuity while adding his own tweaks. Notably, those tweaks might mean getting the tight ends more involved in the flow of the game.
Fleury's extensive work and knowledge of the position bode well for guys like AJ Barner. That's why, when asked about his new offensive coordinator, the second-year tight end gushed about how he's keeping close tabs on the position.
Brian Fleury will have the Seattle Seahawks' tight ends on point
"He's got a great history of being with tight ends, and it's exciting, just being a tight end because he really values the position, and I think we've seen — you guys have touched on it, the tight ends have had a really good camp, so, we have a really good room, and we're gonna be asked to do a lot of different things and we complement each other really well," Barner told Seattle Sports.
Barner missed spring workouts as he recovered from multiple injuries. Fortunately, he didn't miss a beat in training camp, and he and fellow tight end Elijah Arroyo have turned some heads in practice over the past couple of weeks.
We should expect that to carry on into the season, now that Fleury is calling the shots. Of course, they won't be ahead of the likes of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rashid Shaheed in the pecking order, but they should still get their fair share of targets.
Barner wasn't much of a factor early on in his rookie season, but he gradually earned Kubiak's confidence. All in all, he finished the season with 58 receptions for 586 yards and seven touchdowns to go along with 11 carries for 16 yards and another score.
He then underwent two offseason surgeries after dealing with shoulder, knee, ankle, calf, hip, and elbow injuries. Now that he's back to full strength and has another dynamic running mate like Arroyo, the Seahawks' tight end room might be one of the most overlooked in the league.
Fleury was instrumental in George Kittle's ascent. He worked with him for five years, helping him earn three All-Pro and four Pro Bowl selections before climbing the ranks to the Seahawks' offensive coordinator gig.
It makes sense to have doubts about an unproven guy, but everyone has to start somewhere. The same could be said of Mike Macdonald when he got the nod as head coach after just a couple of years as defensive coordinator, and that worked out pretty decently.
The bar is always higher for Super Bowl contenders, and Fleury will probably be the scapegoat and the first guy to blame if things don't go right early on in the season. But if he can work his magic with Barner and Arroyo like he did in the Bay Area, the fans shouldn't have much to worry about.
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