Thriving in Newest Role With Seahawks, Brady Russell Keeps Seizing Opportunities

In the modern NFL, the traditional fullback has largely steered towards the path of extinction, with most teams not even rostering a player at the position and opting to utilize tight ends, offensive linemen, or even defensive linemen as a lead blocker when duty calls in short yardage.

But a handful of teams have zigged while the rest of the league zags, and the Seahawks jumped back into the mix as a team that deploys fullbacks last season when they hired Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator, bringing in a heralded play caller from the Shanahan coaching tree who ran a run-first West coast style scheme. Coming off a Super Bowl win, after using two-back sets north of 21% of the time in 2025, the team replaced Kubiak with another Shanahan disciple in Brian Fleury, ensuring fullbacks would remain a big piece of the puzzle.

Those plans appeared to be in trouble in early August, as expected starter Robbie Ouzts missed multiple practices before being placed on injured reserve with a neck injury, ending his season before it even started. With few college programs developing fullbacks these days, there weren’t many replacement options available to sign off the free agent market, leaving a big void in Fleury’s two-back heavy system.

Fortunately, Seattle has been building a contingency plan at the position over the past calendar year since Kubiak first arrived and continuing with Fleury’s hire, with do-it-all tight end and special teams ace Brady Russell now more than ready to take on the role in Ouzts’ absence after largely learning through observation last season.