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

RENTON, Wash. - 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.

“I think last year not playing a lot, I got to sit back and just watch how this offense and our scheme is supposed to work,” Russell said prior to Thursday’s practice. “I learned a whole lot about the angles and how to attack the defense. Watching Robbie [Ouzts] and watching guys from other teams and stuff do the job well helped me a lot to transition this year into putting some better stuff in my skill set.”

As Russell noted, even with Ouzts missing six games total with various injuries, the ex-Colorado State standout didn’t get many chances to show what he could do in game action as a fullback last season. Including the playoffs, he logged a total of 50 snaps in the backfield, far fewer than the 170 Ouzts played as the starter, blocking on 49 of those snaps with a single target and no receptions.

But with limited prior experience in college playing out of the backfield on his resume, primarily in goal line and short yardage situations, Russell took advantage of the opportunity to not only learn from watching Ouzts in action, but paying attention to other players around the league, including Kyle Juszczyk in San Francisco. Taking visual notes along the way and applying it to his offseason work, he arrived for the start of the OTAs feeling more comfortable with the fullback spot, and Fleury granted him plenty of chances to prove himself on the practice field in the spring.

When Ouzts’ neck injury flared back up only a week into training camp, Russell stepped into the starting lineup with out a hitch, earning Fleury’s trust to not only handle the dirty work that comes with being an unceremonious lead blocker, but also occasionally be utilized as a pass catcher in check down situations.

Receiving the start for just the second time in his NFL career, Russell kicked off Seattle’s season opener with an impressive cut block on the backside defensive end on a zone run, helping create a massive crease for rookie running back Jadarian Price. The first round pick cut back against the grain, exploded through the hole, and didn’t get touched until 10 yards downfield, eventually getting dragged down by a safety for a 13-yard gain and a new set of downs on the first snap from scrimmage.

“That was fun to start the game like that,” Russell smiled, clearly loving the beauty of the physical, often thankless nature of his job.

Most of Russell’s night consisted of the drudgery that comes with being an NFL fullback throwing his body around as a blocker, but he also got into the act as a surprising target snagging passes from backup Drew Lock. Entering the opener without a single catch or carry in his career to his name, he caught both targets thrown his direction for 20 yards.

While Russell won’t be mistaken as the second coming of Juszczyk, who has long been a valuable contributor in San Francisco’s passing arsenal to go with his blocking ability, and scoffed at the idea that Fleury is asking much of him as a receiver compared to Kubiak a year ago, he did catch nearly 80 passes as a tight end at Colorado. He showcased those reliable hands against New England, making the most of his two touches, including a 13-yard catch off a short curl route as a checkdown for Lock that he turned upfield for significant yardage after the catch and a first down.

Known for his special teams prowess, Russell racked up 14 tackles on kick and punt coverage for the Seahawks last season, which has been his calling card to securing a long-term roster spot since coming to town his rookie year off waivers from the Eagles. As coach Mike Macdonald stated after Friday’s walkthrough, he isn’t surprised to see the steady fourth-year veteran make a positive impact in his newest role due to his dependability, selflessness, and impeccable practice habits.

“Brady’s always been a guy that when given the opportunity, he’s made the most of it both out of the backfield and as a tight end,” Macdonald remarked. “It gives you some flexibility on where you can align him and things that you can do. You can get him in more of a receiving type of role. Our offense is going to include big people, and he is one of the big people that we can put out there. He has done a great job and has taken advantage of it.”

One game hardly paints a genuine picture when it comes to how NFL teams will utilize personnel groupings over the course of a full season, especially for a first-time coordinator such as Fleury who doesn’t have a previous track record to go off of. Until there’s a larger sample size to analyze, it remains to be seen exactly how much Russell or a second running back will play in two-back personnel groupings, and percentages will obviously vary based on opponent and game plan against different opponents by week.

But with Fleury coming from Shanahan’s coaching tree and sharing many of the same schematic philosophies as a former apprentice, after mixing in two-back sets at north of 30% in the opener, 21 and 22 personnel groupings likely will be on the menu at a top-five rate in the league for most of the season. Barring injury, this means Russell should easily see a career-high in offensive snaps, spending most of his time in the backfield while also motioning to tight end and H-back spots on the line of scrimmage.

Regardless of how much he sees the field, Russell’s latest role hardly is a glorified one, but just as he does making plays on special teams, he takes pride in bringing his hard hat every game day as a blocker to help generate running room for Price and the rest of the stable of backs behind him. Whether he gets more chances as a pass catcher or not, he’s not concerned about receiving targets or expanding his usage as a route runner, knowing where his value truly lies helping the Seahawks win football games.

Anything beyond that simply serves as a cherry on top for one of the most respected players in the locker room and on the field.