No NFL team has undergone a more radical change to their offensive philosophy and personnel this offseason than the Seattle Seahawks. Since the end of last season they have turned over all of their most-important positions on this side of the ball, including a new offensive coordinator, a new starting quarterback and a largely remade wide receiver corps.
The shift will include a major overhaul in how they approach the game. Specifically, under new OC Klint Kubiak they're expected to field a much-more balanced offense than the pass-heavy Ryan Grubb last year. Another thing to expect is a whole lot more work for the tight ends, which were largely lost in the shuffle at times over the last few seasons for Seattle..
Yesterday the Seahawks shared a few brief clips of Sam Darnold throwing to - for the moment - his projected starting tight end, Noah Fant - giving fans their first glimpse of the team's new offensive vision at work.
Fant has been relatively quiet over the last two years - at least in the red zone. While he has totaled 70 catches and over 900 yards he's score just one touchdown since the 2022 season ended.
If the Seahawks intend to keep Fant around (they can save around $9 million by cutting him) then he should be in for a pretty big jump in production in 2025. Last season the New Orleans Saints used their tight ends a ton in the passing game. In fact, two of their top three leading receivers were tight ends (Juwann Johnson and Foster Moreau), and Taysom Hill was their second-leading rusher.
Seattle has a much better wide receiver corps than the Saints had, so tight ends probably won't dominate the gameplan quite as much - but nevertheless fans should expect a whole lot more looks for Fant and AJ Barner - and hopefully another tight end from a deep class of them.
