The Seattle Seahawks are still the team to beat until someone actually beats them. But repeating as Super Bowl champions means accounting for the players who aren’t coming back. Kenneth Walker III is gone. A chunk of that defense is gone. And suddenly, the margin for error on offense looks a lot thinner than it did in February.
So where does the production come from? Jaxon Smith-Njigba already put up a monster season. You can’t just ask him to do more. You need other guys to step up.
The Athletic recently went team by team and picked a breakout candidate for each roster heading into 2026. For Seattle, Saad Yousuf landed on a name that might surprise some people: Rashid Shaheed.
Shaheed, who the Seahawks picked up midseason last year, is mostly known as one of the best return men in the league. That’s not nothing. He brought a punt back against the Rams in the regular season and then took the opening kickoff to the house against the 49ers in the Divisional Round. Guy can change a game with his legs. But Yousuf thinks there’s more to unlock.
“Shaheed has established himself as an electric returner, but he hasn’t hit his potential as a wide receiver,” Yousuf wrote. “In his four NFL seasons, he’s never had 60 catches in a campaign, or 1,000 yards receiving. New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury is taking over after seven years in San Francisco under Kyle Shanahan, where he’s seen how dynamic weapons can be maximized.”
That last part is key. Fleury spent years watching Shanahan scheme guys open in creative ways. Deebo Samuel. Christian McCaffrey. Brandon Aiyuk. All of them got fed in different spots — screens, motion, deep shots. Fleury has seen what happens when you treat a versatile weapon like a problem to solve instead of just a deep threat to throw to twice a game.
Shaheed can run. Like, really run. The Seahawks didn’t use him deep as much as you’d think last season, but he had that one big catch in the NFC Championship Game against the Rams that reminded everyone what he can do when the ball goes up. If Fleury builds some designed touches for him — jet sweeps, option routes, quick slants with space — Shaheed could easily become a 70-catch guy who also takes the top off a defense. That’s a nightmare for opponents.
The Seahawks offense was already explosive last year. Adding Shaheed as a consistent receiving threat instead of just a return specialist gives them another gear. And in a conference where you might have to outscore the 49ers or the Lions or the Eagles, having too many weapons isn’t really a problem.
The pieces are there. Shaheed just needs the opportunities. Fleury seems like the kind of coordinator who will give them to him.
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