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Bring Back the Fullback


method man

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One of the sad casualties of the NFL shifting to a pass heavy league is the death of the fullback position. Sadly, we haven’t had a fulltime fullback outside Darrel Young except for that guy Callahan signed for a few games. 
 

We have a line that is strong in pass pro but average against the run. Bringing in a true fullback vs trying to use Sprinkle or Anderson in that role would help us with that. Given the position has gotten so devalued, I wouldn’t think it would be difficult or expensive to find the next Kyle Jusczyk.

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https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Michigan-football-fullback-Ben-Mason-bench-press-nickname-154637837/Amp/
 

This guy sounds like the perfect Rivera guy. Tory Carter is another intriguing badass who is a bit faster than Mason. As the writer of this article points out, imagine a 6-3 255 monster of a FB taking on the smallish linebackers we have in the NFL today

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am big on Tony Carter. I'm also big on guys like Moss who is already on the roster and one of the writeups was saying that he could be a H Back. 

 

I do think that the hybrid H Back is more functional than a pure fullback. And I even like how we used Logan Thomas and his versatility because he was lineing up in the backfield sometimes too. But I am totally on board with this. I want more fullbacks and in the draft thread I was saying we need a Mike Sellars / Darrell Young type player who can block, pick up blitzes and catch passes out of the background. 

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38 minutes ago, Redskins Reparations said:

Did you forget Ryan Anderson was still on the roster?

Hopefully not for long. I don't know why we have been avoiding this position so much. Even if its not a FB but a Rock Cartwright or Brian Mitchell type player, I'd be on board. People can say that's what Barber is but he doesn't catch passes well and I'm not sure If I've ever seen him lead block or pick up a blitz. Why have the third RB be such a repeat of the first two when we could have a FB / H back type to come in and have a defined role on some plays. 

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8 minutes ago, Thinking Skins said:

Hopefully not for long. I don't know why we have been avoiding this position so much. Even if its not a FB but a Rock Cartwright or Brian Mitchell type player, I'd be on board. People can say that's what Barber is but he doesn't catch passes well and I'm not sure If I've ever seen him lead block or pick up a blitz. Why have the third RB be such a repeat of the first two when we could have a FB / H back type to come in and have a defined role on some plays. 


Unfortunately, I don’t think a traditional FB fits with Turner’s scheme.  I have seen both Thomas and Sprinkle lineup in the backfield to both catch and block.  I think Turner would prefer to improve the TE position by adding a veteran or draft.  I personally would prefer to go the veteran route through free agency.  LA’s Gerald Everett or Tennessee’s Jonuu Smith would be my first and second choice to replace Jeremy Sprinkle.

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I guess Norv may have evolved his scheme over the years, which has passed to Scott but wasn't Tolbert technically a fullback? I agree with the poster that the answer may be an H Back who can be flexed to fullback, essentially someone who would be the #3 TE on the roster. At 6-0 245, I don't know if Carter is more than a pure fullback. The top rated fullback is supposedly Ben Mason from Michigan who seems to be quite the character. He is 6-3 254 and is apparently a total meathead, yet an Academic All Big Ten guy at the same time. He can also play both FB and TE and has similar size to someone like Mike Sellers. Harbaugh absolutely loves him but he supposedly runs only a 4.9 in the 40 yard dash per Walter Football. 

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I'm looking at potential FAs and Alex Armah is a guy who was in Carolina playing FB the past 4 years. The word is he's not a fit into Brady's offense. 

 

Here's an article going into 2019: 

https://247sports.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/Article/Alex-Armah-Panthers-offense-2019-expanded-role-133248720/

 

Though Armah's abilities as a rusher as well as a receiver open up opportunities for the Panthers to use him in a variety of different facets, he will nonetheless be looked upon to first and foremost serve as a reliable blocker: An area in which Armah has flashed great skill. During a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins last year, it was a block by Armah that cleared a path for McCaffrey to run 71 yards upfield for a touchdown.

 

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3 minutes ago, Thinking Skins said:

@Redskins Reparations, One thing I notice is that in Minnesota they had a FB (Zach Line). and Norv Turner has generally had a FB (Marc Logan/Larrie Bowie), so I'm thinking its a possibility. 


Absolutely it’s a possibility and I think we need a battering ram on the goal line and short yardage situations.  Not that he was a great blocking fullback but a player similar to longtime Cardinals and former Redskin FB Larry Centers might be a better fit for Turner’s offense which could possibly be found with a late round draft pick.

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1 hour ago, Thinking Skins said:

I'm looking at potential FAs and Alex Armah is a guy who was in Carolina playing FB the past 4 years. The word is he's not a fit into Brady's offense. 

 

Here's an article going into 2019: 

https://247sports.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/Article/Alex-Armah-Panthers-offense-2019-expanded-role-133248720/

 

Though Armah's abilities as a rusher as well as a receiver open up opportunities for the Panthers to use him in a variety of different facets, he will nonetheless be looked upon to first and foremost serve as a reliable blocker: An area in which Armah has flashed great skill. During a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins last year, it was a block by Armah that cleared a path for McCaffrey to run 71 yards upfield for a touchdown.

 

 

The good news with the FB position is that, if you add one, unless you are trying to pick up a Kyle J in free agency, you'll find a good one for the minimum

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Im all about a FB, but I also find the forward pass to be too gimmicky for me.

 

I'd love a Novacheck type guy who can be our Barber type, but also pass and run block, as well as catch a few passes. 

 

I think it fits with Turner and his misdirected offense and never knowing where the ball is going.

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On 1/10/2021 at 1:22 AM, method man said:

One of the sad casualties of the NFL shifting to a pass heavy league is the death of the fullback position. Sadly, we haven’t had a fulltime fullback outside Darrel Young except for that guy Callahan signed for a few games. 
 

We have a line that is strong in pass pro but average against the run. Bringing in a true fullback vs trying to use Sprinkle or Anderson in that role would help us with that. Given the position has gotten so devalued, I wouldn’t think it would be difficult or expensive to find the next Kyle Jusczyk.

What killed the FB position was the rise of I-form variations where the FB was no longer a RB. Now, a FB is not one of the two RB slots. John Riggins was considered a FB during his whole career (he had been retired for several years when people started calling him something else).  Jim Brown was a FB. When the spread offense was first designed, the RB was the FB as it really is just a modification of a double wing (meaning, you slotted both HBs.

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17 hours ago, Darth Tater said:

What killed the FB position was the rise of I-form variations where the FB was no longer a RB. Now, a FB is not one of the two RB slots. John Riggins was considered a FB during his whole career (he had been retired for several years when people started calling him something else).  Jim Brown was a FB. When the spread offense was first designed, the RB was the FB as it really is just a modification of a double wing (meaning, you slotted both HBs.

I'm fuzzy on half back. Isn't that pretty much the same thing as a running back? 

 

The 3rd WR being on the field so often definitely had an impact on the FB too.

 

Football was so much different back then. TEs who hit, FB battering rams. So much more power back then, before guys got so much faster.

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3 hours ago, Koolblue13 said:

I'm fuzzy on half back. Isn't that pretty much the same thing as a running back? 

 

The 3rd WR being on the field so often definitely had an impact on the FB too.

 

Football was so much different back then. TEs who hit, FB battering rams. So much more power back then, before guys got so much faster.

Running Back was actually not really a thing until the 60s, it evolved as teams went into two back sets.   One halfback became one of what is now called a WR while the other became one of the two RBs.  Truth is,in most 3 wide sets (with a single back), the remaining RB is technically/historically a FB and the extra WR is a HB. Of course, what makes it hard is as formations changed, position designations change.  For example, original spread forms (invented in the 1920s) was a mod of the double wing which put two halfbacks in a slot created by splitting out your ends and taking the QB off the field (position was usually called the BB).  Sammy Baugh was not technically a QB until about 1945!

 

Another thing, when I was in HS, FB was a position the better athletes played, now it is often the position you get to play if you are too small to play offensive line and not athletic enough to be a TE!

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We know this didn't come to pass, but here's an article from July of last year: 

 

https://riggosrag.com/2020/01/27/redskins-seem-likely-to-roster-a-fullback-under-ron-rivera/

 

Quote

Over the course of his nine years with the Carolina Panthers, Rivera always had a fullback on the roster. In 2011, he claimed Jerome Felton off waivers from the Detroit Lions to serve in that role. Then, the team invested in Mike Tolbert to serve as a running back/fullback hybrid. Tolbert would spend five years with the Panthers making three Pro Bowls and twice earning first-team All-Pro nods.

 

After Tolbert’s departure in 2017, the Panthers spent a sixth-round pick on Alex Armah. The West Georgia product has spent the past three seasons occupying that role and ensured that no matter what, Rivera always had a fullback on his roster.

 

It didn't come to pass and that may be more of a tell for S Turner than Ron, but historically I think that Ron has liked FBs. 

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3 hours ago, Darth Tater said:

Running Back was actually not really a thing until the 60s, it evolved as teams went into two back sets.   One halfback became one of what is now called a WR while the other became one of the two RBs.  Truth is,in most 3 wide sets (with a single back), the remaining RB is technically/historically a FB and the extra WR is a HB. Of course, what makes it hard is as formations changed, position designations change.  For example, original spread forms (invented in the 1920s) was a mod of the double wing which put two halfbacks in a slot created by splitting out your ends and taking the QB off the field (position was usually called the BB).  Sammy Baugh was not technically a QB until about 1945!

 

Another thing, when I was in HS, FB was a position the better athletes played, now it is often the position you get to play if you are too small to play offensive line and not athletic enough to be a TE!

Thanks for that.

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On 1/19/2021 at 10:07 AM, Redskins Reparations said:


Absolutely it’s a possibility and I think we need a battering ram on the goal line and short yardage situations.  Not that he was a great blocking fullback but a player similar to longtime Cardinals and former Redskin FB Larry Centers might be a better fit for Turner’s offense which could possibly be found with a late round draft pick.

You want a battering ram at the goal line?  Here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibbRcuVhf4o

 

(Yes, it's football and no, it's not a gimmick.  It is, however, awesome.)

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