The Decline of the Fullback Position [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

WSUCougar

10-03-2005, 05:02 PM

You wake up one day and the fullback has become a non-entity in the NFL.

What happened?

I'd like to see the collective NFL brains at FOFC come up with a Top 5 of current NFL fullbacks. It should make for some interesting discussion.

nfg22

10-03-2005, 05:06 PM

Mike Alstott...umm...ummm...Jim Kleinsasser....umm...HAH Darly Johnstone...

dawgfan

10-03-2005, 05:06 PM

Given what the position is in today's NFL, Mack Strong has to be on that list.

stevew

10-03-2005, 05:08 PM

Kreider.

VPI97

10-03-2005, 05:08 PM

I think the top 4 is pretty easy to come up with...

Lorenzo Neal
Justin Griffith
Mack Strong
Cory Schlesinger

After those guys, maybe Tony Richardson...

MikeVic

10-03-2005, 05:40 PM

It depends on what you want? If it's blocking, Kredier has to be up there maybe?

miami_fan

10-03-2005, 05:43 PM

In alphabetical order

Jameel Cook
Justin Griffith
Dan Krieder
Lorenzo Neal
Mack Strong

Kleinsasser is a tight end IMO. Alstott is a running back.

I guess I look at the loss of the fullback is the gain of the additional TE or WR. As my list shows, I value the bruising blocker, a couple catches out of the backfield, and a carry or two A YEAR. That really goes against the prevailing offensive philosophy in the NFL today

pennywisesb

10-03-2005, 05:46 PM

Fred Beasley from San Fran is pretty good as well. I wouldn't leave him off the list.

Raiders Army

10-03-2005, 05:49 PM

This is an easy game:

Best blocker: Lorenzo Neal (Chargers)/Dan Kreider (Steelers)/Mack Strong (Seahawks)
Best rusher: Mike Alstott (Buccs (sigh)
Best pass-catcher: Patrick Pass (Pats)

Huckleberry

10-03-2005, 05:59 PM

It's just that most people realized it made little sense to give up an eligible receiver like that.

Tom E

10-03-2005, 06:02 PM

The game became to fast for a "traditional" FB to be effective.

Wasabiak

10-03-2005, 06:45 PM

Cory Schlesinger. He can run, catch and obliterate a linebacker.

Yeah, when he isn't injured.

mauchow

10-03-2005, 06:50 PM

Kleinsasser has to be in there. His duty as a Fullback will never end even if he's playing TE. Last year and whenever he played as a tight end, he'd come in motion and be the lead blocker anyways.

Daimyo

10-03-2005, 07:05 PM

The Colts haven't used a fullback since at least '98 and haven't really missed the position much. I think I'd rather have two good TEs than a good TE and a good FB.

General Mike

10-03-2005, 07:10 PM

Brian Leonard will redefine the fullback position.

Emiliano

10-04-2005, 04:55 AM

Fred Beasley
Tony Richardson
Lorenzo Neal
Mack Strong
Jim Kleinsasser

bhlloy

10-04-2005, 06:20 AM

Two way threats (pass catching and blocking) - Fred Beasley, Tony Richardson, William Henderson, Jim Finn

Pure blocking (my kind of full back) - Cory Schlesinger, Lorenzo Neal, Mack Strong, Dan Kreider, Alan Ricard

Offensive threats - Patrick Pass, Mike Alstott, Najeh Davenport

As people have said before Kleinsasser has no place on this list. He's an H-Back which means he spends very little time as a true fullback.
Alstott is technically a fullback, but his blocking is awful and he doesn't even run the ball much anymore.

cthomer5000

10-04-2005, 06:25 AM

Brian Leonard will redefine the fullback position.
I do think the guy is going to have a good pro career, and i have thought so from the minute I saw him play at Rutgers. He seems to run better than Alstott, has outstanding hands, and can block. I hope he actually comes back for a fourth year (I can't believe I'm saying this about a Rutgers player).

Raiders Army

10-04-2005, 06:58 AM

Aren't most FBs cheaper than a third wideout?

General Mike

10-04-2005, 07:27 AM

Alstott is technically a fullback, but his blocking is awful and he doesn't even run the ball much anymore.

So, he just stands there with his hands in his pockets? Because besides his rookie year, he's never caught the ball.

TroyF

10-04-2005, 07:44 AM

Aren't most FBs cheaper than a third wideout?

Yep, but more often than not they aren't all that productive. You have a few really good blockers and a few with the rare blend of speed/power who can be dominant blockers in the run game.

But for the most part, those guys are rare. With the TE position evolving and more and more players having decent speed/size/hands, the FB position is going to continue to decline in importance.

Samdari

10-04-2005, 07:56 AM

Fred Beasley from San Fran is pretty good as well. I wouldn't leave him off the list.

He is a backup at FB on his own team.

And Denver's Kyle Johnson is probably among the league's best all-around FB's but does not get mych pub. Can block, run and catch with the best of them.

albionmoonlight

10-04-2005, 07:59 AM

When Terrell Smith was with the Saints, he was considered one of the best blocking FBs in the league. Then he went to Cleveland, and I have no idea what he is doing now. Playing for New Orleans and Cleveland is not the way to get noticed, so I wanted to throw him out there.

The new guy for the Saints, Mike Karney, is still pretty green, but I think he has the best fullback nickname in the league--Karnivore.

TroyF

10-04-2005, 08:20 AM

He is a backup at FB on his own team.

And Denver's Kyle Johnson is probably among the league's best all-around FB's but does not get mych pub. Can block, run and catch with the best of them.

Yeah, Kyle is a very good all around player. I'm not sure he does anything exceptional, but he does nearly everything well.

sachmo71

10-04-2005, 08:27 AM

Moe Williams used to be a fullback, I believe. He's a pretty good rusher\pass catcher.

rkmsuf

10-04-2005, 08:35 AM

When was the heyday of the fullback anyway?

cthomer5000

10-04-2005, 08:40 AM

When was the heyday of the fullback anyway?
Sometime back "then."

bhlloy

10-04-2005, 09:24 AM

So, he just stands there with his hands in his pockets? Because besides his rookie year, he's never caught the ball.

No, when he's in the game he still gets a few carries and blocks badly. And his receiving numbers are just below average for a FB, but not anywhere near never catching the ball.

29 catches in 2004... third amongst fullbacks. And 230 yards rushing which was still fifth despite being down by over half on what he used to put up every year(my original point) So I'm not really sure what your point is?

HomerJSimpson

10-04-2005, 09:32 AM

When was the heyday of the fullback anyway?

Jim Brown was a fullback.

rkmsuf

10-04-2005, 09:50 AM

Jim Brown was a fullback.

One man does not make a heyday. Maybe a heybrad day, but not a heyday.

Samdari

10-04-2005, 09:53 AM

Jim Brown was a fullback.

Well, the original naming of the positions dealt with how far back from the line of scrimmage people stood. The "quarterback" was 1/4 of the way back, the halfback halfway, and the fullback all the way. Thus, the fullback was behind the halfback, quite the opposite of how we envision the positions today. The position Brown played was the farthest person behind the LOS at snap and the primary ballcarrier. Comparing him to today's fullbacks is apples/oranges.

Rasmuth

10-04-2005, 09:54 AM

Larry Csonka...fullback....3 consecutive 1000+ yard seasons (back when it was still a 14 game schedule). At 16 years old he was 6 foot 3, 237 pounds.

PLAYING RECORD
Regular Season NFL

RUSHING RECEIVING TOTALS
Season/Team Games Att Yds TD No Yds TD TD PTS
1968 Miami 11 138 540 6 11 118 1 7 42
1969 Miami 11 131 566 2 21 183 1 3 18
1970 Miami 14 193 874 6 11 94 0 6 36
1971 Miami 14 195 1051 7 13 113 1 8 48
1972 Miami 14 213 1117 6 5 48 0 6 36
1973 Miami 14 219 1003 5 5 22 0 7 42
1974 Miami 12 197 749 9 7 35 0 9 54
1976 NY Giants 12 160 569 4 6 39 0 4 24
1977 NY Giants 14 134 464 1 2 20 0 1 6
1978 NY Giants 14 91 311 6 7 73 0 6 36
1979 Miami 16 220 837 12 16 75 1 13 78

NFL Totals 146 1891 8081 64 104 820 4 70 420

not lined up real well...but it gets the point across...

I miss the bruising fullback/feature back combo

Passacaglia

10-04-2005, 10:38 AM

Van Brocklin was a fullback -- first player to run for 1000 yards.

dawgfan

10-04-2005, 10:54 AM

Roger Craig (1st player to record 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season) was a fullback, at least to start his career.

As recently as the late '80's/early '90's, fullbacks were still potentially a big part of the offense as ball-carriers and not simply blocking backs and safety-valve passing outlets. John L. Williams was a good example of this for the Seahawks.

Marcus Allen spent his first couple of seasons at USC at a FB blocking for Charles White.

Ryche

10-04-2005, 11:12 AM

I have to admit watching the Falcons use Justin Griffith to lead their running game this last weekend was a lot of fun. It made me wonder why you don't see that more often anymore, especially with the success teams have had using a fullback.

I think a big part of the issue is that it is so hard to find someone who can block, catch and run. At this point in the game, teams have trouble justifying a 'blocking' back who can't catch the football or be a threat to run as well. And everyone wants speed.

Who knows, if Atlanta gets to the Super Bowl, you may see a lot of teams try to copy their success.

Daimyo

10-04-2005, 11:27 AM

More than anything the decline of the fullback is probably due to the advance of the passing game. Back when teams used to run more than they passed it probably made sense to have two ball carriers lining up together and splitting carries - one guy couldn't possibly carry the whole load and without the threat of an advanced passing game you probably needed the other to block. Now that teams pass more, there are less rushes to spread around and its possible to have a featured back who gets almost all the carries.

For a while teams probably held onto using two backs for tradition even though one had all almost all the carries, but teams have come to realize in the last ten years it doesn't make much sense to keep a second guy out there in regular situations... how much difference can a pure blocking back really make outside the redzone? If you're going to use him as a receiver might as well just line up a TE or a third WR.