Frank Summers, Orson Charles, Tony Fiammetta, Montell Owens, Stanley Havili, Will Ta’u fo’ou, Anthony Sherman, John Conner, James Develin, Tommy Bohanon, Bruce Miller, Derick Coleman, Will Johnson, Erik Lorig, Darrel Young and Collin Mooney. Can you guess what these names have in common?
Let me give you a hint… Kyle Juszczyk, Robert Hughes, Jerome Felton, Patrick DiMarco, Ryan Hewitt, Jed Collins, Jay Prosch, and Emil Igwenagu.
No idea yet?
What if I toss in a few more recognizable names in Vonta Leach, Mike Tolbert, Greg Jones, John Kuhn, Marcel Reece, and Le’Ron McClain to the list? Now can you guess?
If you said they all play Fullback then pat yourself on the back because each of the above named players were fullbacks in the National Football League between 2013 and 2014. In all honesty, how many of the above names have you ever heard of before? Thirty names and I would bet most people could probably count on one hand the names they recognize and the teams they played on in 2014.
But how could this be? I mean, these aren’t practice squad players or roster filling special teamers toiling in obscurity that we’re talking about. The above guys are one of 11 guys that take the field on offense for their respective teams. Some of these names are starting Fullback’s pulled from the 2014 NFL team depth charts and at least two make the Pro Bowl every year so how is it that a position which once featured the likes of Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Jim Taylor, Alan Ameche, Mike Alstott and more could become a picture on a milk carton?
The answer to the downfall of the Fullback rests in the increased use of the Tight End position. Based on my own unofficial review of 2013 and 2014 depth charts there were six teams that didn’t even have a Fullback on their roster and a seventh that started a Tight End in the Fullback spot. While true that the NFL’s offense-friendly rule changes have led to the demise of the “Run-First” offensive philosophy that was the cornerstone of successful NFL teams of decades past, teams do still need blockers to keep their QB upright so how is it that the Fullback position has reached what I refer to as “Milk Carton” status?
How is it that John Kuhn, a two time Pro-Bowl Fullback (coming off a Pro-Bowl and All-Pro season in 2014) is an afterthought in the first week of free agency to the extent that Kuhn’s agent recently stated that his client wouldn’t get a deal done until later in free agency?
The answer is that Tight End killed the Fullback Star.
A glance at the record book tells a compelling story. Decades ago the running game, complete with bruising fullback’s, was the way to win in the NFL.
While playing with the San Diego Chargers, Hall of Fame Tight End Kellen Winslow wowed everyone with his pass-catching prowess, showing everyone exactly what kind of impact a TE could have. Playing from 1979 – 1987, Winslow is ranked 134th all-time in receiving yards with 6,741 yards. At almost the exact same time (1978-1990), across the nation in Cleveland, Browns Hall of Fame TE Ozzie Newsome was helping General Managers and Coaches realize what a weapon pass-catching TE’s could be. Newsome ended his career ranked 92nd all-time in receiving yards with 7,890 yards.
It’s in the 80’s that the demise of the bruising, blocking Fullback began.
The Joe Gibbs coached Washington Redskins were one of the most successful teams in the NFL in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. One of the things that Joe Gibbs did was to utilize Tight End’s out of the backfield in a way that is often referred to as an “H-Back”. In my words, the H-Back is a Fullback/TE hybrid. The Redskins had great success utilizing the H-Back which led to teams copying what they did and designing more plays with the Tight End lining up as a back in the backfield. It also opened the door for more offensive play designs where talented H-Backs, many times more athletic than Fullbacks, could be utilized as offensive weapons.
Franky Wycheck was exactly this kind of player. Wycheck played from 1993 to 2003 for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise. Classified officially as a Tight End, Wycheck made his money coming out of the backfield blocking and catching passes as an H-Back. Wycheck is currently 250th all-time in receiving yards with 5,126 yards.
At the same time that Wycheck was excelling as an H-Back for the Titans, a Fullback by the name of Larry Centers (1990 – 2003) began challenging the way Fullback’s were used. Playing for the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, Centers would go on to set records catching passes from the Fullback position. In 1995 Centers became the first RB ever to catch 100 passes in a season. Proving it wasn’t a fluke, Centers caught 99 more in 1996. By the time he retired he ranked 131st all-time in receiving yardage with 6,797 yards; just ahead of Kellen Winslow. The change from a bruising/blocking Fullback was fully underway. Teams saw first-hand what a pass-catching Fullback could do.
Connecting the dots, it should come as no surprise that Joe Gibbs was the offensive coordinator for Kellen Winslow’s San Diego Chargers prior to becoming the head coach in Washington where the H-Back was showcased. Gibbs’ offensive line coach in Washington was a guy named Joe Bugel who just happens to be the head coach that drafted Larry Centers and helped hone his game. Likewise, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Franky Wycheck’s head coach for most of his career was Jeff Fisher who just happens to coach one of the seven NFL teams I mentioned previously as not having a Fullback on their roster today.
As the careers of Kellen Winslow and Ozzie Newsome came to an end the career of another Hall of Fame Tight End was beginning in Shannon Sharpe. Playing for the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens from 1990 to 2003, few Tight End’s in football were as impactful as Shannon Sharpe. Sharpe picked up where Newsome and Winslow left off setting records for a Tight End in receptions, receiving yards and TD’s scored. Sharpe became the first Tight End to reach the 10,000 yards receiving mark for a career; currently ranked 43rd overall with 10,060 total yards. In what surely was no coincidence, it was Ozzie Newsome acting as the General Manager of the Baltimore Ravens that brought Sharpe to Baltimore for the 2000 and 2001 seasons where Sharpe helped the franchise win their first ever Super Bowl Championship.
With Sharpe the Tight End star was shining as bright as it ever had but it was about to go full supernova and change the NFL for good as one of the best Tight Ends that the NFL will ever see entered the fray in Tony Gonzalez. Playing from 1997 to 2013 for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons, Gonzalez shattered Sharpe’s records for Tight End. Gonzalez became so good that his statistics rivaled that of Wide Receivers during a time in which receivers themselves were setting records. Gonzalez ended his career with the 5th most receiving yards all-time (15,127 yards). Only Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and Isaac Bruce have more yards than Tony Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer and his career only served to further demonstrate the impact that the Tight End position holds over the Fullback position.
As Gonzalez’s career was playing out two more future Hall of Fame Tight End’s began their careers in 2003. Playing for the Dallas Cowboys, Jason Witten has climbed to 35th all-time in receiving yards with 10,502 yards. Witten is still playing and barring injury he should break the top 30 in all-time receiving yards after this coming season. The same can be said for Antonio Gates who, while playing for the San Diego Chargers, has amassed a career that ranks 44th all-time in receiving yards, just 46 yards behind Shannon Sharpe. Like Jason Witten, Antonio Gates is still playing at a high rate and should continue to climb towards the top 30 in receiving yards all-time.
As the names of starting Fullbacks double as a question category on Jeopardy, the number of Household Tight End names are at an all-time high. Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten, and Antonio Gates represent today’s versions of Tony Gonzalez, Kellen Winslow, Shannon Sharpe and Ozzie Newsome. While not yet household names, there exists an abundant crop of young Tight End talent in today’s NFL that can and will further the trend of the Tight End position eliminating the need for the traditional Fullback.
New England Patriot’s Head Coach Bill Belichick took the Tight End craze up a notch by creating a formidable two Tight End offense that has been widely successful for several years now. How long will it be until teams and coaches copy Belichick’s plan the way that teams borrowed from Joe Gibbs H-Back schemes? Jimmy Graham’s stats have been so impressive that his agent spent last off-season making the very valid case for his client to be categorized as a Wide Receiver. Nobody will mistake Vernon Davis’ career for Kellen Winslow’s yet with one less year under his belt Davis is ranked 210th all-time in receiving yards with 5,446 yards, only 1,295 yards off Winslow’s career mark.
With the kind of production that teams are getting out of the Tight End position today I think it’s safe to say that the Fullback position won’t be making a comeback any time soon. Gone are the days of the three yards and a cloud of dust type offense that Fullbacks were am essential part of. It’s a shame but today’s Fullbacks are one step above special teams players. They are paid little to take a lot of abuse. They’re underappreciated. Today teams pick bruising backs up off the street that are willing to run full steam ahead into 300+ pound defensive linemen. Heck, today’s NFL has taken to putting LB’s and Defensive linemen into the game in place of Fullbacks. I’m not sure how long it will be before Fullbacks are removed from the annual Pro-Bowl and All-Pro listings but I’m pretty sure that when it happens the Fullback spots will be replaced with Tight Ends.
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