Whatever happened to the fullback position?
The Game Plan by Charles Prince
The North Jefferson News
Sports evolve over time and offenses, defenses and strategies evolve with them. The latest “in thing” in football is the spread offense. Because so many teams are playing the spread, some positions seem to be disappearing from sight.
One of these is the position of fullback.
At the prep football level, so many clubs at the 5A and 6A level use the spread offense, that the Alabama Sports Writers Association has left off the positions of fullback and tight end on their All-State football teams for the last few years.
Simply put, not many schools even use the fullback or tight end positions anymore.
If their high schools or college teams had used the spread offense, great football players like Larry Conska or Jerome Bettis would have to find a spot on defense to get on the field, because they don’t fit the mold of small elusive players who can get open in the spread attack.
It appears that many teams miss out by not having a fullback. Look at how spread offenses often struggle to get the ball into the end zone, when they get inside the 10-yard line and then try to run the ball.
Running with just one back in the backfield causes problems down in the red zone. Without a lead blocker, the spread offense is handicapped when it comes time to punch the ball over from in close, or when trying to run the ball in short yardage situations.
Teams that utilize a fullback have a big advantage down close to the goal line. Coaches who employ I or Split-back sets, with a fullback in the game, don’t have the problems getting the ball into the end zone on the ground that most pass-happy spread teams do.
Look at a great example from the college ranks.
Florida Atlantic, under the direction of old-school coach Howard Schnellenberger, used two-back sets almost exclusively since the football program began three years ago.
Last year, the Owls became the youngest NCAA football program to ever reach a bowl game.
If you had a chance to see them play, their offense looked just like the Miami Dolphin offenses of the 1970s that featured Larry Conska at fullback. The main reason for the similarity is Schnellenberger, who was the Dolphins offensive coordinator then and the Owls head coach now.
Schnellenberger has always believed in using a fullback. In fact, during an interview last season, he said the first position he recruits for on offense is the fullback spot.
The Owls scored 22 rushing touchdowns last season.