
Are Fullbacks an Underrated Position?
It is no secret that the league has become a lot more pass heavy in the last few decades. Teams use to be run through the running back, but that has now shifted to the quarterback. It has become such a pass heavy league that now even running backs need to have some sort of pass catching ability to be considered elite. With the league turning into a pass heavy league, the fullback position has almost died out.
Most people nowadays cannot even name a fullback in the league and most younger viewers of the sport probably do not even know what a fullback is. This is not surprising however because the position has almost become irrelevant in the new league. The last time a fullback was drafted in the first round was William Floyd in 1994. It is definitely not a super desirable position; however, I think that it may be a little undervalued.
For people who do not know, the fullback position blocks and runs the ball. You can think of them as almost the tight end of the back field. Fullbacks really only ran on short yardage plays because they were usually bigger and could just use their size and weight to barrel their way through. Nowadays fullbacks are really only used to block on some run plays and rarely if ever run the ball. This is because running backs essentially get paid to do all of the down. If your running back cannot do every type of run, then they are not considered an elite running back. My problem is that it seems like sometimes these teams are so stuck on making sure they use their running back, that they do not even think about using a fullback in a situation where a fullback would be better. I think that fullbacks deserve more reps, especially when these running backs need a break.
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