New York Jets: Fullback isn’t dead for Gang Green
Some say that the fullback is a dead position in the NFL, but for the New York Jets it will be an integral position in their success.
When you think of the fullback position, many fans of the New York Jets will think of guys like Richie Anderson — a bruiser who lead the way for Curtis Martin — or Mike Alstott, who was primarily used in short yardage spots.
With Jeremy Bates now taking over as the Jets offensive coordinator, expect the fullback to be used. This is especially given the arrival of a guy like Dimitri Flowers who presents the versatility to play multiple positions.
Bates comes from the Mike Shanahan school of offense. In that philosophy, even to this day (with his son Kyle first as an offensive coordinator and now the head coach in San Francisco), the fullback is used extensively.
As Mark Bullock of The Washington Post points out, the younger Shanahan has used the fullback and tight ends a lot in San Francisco.
An underrated part of the Kyle Shanahan offense is backfield sifting. Sift refers to someone, typically a FB/TE working back across the flow of the OLine. Kyle does it a lot on inside zone runs. Look at how the Mike LB is held by the FB sift, allowing back side TE to reach him pic.twitter.com/nMvRHaH919
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) July 2, 2018
Off of this, Kyle will run a bootleg pass and sift the FB to the flat. Titans LBs lose the FB totally, but the safety makes a great adjustment to prevent an easy throw to the flat pic.twitter.com/go29NTiemz
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) July 2, 2018
Shanahan also used the sift in the read-option package, by having the FB sift back across the line and fake block the unblocked DE before looping around to arc block the scraping LB. pic.twitter.com/T1I7k7bZWb
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) July 2, 2018
The Jets have two fullbacks listed on their roster for training camp. It shouldn’t shock anyone if both make the team, especially since Flowers can play multiple positions (fullback, wingback, H-back, tight end).
Whether it’s the versatile Flowers or Lawrence Thomas, the fullback will play a vital role in the success of the Jets offense. He will be expected to be a blocker and a pass-catcher. He will be expected to line up in various places, also.
Next: Jets: Burning questions heading into training camp
People may think the position is dead and buried, but in the NFL there will always be use for a fullback. The position will evolve with the times, and it won’t be what we’ve come to know, but that’s ok, because it’s still a vital position in the grand scheme of things. It’s more of a change of thinking of what the position is than burying the position completely. Football is an ever evolving sport, and the fullback position is evolving with it.