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Once considered a key part of the game, the fullback position has largely fallen off the radar in professional football. As the rules shifted towards higher scoring games and more passing, the running back position diminished and fullbacks have been all but wiped out.
Some teams still use them to varying degrees of success. The Philadelphia Eagles need to become one of those teams.
After watching the Eagles’ offense last year, and with the expected look of them now with Doug Pederson at the helm, the resurrection of the ground game will be critical to the Eagles’ turnaround. They’ve got too many question marks across the board, especially with Sam Bradford and the state of the wide receivers. So if the Eagles want to improve noticeably on the offensive front, they’re going to need production from their running backs.
Brandon Brooks should easily fill one of the starting guard spots, and I’ll wager that a draft pick will wind up taking the other spot. But grabbing a fullback would be a nice insurance policy, and would provide a feeling of security to Ryan Mathews or whoever else becomes the starter. The line, at least on paper, should be better than last year. A little extra help really wouldn’t hurt.
The best part about it is that the Eagles can do it for dirt cheap. If they want to use Trey Burton in that role for nothing, they certainly could, but he’s too versatile. I wouldn’t want to pigeonhole the guy like that. So there’s that option, but then there’s also the draft where good fullback prospects like Glenn Gronkowski and Derek Watt could be had for next to nothing — a seventh-round pick at most.
It all depends on if Pederson is comfortable burning a roster spot like that, but it’s a logical move that I think would benefit the Eagles more than a body anywhere else on the roster would. It’s certainly not flashy, but a fullback could become the Eagles’ best friend in 2016.
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