Once again it is the middle of July. For me, this marks the end
of the "silly season" and the beginning of the "fantasy
season." I am now recovered from last year's afflictions and
followed the bloopers and blunders of off season NFL action. There
was the usual number of drug arrests, infractions of NFL abuse policy,
domestic violence incarcerations and weapon's charges; same old,
same old.
The draft held few surprises as teams sought to fill holes and bolster
themselves for the 2003 run to the Super Bowl. There has also been
the usual number of free agents seeking to change addresses and
increase their salaries, but the player group with perhaps the most
changes of address have traditionally been the least noticed…
fullbacks.
I already hear fantasy players saying, "So what? They don't
carry the ball so I never draft them." On the surface, this
would seem to be a smart strategy. After all, a sampling of the
"best" fullbacks in the league yields results that would
hardly have the least competent fantasy owner salivating. On the
whole, these "ball carriers" averaged a little over 100
yards for the season. (Yes season!) They average one touch of the
football every game and a half and less than one touchdown scored
for the entire season (.687 TD's). On top of these less than dazzling
stats, they are at the bottom of the NFL salary ladder making well
under a million a year. So, why even look at these guys? The answer
is... in front of every good running back is a mammoth front line
and a "moose" willing to give up their body to spring
an agile "squirrel" carrying the ball.
In addition to this, fullbacks are the guys who are back there protecting
the quarterback from the ill intent of the league's linebackers.
Reggie McKenzie, along with the rest of the Buffalo line may have
been the power company to turn on the "The Juice," but
Emmitt Smith followed the "Moose" Daryl Johnson. The "Moose"
may be retired to the announcing booth, but the rest of the herd
has relocated to various parts of the NFL. It is no surprise their
migration has gone virtually unnoticed.
Last year's Pro-Bowl fullback, Lorenzo Neal, sought the greener
pastures of San Diego. Fred McCrary left warm San Diego for the
cooler climes of New England while their former full back, Marc
Edwards headed for Jacksonville. Fittingly, Oakland's Jon Ritchie
left for Philadelphia while Cecil Martin of the Eagles headed for
Oakland. Former Buffalo fullback Larry Centers left trying to get
on with his former team Washington, in the mean time former Bills
back, Sam Gash, is once again located in the ice box of northwest
New York.
Despite this mass migration of "moose" around the league, two of
the best have stayed at home; Fred Beasley of San Francisco and
Tony Richardson of Kansas City. They are not staying there for the
glory as they rushed for a total of 75 yards and 81 yards respectively
for the entire 2002 campaign. Between them they scored a total of
four TD's; one for Beasley and three for Richardson. (Even more
amazing, they are both from Auburn University) In fact, looking
at the top 16 offensive teams in the NFL, and their fullbacks, only
four of them scored even a single rushing touchdown with Oakland's
back up, now starter, Zach Crockett leading the pack. (8 TD's for
last season) The point, if you missed it, is all 16 of the top offenses
has a fullback and even Jacksonville, who did not list the position
last year, decided to attain one of the "beasts" to protect Mark
Brunell and to spearhead the attack of Fred Taylor. (#10 rusher
in the NFL for 2002) Seems NFL owners may know what fantasy owners
ignore, an offense is only as good as their blocking, moose can
block.
Once the sumo wrestling has started at the snap of the ball, it
is the job of the fullback to take on the linebackers and clear
a path or pick-up the blitz. On paper it is a fairly even match.
The average NFL linebacker weighs in at about 237 pounds and stands
six foot one and a half inches. His adversary weighs in at almost
246 pounds and stands at almost six feet one inches. Both of them
get a running start of about three steps before contact, here experience
counts. The average fullback has survived the thrashing for a little
over six seasons; his opponent has slightly less experience. The
pending outcome of this collision determines the effectiveness of
the ball carrier. Last season there were 16 rushers with over a
thousand yards, fifteen of them were led by fullbacks. (The lone
exception was Fred Taylor and this season he has more beef up front.)
Out of the 16 top offenses in the NFL last season, every team had
a crushing full back and at least 35 touchdowns for the year. (Okay,
Minnesota lists Jim Kleinsasser as an "H" Back, but at
6'3" and 274 lbs. he is a fullback.) The top four offenses
averaged better than 50 TD's for the season with Kansas City and
Priest Holmes leading the way to 26 rushing scores. Actually, it
was a moose named Tony Richardson who led the way for a squirrel
names Holmes. The value of the fullback cannot be under estimated,
there is too much at stake.
What impact the likes of Lorenzo Neal is going to have on the games
of Drew Breese and LaDainian Tomlinson remains to be seen. He sure
helped Corey Dillon to a few successful seasons on a largely unsuccessful
team. In the fantasy publications I have read, Tomlinson is rated
the number one running back this season, I don't think Lorenzo is
going to argue this point. With only 31 total yards last season
and eleven years in the league he certainly knows his position and
who to hit after the snap of the ball.
Jon Ritchie blocked for the leading passer in the NFL, Rich Gannon,
allowing Rich to throw for 4,475 yards and 26 Td's. He is not going
to hurt the performance of Duce Staley or Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia.
Zach Crockett may well give way to Cecil Martin, but he will still
be the battering ram of the Raiders when the ball is less than five
yards from pay dirt. There can be no question Marc Edwards will
help the production of Fred Taylor and perhaps prolong the carrier
of Brunell. This addition may even help him reacquire his position
as one of the NFL's elite passers after a less than spectacular
2002 season.
While some teams have acquired a new moose in the free agent market,
others culled their herd to find replacements for moose who have
gone to greener marshes. These replacements will have some large
hoofs to fill. In Cincinnati, Neal has been replaced by three year
veteran Chris Edmonds. At 6'3" and 250 pounds, Edmonds is typical
of his species have zero yards and the same number of touchdowns
for the 2002 campaign. In Atlanta "the glue" holding together
the offense was forced to retire. Bob Christian became concussion
prone after butting heads too many times; he is being replaced by
three year veteran George Layne. Standing at 5'11" and weighing
253 pounds he is a prototypical specimen of his breed. For the 2002
season he accumulated a total of five yards while failing to score
a single time. It remains to be seen how this change will affect
the respective backfields, but it should be minimal, both Edmonds
and Layne are home bred.
So the silly season is over... or maybe not. (Has Al Davis finished
all of this year's law suits yet? You would think the guy has more
to think about after last year's Super Bowl effort than pursuing
copyright infringements alleged by the winner of the game?)
Start preparing for the this season's draft by taking a look at
the guys who will be clearing a path for darting squirrels and protecting
the passer, it may be all the recognition they get outside of their
coaching staffs and team mates. (Don't include Mike Alstott in your
assessment, not only is he listed as an "Ace" back, he
denounces the title of fullback, moose are proud of their species).
There is nothing silly about drafting smart from being informed
about the lesser recognized species residing in the league. When
asked why he plays the position of "lead blocker" Detroit's
Cory Schlesinger said, "Sometimes they throw you a bone."
Funny, I always thought Moose were vegetarians.
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