Secret Fullback: Will Seahawks carry one?

Seattle's depth charts are fooling you: Seaside Joe 1582

This week’s best Xs and Os video comes from Brett Kollmann, who made several interesting notes and observations on the NFL’s fullback position and how teams are getting extra backfield blockers/receivers on the team who aren’t actually labeled as “fullbacks”.

“The 2022 season was the first time in 17 years that fullback useage went up from the previous year in the NFL.”

Full 14-minute video here (when he starts talking about viewers who might be getting “hungry” in the middle of the tape, yes, that is an ad you can skip):

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Nick Bellore is not a fullback

Bellore has a great origin story, the headline being that he lied to coaches in order to get reps on offense, but he still ain’t a real NFL fullback. Since signing with the Seahawks in 2019, Bellore has played 29, 35, 19, and 17 snaps on offense in each of the past four seasons for a nice round total of 100.

By comparison, Laquon Treadwell played 138 snaps with Seattle in 2022 and you already forgot he was on the team.

But through 11 seasons, only one team and one coach has deemed Bellore a true fit for offense: Jim Bob Cooter and the 2018 Detroit Lions who ranked 25th in scoring and 28th in yards per carry. Aside from that season, Bellore’s history on offense is about as extensive as my history on TV; I made a random appearance on tubes a few years ago and that’ll be the end of that.

Positionless fullbacks

The notable non-fullback fullback that Kollman references from 2022 is former Rams seventh round pick Ben Skowronek, a wide receiver out of Notre Dame in 2021. Though Skowronek did play for the majority of L.A.’s Super Bowl win as a receiver (because of injuries) and then over 80% of the snaps in 2022 (because of injuries), he most likely doesn’t have a future in the league as a wide receiver.

But Skowronek could still make himself unexpendable as a fullback, at least for the forseeable future.

Skowronek doesn’t seem to possess the small and stocky frame that you expect of fullbacks, measuring just shy of 6’3 and around 220 lbs. The NFL’s most well-known fullback, Kyle Juszczyk of the 49ers, is 6’1, 248 lbs, or at least he was in 2013 at his Harvard pro day. But “prototypical fullback size” could be as outdated as the concept of a prototypical fullback.

We’re thinking of players from the ‘80s and ‘90s who were only on the field to block and be faster versions of undersized linebackers who could handle one-on-ones against normal-sized versions of linebackers. Skowronek represents a player who does have the size and speed to take on modern linebackers, while also possessing the background of a receiver, meaning that when he’s on the field he could motion inside to the backfield or to the outside as a wideout.

Do the Seahawks have someone like that? We already know that they do.

Dareke Young’s future as a fullback

Though he may never develop into starting wide receiver following his college career at Lenoir-Rhyne, Dareke Young has already out-snapped Nick Bellore’s entire offensive tenure with Seattle: Young had 109 snaps as a rookie, including some at fullback.

At his 2022 pro day, Young had a very Skowronek-like 6’2, 224 lbs measurement, also running the 40 in 4.44 and the 10-yard split in 1.54. Both great numbers for a player his size. Compare that to some other NFL players:

Justin Fields, 6’2, 227, 4.45 40-yard dash

Jonathan Mingo, 6’2, 220, 4.46 (Panthers 2nd round pick WR)

Andre Johnson, 6’2, 230, 4.41

Larry Fitzgerald, 6’3, 225, 4.48

Most running backs are simply not 6’2 or taller and Derrick Henry is one of those rare exceptions. He’s 6’3, 247, and he ran a 4.54 at the combine after winning the Heisman. Then you’ve got Deebo Samuel, the positionless wideout for the 49ers, and he’s 6’, 216, and ran a 4.48.

Dareke Young could be a lot like Skowronek though and that helps Seattle keep up with this potential trend of moving chess pieces around offense and sometimes placing your pawn in between the king and the queen.

The depth chart pages could be all wrong

When anyone does a 53-man roster projection or depth charts, etc., mostly we’re looking at the same depth charts as everyone else, which could be a part of the problem when it comes to getting predictions wrong. Every depth chart has Nick Bellore listed as the Seahawks fullback even though he basically averages ONE offensive snap per game.

If I run for one minute per week, does that make me “a runner”?

Every depth chart also lists Dareke Young as a wide receiver, and therefore we start going through the numbers by position and saying, “Well, will the Seahawks keep seven receivers?” But what if Young doesn’t have that much to do with what Sanjay Lal, receivers coach, wants to do this season?

Perhaps Bellore should be listed as “Special Teams” and nothing else.

Perhaps Young should be listed as “Fullback” before he’s listed as a receiver.

That’s where maybe we’re screwing up the eggs in our baskets.

If the Seahawks keep six receivers, it could be DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Dee Eskridge, Cade Johnson, and Jake Bobo. They could keep one fullback—Dareke Young—and one guy who exclusively plays special teams (Nick Bellore) and four running backs. Sure, Bellore has versatility to fill space on offense and defense, while Young has versaility to play special teams full-time and fill-in at receiver, but what are they really?

And that’s the question that offensive coordinator wants defenses to ask when the Seahawks put their players out on the field and the ball is about to be snapped in a few seconds…”What position is that guy playing? What is he really?”

He could be a fullback. Again.