For coaches who tend to lean on a pro-style attack to move the ball and score points, a fullback is often one of the key pieces to the offense. Programs like Alabama, Michigan State, and Wisconsin have won a ton of games over the past several seasons by featuring a fullback in the backfield.
However, as the spread and three, four and five receivers personnel groupings continue to become more and more prevalent in the high school and college ranks, fullbacks are becoming a true dying breed. Guys with the unique build and traits of former Tampa Bay running back Mike Alstott (perhaps the most famous fullback of the last few decades) are becoming unbelievable rare in today's football landscape.
In fact, they're so rare that Kirby Smart noted recently that he won't be saving any scholarships for fullbacks at Georgia, even if they do happen to be a key part of the offense moving forward.
Earlier this week Smart noted that he's simply "not a fullback guy," and then a day later he was asked what that meant again he he responded by saying the same thing before expanding to explain that there are really minimal differences between tight ends and fullbacks. Other than their height perhaps, tight ends and fullbacks often share many of the same traits, including a similar build, relative speed, and skill set while primarily blocking and occasionally catching the ball.
"I’m more of a tight end guy than a fullback guy. If you look at the course of scholarships in the SEC, I don’t think you’ll find a whole lot of fullbacks who were signed to be fullbacks. You’ll find tailbacks that were converted. You’ll find O-linemen that might be converted who could run.” Smart told DawgNation.
Smart also noted that he values versatility, and fullbacks often lack that trait.
“It’s one of those situations where we try to get the best quality player who can play the most positions. Sometimes a fullback is more limited. There’ll be fullbacks in our offense. There probably won’t be scholarship fullbacks in our offense right now."
Just for fun, coaches who love fullbacks will love these tweets: