How come NFL teams rarely run the fullback anymore? They used to.?

Question

Most NFL teams these days just have one primary running back. On Mike Alstott's rookie card, it describes him as a "throwback." Are there many(or any) fullbacks in the Hall of Fame because of their blocking ability?

Answer 1

multi-TE sets....that is why....they are becoming obsolete.

Answer 2

Its all about the big name running backs now, the fullbacks get no respect at all. Back in the day the fullback got alot of spot light. Now the offensive is focused and developed around a player or two like in the case of San Diego. Tomlinson accounts for the majority of the offense the Chargers will see. The offense would be in a whole lot of trouble if he were injured. Teams should spread the ball around more and get the fullback involved. Mack Strong has some pretty decent runs twards the end of last season during the Seahawks run, but thats about it.

Answer 3

I hope it never happens. The NFL has plenty of cities right here in the USA that would like a team, and Canada already has the CFL, which predates the NFL by decades. The Argonauts are the oldest professional sports team in all of North America ... does the NFL really want to destroy more than 130 years of tradition just to expand its market and make a buck? That would be a travesty. You say you don't have a team to root for up there? You have eight in your own league, and you have NFL teams near the border, like Buffalo, Detroit, and Seattle. You can't compare the NFL to the other major sports leagues. Baseball never had its own major league in Canada, so it was no big deal to expand into Canada. Same for the NBA. And the NHL started as an international league. But unlike those other sports, the USA and Canada each have separate professional football leagues. They grew up alongside each other, and each one has its own long history and rich traditions. The CFL is a deeply ingrained part of Canadian culture. I'm a big NFL fan, but I like watching the CFL, too. It's a completely different variety of game, and football fans would be poorer for its demise -- especially if the demise began with its most storied franchise. Please, NFL, just leave the CFL and the Argos alone. Oh, and Jimmy ... no one is talking about adding two teams to the NFL. They're talking about adding two *games* to the regular season. The NFL won't expand for a long, long time, if ever. If a new city gets a team, it will be because an existing franchise wants to move.

Answer 4

Fullbacks are being used almost as linemen now days. You hardly hear a fullback running for 50 or 100 yards. It has to do with the management... most of the fullbacks are being paid to block and not carry the ball 15 times a game. And if a fullback IS good at running the ball, guess what, he's a running back now.

Answer 5

running backs these days are generally far more versatile than they used to be, meaning teams can give them the ball in more situation and they like that because it means a higher return on their investment in the rb. teams don't run the fullback because it's not efficient. if you can run your regular rb and have a better shot a breaking a big run while still gaining more yards per carry, why wouldn't you? also, teams do use their fullbacks, but mostly as receivers and short-yardage guys. alstott and neal are throwbacks because they mostly block. fullbacks these days are actually short-yardage and goal-line running backs. there aren't really any decent blocking fullbacks coming into the league, and the position is dying out

Answer 6

Lorenzo Neal is known to bust out some huge running games a decent amount of times a season. I do agree though, too many teams put too much of an emphasis on their RB, even when they don't have a good one.