Elijah Penny moving to fullback

[Gandhi]

Yes, I know, I know. A runningback moving to fullback is not exactly the most exiting news. I just thought it was interesting that Elijah Penny is moving to fullback. Mike Jurecki reported it on Twitter, and even though I don’t think Jurecki is very reliable, this I do believe. I like Penny, but I have always felt that he was a limited runningback, and that was probably why he was only used in very specific situations. I do think, however, that Penny could be a better fullback.

When the team announced their undrafted free agent signings one of the most interesting, to me, was fullback Austin Ramesh, not because of the player but because it might tell us something about the offensive systems under Mike McCoy.

It could very well be that McCoy will utilize a fullback which would, at least in theory, be very good news to David Johnson. Bruce Arians often utilized blocking tight ends instead of fullbacks, but I think the Cardinals only brought in Bryce Williams, who are not much of a blocker, and two undrafted free agent tight ends this offseason. Their best tight end, Jermaine Gresham, can block but I don’t think he is great at it, and I believe Ricky Seals-Jones has been running with the first team and are expected to have a larger role this season. Seals-Jones are basically a very big wide receiver. I think McCoy might be going away from the approach Arians had, and just maybe that could be Elijah Penny’s best chance to stay on the final roster.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Yes, I know, I know. A runningback moving to fullback is not exactly the most exiting news. I just thought it was interesting that Elijah Penny is moving to fullback. Mike Jurecki reported it on Twitter, and even though I don’t think Jurecki is very reliable, this I do believe. I like Penny, but I have always felt that he was a limited runningback, and that was probably why he was only used in very specific situations. I do think, however, that Penny could be a better fullback.

When the team announced their undrafted free agent signings one of the most interesting, to me, was fullback Austin Ramesh, not because of the player but because it might tell us something about the offensive systems under Mike McCoy.

It could very well be that McCoy will utilize a fullback which would, at least in theory, be very good news to David Johnson. Bruce Arians often utilized blocking tight ends instead of fullbacks, but I think the Cardinals only brought in Bryce Williams, who are not much of a blocker, and two undrafted free agent tight ends this offseason. Their best tight end, Jermaine Gresham, can block but I don’t think he is great at it, and I believe Ricky Seals-Jones has been running with the first team and are expected to have a larger role this season. Seals-Jones are basically a very big wide receiver. I think McCoy might be going away from the approach Arians had, and just maybe that could be Elijah Penny’s best chance to stay on the final roster.

Which to me suggests McCoy is going to incorporate a fullback into the offense... if so, they will need two but worth the benefit to DJ if they have a control passing game which relies on the run

 

[Dan H]

I like the idea of a blocking fullback in the backfield over a little guy like Kerwynn Williams, particularly on play action passes. . .

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Which to me suggests McCoy is going to incorporate a fullback into the offense... if so, they will need two but worth the benefit to DJ if they have a control passing game which relies on the run

Usually a team keeps one on the active roster and one on the practice squad.

For the 45 active players on game day, there is usually a TE that learns the position for emergency purposes.

I REALLY like this move.

 

[Camshaft]

Penny was a fullback his junior year and weighed 250 lbs. He was a tailback his senior year and weighed 235 lbs. As a freshman and sophmore he was a tailback and outside linebacker and weighed 225 lbs.

 

[JeffGollin]

Whoah.

Penny may not be a full time FB.

He may be a FB when the formation calls for it and a standard backup RB the rest of the time.

Otherwise we'd have no backup RB behind David Johnson.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Is fullback still a thing?

 

[Heucrazy]

Whoah.

Penny may not be a full time FB.

He may be a FB when the formation calls for it and a standard backup RB the rest of the time.

Otherwise we'd have no backup RB behind David Johnson.

Except for that one they drafted in the 4th round.

 

[gmabel830]

Except for that one they drafted in the 4th round.

And we have TJ Logan and DJ Foster too

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Jetstream Green]

Is fullback still a thing?

Just like a fullback, it's picking up steam again... which is natural to take advantage of all those hybrid nickle formations and their lighter weight players in my opinion

 

[oaken1]

Just like a fullback, it's picking up steam again... which is natural to take advantage of all those hybrid nickle formations and their lighter weight players in my opinion

exactly...as defenses get smaller and faster, running backs will get bigger to compensate.

 

[pinetopred]

Watch Rbs become the best players again QBs are being way overpayed.

Olineman coming into NFL suck from college but most can run block it's a cycle be in front of it and every good team will be going the direction of power run game that leads to play action.

Wrs also have been sucking coming from college very few actually know how to run routes.
JMO the less you have to teach these kids the better chance they have to be successful

 

[Gandhi]

Just like a fullback, it's picking up steam again... which is natural to take advantage of all those hybrid nickle formations and their lighter weight players in my opinion

Exactly. This is just my personal theory, but I can see that other posters share it.

The schemes, playcalls and playing style in the NFL is basically like a pendulum that swings back and forth. When the offense does something, the defense response. When the defense does something, the offense response.

As we all know, the passing offenses has been favored in the recent years, and thus the defenses have countered by playing more defensive backs, and ever since the Cardinals began to use Bucannon as a small linebacker that could move better than a traditional linebacker, a lot of other teams picked up the approach and started deploy the same kind of linebacker.

What I am thinking is that small linebackers and defensive backs is obviously less physically strong than bigger players and thus vulnerable to the run game. Nobody care how they win, so if a team have to sustain very long offensive drives and run the ball all day, they will do that. By throwing the ball there is a bigger chance of scoring a lot of points fast which help if you are trailing, but I am not saying the passing game will simply disappear from the game. What I am saying is that I predict that the pendulum will swing back again, at least to some degree, and the run game will once again be a bigger part of an offensive gameplan.

This is where the fullback comes into the picture.

 

[Brak]

Carson Palmer might still be playing if the Cards had employed a fullback under Arians.

 

[Jasper]

Carson Palmer might still be playing if the Cards had employed a fullback under Arians.

In hindsight BA might have never been let go in Pittsburgh if he employed a fullback.

 

[WisconsinCard]

In hindsight BA might have never been let go in Pittsburgh if he employed a fullback.

I think if Pittsburgh would have employed a FB BA would have been fired sooner. Rather it be for not using them or for them wanting to move to an OC that used a FB. Tomlin didn't want to use a FB either or he would have never employed BA or let him run that type of system.