Who do LA Rams see as fullback at 2020 NFL Scouting Combine?

The LA Rams hinting about a fullback before the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine leads to questions: Who gets them there, and what does that offense look like?

The LA Rams, like any for-profit organization, must replicate past successes while creating new challenges for opposing teams. Challenges like a “What do I do with this 250-pound muscular fullback running straight at me?” sort of thing. Bad for them, Great for the LA Rams. A lot of rejuvenation occurs during the NFL Scouting Combine. This is the time when teams and fans alike remove last year’s soiled memories and don new clean hopes for a new season.

A new season for the Rams will likely include a fullback. But so far, this is not even to the blackboard phase. It’s merely a concept we’re tossing around, and the LA Rams are tossing around, and the original reactions have been that it just might work. All the while, the team is dividing and conquering, where GM Les Snead leads the team’s scouting department out and about at Indianapolis. Meanwhile, head coach Sean McVay remains in Los Angeles with his new coordinators.

Well, let’s add a little more progress to the concept.  After all, the LA Rams have had a fullback in the offense before. And we’d pointed out the correlation of fullbacks and offenses when the team hired the new running back coach Thomas Brown. That never happens if head coach Sean McVay had not already decided that the LA Rams need a fullback to add versatility to their offense.

Part of the reason the LA Rams have chosen a path for their new coordinators like sequestered jurors is to create new options, new dimensions, new challenges for opposing teams. One of those new challenges is placing a fullback in the offensive formation. And while the NFL has witnessed the diminished role of the fullback, some of the most successful teams have not only stuck with the fullback position but emphasized it.

Success favors the bold, which means fullback in the NFL

An October 2019 fivethirtyeight.com report on the subject was very enlightening.  In that report, the author Josh Hermsmeyer discussed that NFL success in 2019 favors the teams featuring the fullback. We’d highlighted that the two teams to compete in Super Bowl LIV both were very effective in their use of the fullback. But what of the NFC and AFC Championship games? Both the Green Bay Packers and the Tenessee Titans used a fullback position as well. In fact, only the LA Rams failed to show any two-back sets in 2019 through week 6.

Therein lies the problem.

Head coach Sean McVay runs the team but REALLY runs that offense.  Like anyone, he finds efficiency in replication.  So his 2017 offensive innovations became 2019 shortcuts which defenses could anticipate.  Defenses learned that LA Rams 11 packages (1 tight end, 1 running back) were very susceptible to quick pass rushes. So the Rams started to phase-in 12 packages (2 tight ends, 1 running back), which seemed to help stabilize the offensive line. But defenses are already working on defeating that formation.

The Rams need more variety, more blocking at the point of attack, more directed help for running back Todd Gurley and more pass protection for a passing quarterback Jared Goff.  As other teams in the NFL can testify, the Rams finally need to turn on the fullback option.

When is a fullback not a fullback?

The modern NFL fullback has been transforming for many years in the NFL. The fullback could also take the designation as an H-back, a Y-back, or Z-back. As an H-back, they play like a tight end and line up outside of the tackle, but set into a stance behind the line of scrimmage.

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A fullback becomes a power back when they line up behind the quarterback without another running back.  Typically, offenses featured a half back (a.k.a. tailback, a smaller running back who lined up behind and to left or right of QB) and a full back (lined up deeper in the backfield).

Perhaps some of the failure to the 2019 Rams rushing offense were the options on the table.  Running back Malcolm Brown was a seldom-used back who needs over 20 carries a game to soften up defenses. Todd Gurley is the quick-cutting, super-slashing feature back for the Rams.  Darrell Henderson was a project change of pace back, who really didn’t offer as much change of pace to Gurley as originally planned.  To hard-hitting NFL defenses, the Rams had a downhill, a finesse, and then a “Finesse-ier” back.

The LA Rams can benefit from a two-back formation, where the blocking back punishes anyone who jumps into the running lane. OR the Rams can stick with an 11 or 12 package, but simply run a much larger fullback to block, catch a pass, or run with the ball. All can be done in normal offensive sets, in a two-minute drill, or even out of the hurry-up offense. The entire mix-and-match opportunities will drive defenses to sleepless nights once more.  But who can threaten NFL defenses in this NFL Scouting Combine?

Scoring potential fullback combine drills

The fullback is truly not a tight end, not a running back, nor an offensive lineman. But at times, they will play like each of the three.  The same characteristics making the position difficult to fill on the roster, are the very reasons why defenses struggle to defend the position.  The player is often too big to be defended by a defensive back, too strong to be defending by the faster/lighter edge and pass-coverage linebackers, and too fast and agile to be defending by defensive linemen.

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So the right scoring out of the combine is to give a bit of the three roles a say in what makes a good fullback:

40-year dash 4.85 (similar to tight end)
10 yard split 1.70 (similar to tight end)
20 yard split 2.90 (between TE and OL)
bench press 23 (between TE and OL)
verticle jump 33 (between RB and TE)
broad jump 9-5 (between TE and OL)
short shuttle 4.35 (between TE and OL)
60-yard shuttle 11.8 (similar to tight end)

None of these are drop-dead thresholds.

Of course, the problem with many running backs who fit the fullback criteria not invited to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.  And of the ones

Promising 2020 young players

Boston College running back AJ Dillon is an option we’ve pointed out for the LA Rams, He is very muscular, but at 6-foot-0 and 247 pounds, he has the fearful bowling ball shape which tends to make defenders nervous after their first attempt to tackle or engage him.

He hit our marks for combine performance, but he is one of the few running backs in the power back or fullback category even earning an invitation to the NFL Scouting combine this year. He put up a 4.53 in the 40, 23 reps, 41 in verticle,  and 10-11 in broad.  He has a backup grade on NFL.com,  which is likely an early day three selection during the 2020 NFL Draft.

Nevada fullback Kelton Moore could fall to the ranks of undrafted players in the 2020 NFL Draft. But the Rams may choose to draft him in round seven to ensure they retain them. He is 5-foot-11 and weighs 240-pounds. He has not put much up on video footage, but his size places right into the center of “can he play a fullback in the NFL?”.  We’ll know more about him when Nevada has their pro day.

Iowa fullback Brady Ross is truly just a blocking back.  If that is what the LA Rams seek in the position, he could be had as an undrafted free agent, making his an almost no risk player to sign up. He offers a nice size at 6-foot-0 and 245 pounds, but it’s tough to pinpoint his upside with so little information about him. With no other information to guide, he’s at least worth signing to a 2020 contract to see what the coaching staff can do with him.