Howard Griffith navigated another long drive last week, rumbling toward Purdue as part of his Big Ten Network coverage. He was lost in anonymity as chunks of yards disappeared underneath him. It was just like old times when he served as the fullback for Terrell Davis in the Broncos’ vaunted rushing attack.
When the Broncos hired Gary Kubiak, it was not just a blast from the past. It was a Blast! from the past. As part of Kubiak’s zone-blocking offense, the fullback will return to the roster. The Broncos haven’t featured a true fullback on their 53-man roster since Chris Gronkowski in 2012, and Spencer Larsen boasted the last part-time role in the running game in 2008.
Twenty-three NFL teams used fullbacks last season. The Broncos will join the group this season with Juwan Thompson and Joe Don Duncan, signed last month, the current candidates to fill the vacancy. Kubiak also will look to add depth through the draft, which starts April 30, or with a street free agent. Griffith, who ran an offense guided by Kubiak in Denver that won two Super Bowls, reacted to the news with delight.
“Everyone wants to be an innovator. No one thinks you can get a head coaching job if you are just turning around and handing the ball off. It’s not sexy. But when you need to run out the clock and get those tough first downs, some of those spread offenses can’t do it,” Griffith said. “You have to be able to run. Some people consider it old school. It’s just football, and you need a fullback.”
As fantasy league owners rejoice about the weekly offensive explosions, the focus on muscle shifts into the shadows. It remains important as the league’s pass-happy perception is not the reality of many successful teams. Over the past two seasons, 15 of the 24 playoff teams ranked in the top 12 in rushing attempts.
Power football exists, and wins.
“My thing is that to be really effective in the running game, you have to run the fullback. We will have people in the fullback position,” Broncos general manager John Elway said. “I think to be really effective, you have to have another package.”
The Broncos tried to throttle up their running game after a humbling November loss to the St. Louis Rams. Pro Bowler C.J. Anderson blossomed — the undrafted tailback will enter offseason workouts as a starter — but the balance left quarterback Peyton Manning ineffective and lacking confidence. With Kubiak, power-based sets will increase in multiple formations, including the pistol, a concession to the shotgun Manning has mastered.
“I’m the one who has to adjust and find out how I’m going to mesh everything together,” Kubiak said. “That’s what we’ve been doing, and I told Peyton that from the start. We are going to run his offense and do what he does best, but it’s going to be the Broncos’ offense.”
In Kubiak’s eight-year tenure as the Houston Texans’ head coach, his fullbacks averaged 450 snaps per season. Kyle Juszczyk, Baltimore’s fullback last season with Kubiak as offensive coordinator, logged 465 snaps, second-best in the NFL behind San Francisco’s Bruce Miller.
“I absolutely think it will work again in Denver,” Griffith said. “Isn’t it just the perfect setup? Peyton’s late in his career, just like Elway was. You have a coach who is a former offensive coordinator who knows what it takes to win a championship. He knows Peyton doesn’t need to throw 50 times a game. There’s a different way. You get that running game going with a fullback and crank it up.”
The Broncos wanted to run the ball more last season, but they never fully committed to the approach. Davis said that’s the key, noting a fullback’s integral role.
“We had that mind-set in the building that we were going to run the ball. With Howard, the receivers, everyone was on the same page,” Davis said. “We took pride in it.”
Griffith found himself in an unusual position with the Broncos. He was an electric college running back at Illinois but embraced a selfless role. His vision as a runner helped him as a blocker for Davis. He anticipated how plays would develop, freeing him to pick up weakside defenders off the script.
“It’s funny, because I have run into O-line coaches, and they want to know what our calls were on the backside plays. There was never any calls made. We just knew from the defensive alignment where I would go,” Griffith said. “It happened by accident in practice, and where I picked up the most dangerous guy on a play, and we just kind of took it from there.”
While spread offenses have threatened a fullback’s existence, it makes those remaining more valuable. Linebackers have become lighter and faster, to cover more space. It makes them vulnerable to blocks. The zone-blocking system doesn’t require knockout blows from the fullback, just to hold ground with a stronger lower body, allowing the tailback to cut behind in the vertically designed running plays.
“I am sure they will have a variation of our offense from back in the day and still try to spread the football some,” Griffith said. “But if you want to play physical football, you have to run the ball. And you have to be able to run when you want to, not when you need to. A fullback can help you dominate those one-on-one matchups.”
