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Posted June 2, 2007
Fullback projects compete for time
By Tom Pelissero
tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com
If Justin Griffith and Terrelle Smith hadn't spurned the Green Bay Packers' overtures in free agency, Ryan Powdrell wouldn't have been sitting at his locker Thursday afternoon, speaking about competing for a starting job.
Brandon Miree started three games last season and was the only fullback left on the roster after the team cut veteran William Henderson in March. Griffith and Smith visited Green Bay but signed elsewhere, so the Packers filled the roster by drafting Korey Hall and signing undrafted rookies Powdrell and Corey White.
Eighteen months ago, none of those three played fullback.
That the Packers settled for projects to compete with Miree may indicate just how much more tight ends will shift into the backfield this season, the offense's second running a zone-blocking scheme.
The fullback job exists, though, and Miree isn't necessarily guaranteed the role. In Thursday's OTA practice, Miree got the first snap in which the offense used a fullback, while Powdrell opened the second team period with the starters.
"You have to be able to run and make cuts and adjust on the run once the ball is snapped," Powdrell said of the Packers' blocking scheme, calling it "nearly identical" to the one in which he played after moving from linebacker to fullback as a senior at Southern California.
"Instead of just running straight downhill and blocking somebody, you've got to be able to read it as you go, (then) get back underneath."
Henderson was too big and slow to fit in the scheme then-offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski installed last season. Miree, who began the season on the practice squad, probably would have finished as the starter if not for a midseason elbow injury.
At 5-foot-11 and a bulked-up 243 pounds, Miree has the right combination of size and quickness to fit in a zone scheme he also studied for two seasons — one on injured reserve, one on the practice squad — with the Denver Broncos. But he's had trouble staying healthy and has played in only 10 NFL games, last year.
The Packers thought enough of Hall, a linebacker at Boise State, to draft him in the sixth round. Like Powdrell, he will try to lean on his defensive background to identify opposing fronts and solidify protection.
White is listed as a fullback but has practiced mostly at halfback, the position he played in a shotgun offense at Alabama-Birmingham. If anything, he's more likely to be a combo back who can fill in as a blocker in a pinch.
"Everything moves so fast, and you've got to be crisp to get up in that hole and make that block," White said. "Your decision is important for the running back so he can make his move."
That's especially true now that the Packers' halfback for the past seven seasons, Ahman Green, is a Houston Texan. Of the nine fullbacks and tight ends on the roster, four or five capable blockers must emerge to give Vernand Morency and Brandon Jackson room to work.
Coach Mike McCarthy this week confirmed Miree is the favorite but stopped short of calling him a starter.
"We have some real young, willing players that also have special-teams ability," McCarthy said, "so that will be a fun battle to watch."
GO PACKERS !
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