This article is from 2013, when Marrone was coaching the Bills.  It gives some insight as to how he and other coaches view the FB position and why it has all but disappeared from the game.

http://buffalonews.com/2013/09/29/fade-p...-obsolete/

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Scroll to "Madden Creation." This is great stuff.

Intriguingly, we have some players on the roster fitting this bill...

“What I’m trying to find – if it’s out there – is this hybrid-type of player that can play in the backfield.”
Marrone has ideal vital statistics in mind for this heretofore mythical, new-age fullback: height, weight, 40-yard-dash speed, etc. Marrone has held discussions with Bills General Manager Doug Whaley and Buddy Nix about this model candidate.
“Someone that can play back there and is good enough to be a lead blocker,” Marrone said. “Someone that can catch the ball extremely well out of the backfield. Someone that may be able to pull or trap out of the backfield. But also someone that can play maybe off the line, an F-tight end, not necessarily on the line, where you can strategically get him” in space “and then getting four full phases of special teams.”

But is this dream concoction an urban legend, more likely to be dreamt up on a Madden video game?

This player must have the proper mobility to operate in the open field, hands to catch, physical strength to block and compact size for maximum pad level at the point of attack.

From what he said in a presser interview, this practically describes Mychal Rivera.


And then there's the practic squad stasher...

“When you talk about hybrids,” Marrone said, “you say to yourself, ‘What is the dominant trait?’ It’s hard to find that dominant trait because if he’s a big, bruising blocker, then how is he going to be the player you’re looking for on the perimeter?”

That fullback, if he isn’t a figment of a hopeful coach’s imagination, almost certainly would need to be converted from some other position out of college and developed over time.

Even then, Marrone mused, it would be difficult to cultivate such a player. Marrone called that “the tough part” of a process that already sounded quixotic.

“You’re going to need time and patience to develop it, ” Marrone said. “The question is where do you strategically want to put that in? Where do you want that development to take place? Because in the offseason you can get caught a little bit, and then you’re going to have to make a decision in training camp where that player stands.”

And then your project gets cut and another team picks him up.

So perhaps the best way to approach Marrone’s fullback-in-training concept would be to stash him on the practice squad and coach him up in secret, almost like a top-secret experiment.

Caleb Bluiett might fit this bill.

Also, TE Ashton Broyld was invited to both minicamps, and having been coached by Marrone at Syracuse, may have been the very player Marrone was thinking about. My ears would perk if I were to read about him being added to the roster for training camp.

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'02

Scroll to "Madden Creation." This is great stuff.

Intriguingly, we have some players on the roster fitting this bill...

“What I’m trying to find – if it’s out there – is this hybrid-type of player that can play in the backfield.”
Marrone has ideal vital statistics in mind for this heretofore mythical, new-age fullback: height, weight, 40-yard-dash speed, etc. Marrone has held discussions with Bills General Manager Doug Whaley and Buddy Nix about this model candidate.
“Someone that can play back there and is good enough to be a lead blocker,” Marrone said. “Someone that can catch the ball extremely well out of the backfield. Someone that may be able to pull or trap out of the backfield. But also someone that can play maybe off the line, an F-tight end, not necessarily on the line, where you can strategically get him” in space “and then getting four full phases of special teams.”

But is this dream concoction an urban legend, more likely to be dreamt up on a Madden video game?

This player must have the proper mobility to operate in the open field, hands to catch, physical strength to block and compact size for maximum pad level at the point of attack.

From what he said in a presser interview, this practically describes Mychal Rivera.

The bolded bits sound a lot like Williams to me, especially speaking of "compact size" since he's 5'10" and they've said they want to keep his weight down a bit. 

He caught passes at his first college stop before transferring to Miami. If he's got good hands and shows out well on special teams, he could be the guy.  Two big ifs.

I have a hard time imagining the Jags asking Rivera to become a lead blocker.  He's the primary "move TE" on the roster.

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The bolded bits sound a lot like Williams to me, especially speaking of "compact size" since he's 5'10" and they've said they want to keep his weight down a bit.

He caught passes at his first college stop before transferring to Miami. If he's got good hands and shows out well on special teams, he could be the guy.  Two big ifs.

I have a hard time imagining the Jags asking Rivera to become a lead blocker.  He's the primary "move TE" on the roster.

Good point about Rivera. I basically meant he's done all that so he could do some of the stuff Marrone wants as a starter, and really Marquez is in that same boat as the primary starting FB. He sounds like he wants an extra experimental guy, and that's where Bluiett might come into play.

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'02

Williams is the kind of FB I want on my team, personally.

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Lonnie Pryor was ahead of his time.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Didn't realize Tommy Bohanon was a local guy for me (Ft. Myers area). Always cool to see, found out because met a local kid battling cancer.

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I just want anybody blocking for our RBs so they aren't dancing in the backfield dodging defenders two yards behind the line.

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Only a chump boos the home team!

Didn't realize Tommy Bohanon was a local guy for me (Ft. Myers area). Always cool to see, found out because met a local kid battling cancer.

I noticed that recently too. I have family in Ft. Myers so it interested me also.

They retired his jersey at North F.M. high last month. (Same school that Deion Sanders and Jevon Kearse attended BTW)
http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/2...329234001/

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Bonhanon is probably the best player on the roster among players with virtually no chance of actually making the roster. A contender for this title might be Josh Wells who is a capable LT but is probably on the outs given our overall OL situation.

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'02

Greg Jones was a big part of the success of the RBs behind him during the seasons he was here. The guy looked like he was chiseled out of stone, and but not for a couple of unfortunate blown knees, could have been even a bigger part of the success of the offense when he was here. Give me a Greg Jones clone anyday, and put him on the roster. Good things are bound to happen.

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.







 

Bonhanon is probably the best player on the roster among players with virtually no chance of actually making the roster. A contender for this title might be Josh Wells who is a capable LT but is probably on the outs given our overall OL situation.

It's conceivable that they put Bohanon on the 53 and stash Williams on the PS for a while. I wouldn't say he's got "no chance." I'd say he's got to beat out a promising rookie.  Bohanon was the lead blocker in a rushing attack in NY that was 10th or better in rushing yardage for three straight years. (2013 -6th, 2014- 3rd, 2015 - 10th) 
I wouldn't be quite so quick to dismiss him. 

It's not like there's a crazy high demand for FBs around the league. Williams isn't very likely to be poached from our PS like the DE and CB we lost that way last year.

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Loved Greg Jones. I often wonder how he would have done if he'd played RB instead of FB. He did it a few times for the Jags.

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Loved Greg Jones. I often wonder how he would have done if he'd played RB instead of FB. He did it a few times for the Jags.

He did it quite a bit in Freds injured '05 campaign I think. He was good, but the knee thing kept him from ever being a guy you really wanted as RB.

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Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

That's pretty good insight. Sounds like he wants Larry Centers' athletic ability and productivity in the mold of a Lorenzo Neal capable lead blocker.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

Marquez off the PUP? If so.....best news of the week.

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with all the teams going to smaller linebackers and defensive lines, the team who goes back to the smash mouth style first will be really successful. a team with 280lb D lines and 240lb linebackers cant take a pounding

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GO Jaguars
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with all the teams going to smaller linebackers and defensive lines, the team who goes back to the smash mouth style first will be really successful. a team with 280lb D lines and 240lb linebackers cant take a pounding

Agree......and I believe that we can exploit that weakness. By the 4th quarter. they'll be gassed and looking forward to getting the heck out of Everbank.

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