PROGRAMMING NOTE: If you missed the announcement in the QB positional analysis, I plan to not write here after March 9, but I plan to write regularly through then.
After quarterback and running back, the next stop on our tour around the Tennessee Titans position by position as we head into the 2016 offseason is a look at the fullbacks.
The first question in every fullback positional analysis is whether there should even be a separate fullback positional analysis. This looked like a bit of an open question last offseason, since the Titans did not have a fullback under contract for 2015. Then they went ahead and drafted a fullback in the fourth round and I did go ahead and write a preseason FB positional analysis. With a new head coach and new offensive coordinator, the question comes up again. But it’s one we can easily answer: yes, the 2016 Tennessee Titans will have and use a fullback, so yes, there is still a fullback positional analysis post.
The question is, how much might we expect the fullback to play? When the Titans named Mike Mularkey the interim head coach, I noted Mularkey’s history said he used more two-back sets than the Titans had used to that point in the season and suggested that was one of the changes that might be coming. It did not happen. Over the course of the season, Jalston Fowler played 147 snaps, 14.2% of the season’s total. Under Ken Whisenhunt, he played 16.1% of the snaps and had double-digit snaps in two of seven games. Under Mike Mularkey, he played 12.5% of the snaps and had double-digit snaps in two of nine games.
I still think this was a reasonable suggestion on my part, both because the Titans didn’t have three receivers worth playing, and because Mularkey’s history suggests we may see more two-back sets in 2016. His early Falcons teams in particular used a lot of two-back sets. Per data in the relevant Football Outsiders Almanac (though other sources should have similar numbers), the 2008 Falcons ranked 23rd in use of single-back sets, the 2009 Falcons 28th, the 2010 Falcons 30th, and the 2011 Falcons 23rd in how often they had one back in the backfield. His 2012 Jaguars were more middle-of-the-pack in terms of how often they used two-back sets (the Jaguars’ two fullbacks, Greg Jones and Will Ta’ufo’ou combined to play about 27% of the snaps).
Beyond this history, there’s also Mularkey’s comments from the same radio interview I cited in the RB positional analysis. This isn’t quite verbatim, but it should be pretty close to what Mularkey said when asked about Fowler’s role in his offense: “That’s an important piece, no doubt about it. The fullback is coming back to life a little bit here. It had gone away with so much passing in the league but in our offense, the fullback, he’s good young fullback. He played lot of the year with a banged-up shoulder. That’s been repaired, and we’ll have full-strength Jalston when he comes back in here.” So there.
What I’d guess is likeliest to happen is Fowler’s overall usage pattern in 2016 will look about like an exaggerated version of what it did in 2015. Some games will be two-back games and he’ll play a fair amount, while others will feature more one back sets. Game scripts will influence both games in different ways-Fowler’s biggest performance of the year came in Week 1, the one game of the year the Titans won decisively and spent time in the second half grinding the clock down.
Fine, so that’s the usage question. What about Fowler the player? Some of my optimism for him in the preseason positional analysis was based on what he did other than blocking. But he wasn’t asked to do much about that, with just 7 carries for 13 yards (four of those, plus the two-point conversion attempt, against Indianapolis) and 5 catches (6 targets) for 44 yards. As a blocker, I just re-watched his last couple games’ worth of snaps (a lot easier to do for a fullback than another position!) and he looked fine. Mostly aligned in the offset I, spent plenty of time blocking edge players (linebackers or safeties) for the kick-out, and, well, I’m not going to pretend I’m a connoisseur of the finer points (or even the less fine ones) of fullback play. A lot of man-blocking plays, it looked like, something I’ll discuss more when I talk about the offensive linemen. I have no particular worries about him.
I expect the Titans to bring a second fullback into training camp. That player is not yet on the roster. Barring an injury to Fowler, or probably even if, that player is unlikely to make the team.
Karl Klug also played a couple snaps at fullback (5 on offense, officially, but I don’t believe that includes the two-point conversion against the Colts). We did not see him on offense under Mike Mularkey. I will discuss him with the defensive linemen.
Conclusion-Type Things
The Titans will have a fullback. Barring injury, that will be Jalston Fowler. He will be used some, quite likely more than he was last year. The Titans will quite likely add another fullback to the roster at some point, but that player will be quite unlikely to make the team.
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