Where Is Mack Strong When You Need Him?
When you think of the prototypical NFL fullback, what comes to mind? A big, bruising, blocking back than can hold his own against lineman and blitzing linebackers, right?
Apparently, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has a different vision.
After Seahawk fullback Michael Robinson went down with an injury in the week 1 loss to the 49ers, the Seahawks signed Eddie Williams from the Cleveland Browns practice squad.
Here’s the gripe about the situation. Eddie Williams is not a Fullback. Neither is Michael Robinson.
Where Is Mack Strong When We Need Him?
Williams played Tight End at The University of Idaho while Robinson played Quarterback at Penn State University. Neither have been bred to block, neither have been bred to pick up the blitz and hit other players.
That is what the Seahawks are lacking, and part of the reason our QB’s keep taking so many shots.
When NFL fans think of great fullbacks of recent memory, they think of Lorenzo Neal of the San Diego Chargers and Mike Alstott of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
When they think of top fullbacks in history, they think of John Riggins of the Washington Redskins, Larry Csonka of the Miami Dolphins, Bronko Nagurski of the Chicago Bears, Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns.
When we Seahawks fans think fullback, we think of the days when Mack Strong roamed the backfield, hitting any blitzer who came his way.
We think of John L Williams bruising people as he carried defenders on his back one play and knocking em to the ground the next play. We think of the fullback as a 3rd and 1, or goal line presence who can bowl his way through a crowd of people with ease.
Pete Carroll’s vision of a fullback is not a fullback at all. He’s looking for someone to excel on special teams and can throw a block here and there and catch a pass or two while at the fullback position. It is agreeable to say that Robinson was a key player on our special teams, and he was.
But that is not what a fullback is supposed to be.
Not since Mack Strong and John L Williams before him have the Seahawks had a true fullback or seen one in action.
With the Seahawks offensive ling coming together slowly, they need that true fullback to pick up the slack in the backfield and get the QB an extra second to pass or scramble.
If they don’t have that, they might want to look into extra health insurance coverage for Tarvaris Jackson.
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