{"id":778638,"date":"2026-02-26T23:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/778638\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T23:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:30:17","slug":"the-fullback-position-will-return-to-las-vegas-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/778638\/","title":{"rendered":"The fullback position will return to Las Vegas Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Klint Kubiak is re-energizing Raider Nation as the new Las Vegas Raiders head coach.<\/p>\n

Kubiak represents a beacon of hope for a football team that featured one of the worst offenses the storied franchise witness in 2025. The incompetence rivals the Bed & Breakfast offense way back in 2006 and was a sever low-light in former head coach Pete Carroll\u2019s long career.<\/p>\n

The Silver & Black lack an identity \u2014 unless you consider a comedy of errors a true Raiders characteristic \u2014 is ever present as the team cycled through head coaches. Kudos for owner Mark Davis not wanting to let things linger and make moves to fix mistakes, but boy, there\u2019s a ton of miscues.<\/p>\n

And the 38-year-old Kubiak represents a potential solution. A dedicated grinder with elite offensive expertise, the newly-minted head honcho in Las Vegas has the skillset to turn the moribund franchise around. And we\u2019ve written quite a bit about how the Raiders move forward with Kubiak, such as how Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is a fit<\/a> for the lead man\u2019s offense, to bad roster fits<\/a>, and can the head coach maximize speed <\/a>on the roster.<\/p>\n

For me, though, I\u2019m an old-school traditionalist in one particular way: A true fullback on the roster. And with Kubiak as head coach, that OG position appears on the horizon of return. If you\u2019ve read my stuff before, you now I\u2019m a special teams and fullback truther. And based on Kubiak\u2019s history as an architect of an NFL offense, fullback is in his repertoire. He confirmed this week the Raiders will be looking for fullbacks this offseason.<\/p>\n

From C.J. Ham during his stint with the Minnesota Vikings, to Adam Prentice with the New Orleans Saints, and most recently Robbie Ouzts and Brady Russell with the Seattle Seahawks, Kubiak is keen to use a stout presence as the lead blocker in his offense.<\/p>\n

Once a distinct and traditional 53-man roster spot, Kubiak\u2019s arrival portends to a break in a 40-year cycle returning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As you can see above, Ouzts \u2014 taken in the fifth-round (175th overall) in the 2025 NFL Draft \u2014 converted from tight end at Alabama to a 6-foot-3 and 274-pound fullback in Seattle. Russell also brings size to the table at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds. Ouzts played in 12 games with two starts this past season notching 203 offensive snaps (27 percent of the Seahawks\u2019 total). Russell was primarily a special teamer with 396 snaps (87 percent of the team total) while notching 58 on offense (six percent).<\/p>\n

Kubiak\u2019s tendencies tailor towards 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) and 21 personnel (two running backs and one tight end), and with a talented young tailback as the bell cow \u2014 Ashton Jeanty, the sixth-overall pick in the 2025 draft \u2014 maximizing potential is mission critical. Thus, having a big presence as his lead blocker is equally integral. Having extra beef leading the way with improved offensive line play can give Jeanty much-need time to operate in 2026 after the running back finished his rookie season with 975 yards and five touchdowns on 266 carries (3.7 yards per carry average) along with 55 receptions for 346 yards and five more scores.<\/p>\n

Getting more dedicated coaching and concentration in the trenches with a lead-blocking fullback can only help Las Vegas rise from the 32nd-ranked ground game in terms of yards (1,317) and touchdowns (five).<\/p>\n

The Raiders new coach and offensive play caller isn\u2019t a one-dimensional cat. When presented with a true fullback on the roster, Kubiak knows what to do with them. And when there isn\u2019t one, he\u2019s apt to take a tight end and convert them to the position group.<\/p>\n

When Kubiak joined Seattle\u2019s coaching staff as the offensive coordinator, he spoke openly about his preference for 21 and 12 personnel, noting he certainly loves playing with a fullback<\/a>. The presence of one in Kubiak\u2019s system helps establish the run game as a cornerstone and both the outside and wide zone, alongside power elements, are a family tradition dating back to his father Gary Kubiak and the Shanahan coaching tree of Mike and Kyle.<\/p>\n

A hard-nosed and physical fullback gives Klint Kubiak the ability to create horizontal and vertical movement to pave the way for running backs \u2014 such as Alvin Kamara (New Orleans) and most recently Kenneth Walker III.<\/p>\n

That noted, lead blocking isn\u2019t their only task.<\/p>\n

Kubiak uses timely shifts and pre-snap motion to force the defense\u2019s hand and help identify or adjust coverages they\u2019ve called.<\/p>\n

Whatever happened to JJ Pegues being used on offense?<\/p>\n

The Ole Miss\u2019 defensive tackle was taken in the sixth round (180th overall) of the 2025 draft and brought versatility as a short-yardage back in Lane Kiffin\u2019s offense. The 6-foot-2 and 325-pound linemen rushed for seven touchdowns in 2024 and in his rookie season in Las Vegas, Pegues logged zero snaps on offense. With his size and feet, Pegues should get some looks on offense with Kubiak now as the offensive orchestrator.<\/p>\n

Carter Runyon is a potential conversion from tight end. The undrafted free agent stands 6-foot-4 and 243 pounds and logged 45 offensive snaps his rookie season this past year (13 games played, zero starts). The Towson product has NFL speed (4.62 40-yard dash at pro day sprints) and is more of a pass catcher, but he has shown the ability to be a move blocker than can shift the defense and provide pop on inside and outside runs.<\/p>\n

Runyon has the speed, leaping ability, and hands to be a threat out of the backfield which, in turn, can force a defense to account for another potential pass catcher. If Runyon can improve as a blocker and put on more weight to his frame, he has a chance to stick as a converted fullback.<\/p>\n

The traditional fullback position is going extinct across both the pro and collegiate levels, but it\u2019s not gone yet. And if the Raiders are inclined to snag a prospect at the position group this April in the 2026 draft, there\u2019s some standout talent.<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s Max Bredeson brings ample size (listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds) and excellent lead-blocking skillset coming from a pro-style system the Wolverines deploy. Indiana\u2019s Riley Nowakowski also brings good size (6-foot-1 and 247 pounds) alongside a versatile skillset as he played fullback, tight end, and even offensive lineman in the Hoosiers offense.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also outside-the-box prospects like Ohio State\u2019s CJ Donaldson (6-foot-2, 237 pounds) and Air Force\u2019s Dylan Carson (6-feet, 230 pounds) that are power ballcarriers who bring requisite physicality to be lead-blocking types.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Klint Kubiak is re-energizing Raider Nation as the new Las Vegas Raiders head coach. Kubiak represents a beacon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,4242,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-778638","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-las-vegas-raiders-roster","12":"tag-lasvegas","13":"tag-lasvegasraiders","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116139539646587416","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}