As the Eagles' 2016 training camp draws near, Dave Zangaro takes a look at five position battles that will be decided this summer. We've already looked at kicker, cornerback, left guard and wide receiver. Our final position is fullback.
If you started to watch the Eagles only three years ago, you'll have no idea what the heck I'm talking about. A fullback? What?
Well, yes, boys and girls, a fullback is a position that's actually important in some offensive schemes. And Doug Pederson's is one of them. So this summer, someone will win the job as the team's lead blocker. And with no traditional fullback on the roster — the Eagles signed one in the spring, but cut him shortly after — it's going to come down to the third- and fourth-string tight ends.
We'll start off looking at Trey Burton, who has been on the roster as the third-stringer for the last two years. During that time, he's excelled as a special teamer but has played limited snaps on offense and has just three catches. The 6-3, 225-pounder worked at fullback some this spring, but wasn't with the ones.
Chris Pantale was. After spending his first two years with the Jets, Pantale joined the Eagles' practice squad for the 2015 season, but now has a new opportunity thanks to Pederson's new offense. At 6-5, 254, he's not the prototypical size for a fullback, but that doesn't bother Pederson.
"Well, yeah if you stereotype a fullback, they are usually those short-neck guys that slam up in there and block linebackers," the head coach said. "But you know, I have to look at it from how much are we going to use that position? [What’s] the value of that position, and if you've got four tight ends active on game day, that's pretty good, because one of them can be a fullback, play special teams. All of that comes into play. But I'm not concerned with the size of him. Again, it goes back to once we get the pads on, I just want to see the physical nature of where he's at."
Pads are the key word. It was near impossible to evaluate the fullback position in OTAs because they're non-contact practices. In training camp, once the pads start popping, we'll get a better sense.
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