The NFL on Monday announced its all-decade team for the 2010s, with relatively glaring omission. There was no fullback listed on the 52-player roster – a fact not overlooked by 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Juszczyk took to Twitter shortly after the teams were announced to express his befuddlement over the disregard for his position.
His tweet was a perhaps too-real insight into the league’s thinking while selecting players and positions.
“I guess no fullbacks played this decade…” he wrote.
It’s true that the traditional fullback became a touch obsolete for the majority of the 2010s as the league transitioned away from run-heavy offenses and integrated more three and four wide-receiver sets that pushed the often one-dimensional fullback off the field.
Juszczyk bucked that trend during his seven years in the league – all of which came in the 2010s. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and developed into an integral part of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense over the last three years of the decade.
Perhaps he was just too far ahead of his time, operating as a fullback, tight end and even splitting out and playing wide receiver, and the league’s all-decade selections came with too broad a scope to put Juszczyk in with the other greats on the squad.
It’s hard to imagine Juszczyk and the 49ers aren’t at the forefront of an offensive renaissance that gives new life to the fullback position. We likely won’t see the traditional Mike Alstott bruisers with regularity any time soon, but more undersized tight ends could start utilizing their blocking ability and athleticism to provide matchup and scheme advantages for offensive coordinators.
A lot of what the 49ers do in their run game and off play action has to do with their ability to pass and run out of 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end). They utilized that formation 33 percent of the time last season. The league average was 9 percent according to Sharp Football Stats. They rode that personnel grouping to 29.9 points per game last season, making them the second-highest scoring offense in the league.
Their success with two running backs on the field comes in large part because of Juszczyk’s ability to act as a Swiss Army knife. His multifaceted skill set allows Shanahan to be as deceptive as possible. Juszczyk can fake blocking one way to give a defense a certain look, then use his athleticism to shift back the other way to throw a block and open a cutback lane for a running back. He can also split out wide and just run past whatever linebacker shifts out to cover him.
It’s a nearly impossible matchup conundrum for opposing defenses, and it relies heavily on Juszczyk’s versatility.
There’s a real possibility the league simply overlooked the fullback position because for most of last decade it was a mostly unused roster spot. However, Juszcyzk’s importance to a good 49ers offense could wind up reversing that trend. If he continues playing at a high level on a 49ers club that’s a perennial playoff team, it’s hard to imagine the fullback gets left off the all-decade team for the 2020s.
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