If football had an endangered species list, fullbacks would be near the top. While many teams still carry a fullback on their roster, several don’t have one including the Colts, Cowboys, 49ers, Jaguars, Patriots, Rams and Seahawks.
In the last seven years of combine testing, 21 out of over 2,200 attendees, or less than 1 percent, were listed as fullbacks.
John Kuhn, however, has played a valuable role as the Green Bay Packers’ fullback for the past nine years. With Kuhn unsigned, Aaron Ripkowski is his heir apparent.
The two players have much in common and a few differences.
While Kuhn went undrafted in 2006, the Packers invested a sixth-round pick on Ripkowski in 2015.
At 6’1” and 257 pounds coming out of Oklahoma, Ripkowski is even bigger than Kuhn — though the Packers now list his weight at 246.
If we can believe his 4.69 40-yard dash time at a pro day event, Ripkowski is much faster than Kuhn and most other fullbacks for that matter.
Ripkowski’s senior year at Oklahoma was capped off by his being named to the All-Big 12 conference second team by the league’s coaches. This was despite having only six rushes and eight receptions in four years there.
His only stat of that kind with the Packers in 2015 was one reception for 18 yards.
Also notable: Ripkowski was a blocker for freshman Oklahoma rusher Samaje Perine, who in November 2014 rushed for 427 yards against Kansas. That mark is the single-game record in major college (FBS) football history.
The Packers obviously like Ripkowski’s blocking ability and presumably think he can develop into a passable rusher/receiver over time. For 2016, fans will likely see Ripkowski more on special teams than in the backfield.
It will be intriguing to see if “The Ripper” can match or exceed Kuhn’s contributions to the team.