Expert: John Miller - 5/13/2005

Question
Sorry to trouble you further, but for a clearer record, can you address my questions separately in your post?

The questions I'm about to ask are not about the Bears specifically but about today's American football in general. I prefer a simple "yes" or "no" answer, instead of an explanation, if that's possible.

1) In most of the NFL teams and in most of the Division 1-A American football teams, do the players labeled as "fullbacks" in the depth charts primarily block for the ball-carriers during running plays?

2) In most of the NFL teams and in most of the Division 1-A American football teams, do the players labeled simply as "running backs" in the depth charts carry the balls during running plays a lot more frequently than the players labeled as "fullbacks" do during running plays?


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Followup To
Question -
Partly due to your recent correction the NCAA divisions, I'm gonna re-phrase and re-ask something here as well just for the record (I hope you don't mind.)

The questions I'm about to ask is not about the Bears specifically but about today's American football in general.  I prefer a simple "yes" or "no" answer, instead of an explanation, if that's possible.

1) In most of the NFL teams and in most of the Division 1-A American football teams, do the players labeled as "fullbacks" in the depth charts primarily block for the ball-carriers during running plays?

2) In most of the NFL teams and in most of the Division 1-A American football teams, do the players labeled simply as "running backs" in the depth charts carry the balls during running plays a lot more frequently than the players labeled as "fullbacks" do during running plays?


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Followup To
Question -
I want to make some clarifications.  The questions I'm about to ask is not about the Bears specifically but about today's American football in general.  I prefer a simple "yes" or "no" answer, instead of an explanation, if that's possible.

You wrote, "In the modern pro offense, the fullback is almost exclusively a blocker, and the vast majority of carries go to the halfback. So in the NFL when one says "running back" they are almost always talking about the halfback."

1) In the NFL and Division 1 American football, do the players labeled as "fullbacks" in the depth charts primarily block for the ball-carriers during running plays?

2) In the NFL and Divions 1 American football, do the players labeled simply as "running backs" in the depth charts carry the balls during running plays a lot more frequently than the players labeled as "fullbacks" do during running plays?

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Followup To
Question -
The question I'm about to ask is not about the Bears specifically but about today's American football in general.  I prefer a simple "yes" or "no" answer, instead of an explanation, if that's possible.

I know that both fullbacks and halfbacks are considered running backs, but people usually use the phrase "running back" to refer to halfbacks and people rarely use the phrase "running back" to refer to fullbacks, right?

Answer -
Yes.

Sorry, but some explanation is necessary. In high school football, the answer would be "no", because most high school offenses are run oriented, and both fullbacks and halfbacks (and often a slotback, the equivalent of the flanker in pro and college ball) are all primarily running backs. In the modern pro offense, the fullback is almost exclusively a blocker, and the vast majority of carries go to the halfback. So in the NFL when one says "running back" they are almost always talking about the halfback.
Answer -
Hello again Michael.

1) Yes.
2) Yes.

Note that I'm generalizing about "pro-style" offenses, which as we discussed before most major college football programs run. Typically fullbacks are bigger and slower than halfbacks, and are used in short-yardage situations to run occasionally. Their primary responsibilities would be blocking.

For an interesting summary of the derivation of the names and naming conventions in different types of offenses, see:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_Canadian_football_position_names>
Answer -
Yes and Yes. Exactly right.

Answer
1) In most of the NFL teams and in most of the Division 1-A American football teams, do the players labeled as "fullbacks" in the depth charts primarily block for the ball-carriers during running plays?

Yes.

2) In most of the NFL teams and in most of the Division 1-A American football teams, do the players labeled simply as "running backs" in the depth charts carry the balls during running plays a lot more frequently than the players labeled as "fullbacks" do during running plays?

Yes.