Eagles Owner Hints At Reviving Dormant Position

Jeffrey Lurie was on his team’s flagship radio station for the first time in three decades Monday to honor franchise legend Brandon Graham, who retired this offseason after 15 years as one of the Eagles’ top all-time defenders.

The Eagles’ owner also dropped a little current news during the appearance on 94WIP Radio.

“We are going to try to resurrect the fullback position,” Lurie said.

The Eagles won Super Bowl LIX on the foundation of an excellent running game, and the NFL’s top-ranked defense.

During the regular season, Philadelphia rushed for a franchise-record 3,048 yards, the sixth most in NFL history.

In his first season with the Eagles, running back Saquon Barkley was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and a first-team All-Pro, setting the league’s single-season record (including the postseason) with 2,504 rushing yards.

A small part of that was tapping into the somewhat dormant fullback position with former linebacker Ben VanSumeren, who had been a RB in high school and began his college career at Michigan as a fullback before transitioning to defense.

It was only 22 snaps before BVS suffered a significant knee injury during practice in the leadup to the Dec. 1 game at Baltimore, but the physical VanSumeren flashed a natural ability as a lead blocker, helping one of the game’s best offensive lines open up even more space for Barkley.

The Eagles were so impressed that they have moved VanSumeren from linebacker to fullback on a full-time basis, and the third-year player has shifted uniform numbers from No. 57 to No. 43.

Other potential avenues at fullback could include free agent tight end Harrison Bryant, who has extensive experience as an H-back in Cleveland, where he occasionally lined up in the backfield.

There is also intrigue over the 247-pound A.J. Dillon lining up with Barkley in 21 personnel looks and fourth-round rookie Ty Robinson’s fullback duties at Nebraska, where the 288-pound defensive tackle lined up as a lead blocker eight times with the Cornhuskers scoring on seven of those snaps.

The latter two options are more theoretical, but it will be interesting to see how the Eagles utilize the fullback position in 2025.

Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco’s veteran fullback, led the NFL in offensive snaps at the position last season with 537. However, Juszczyk is more of a movement-based, receiving FB than lead blocker.

Only three other FBs played more than 300 offensive snaps: Baltimore’s Patrick Ricard (495), Miami’s Alec Ingold (337), and Dallas’ Hunter Luepke. Ricard helped spring Derrick Henry and the Baltimore running game which was No. 1 in the NFL last season at 187.6 yards per game, eding out Philadelphia at 179.3.

MORE NFL: Eagles Reward Rookie Tryout Participant