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,
About the Author: Insidethe49
