Niles Paul Might Play (some) at Fullback?

[Bowfin]

I was checking up to see how Niles Paul is doing after a season ending injury and found this:

With Paul sidelined in 2015, it was Jordan Reed that made the big step forward. And with the Redskins adding two-time Pro Bowler Vernon Davis, Paul is ready to fight for his role, including time at fullback with Darrell Young no longer on the team.

That fullback tag, which head coach Jay Gruden brought up last month, doesn’t bother Paul.

Why? He's been the fullback.

“No matter what you label me as -- a special teams player or a fullback whatever -- I’m trying to be the best I can be at it and I’m going to go [all] out,” Paul said. “When coach Gruden said that, people didn’t understand that I was always the backup fullback when [Young] got hurt.

“In this offense, the fullback can motion from the backfield, into the backfield or he can motion down to the line of scrimmage,” Paul said. “If you watch our formations, we’ll motion to the backfield, we’ll motion right in front of the running back or next to the quarterback. So playing fullback is just an extension of tight end and a lot of tight ends in the league also play fullback for other teams. So if anything, it shows you the type of player I am to be able to take on so many roles, it shows you the value and it shows you what they think of me as a player.”

This is an excerpt from the full story here: http://was.247sports.com/Bolt/Fired-Up-Niles-Paul-weighs-in-on-Vernon-Davis-signing-44662507

 

[Bowfin]

Here's a good article on Paul back on the practice field, fully recovered:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/football-insider/wp/2016/05/26/fully-recovered-niles-paul-declares-himself-better-and-more-intense-than-ever/

Some interesting bits:

Paul flew around on Wednesday, making catches, popping defensive players – even though no one wore pads during a session that for everyone else was non-contact – eager to make up for lost time.

The “other positions” Paul referred to include fullback, where Washington is likely to go without a traditional player at that position because Jay Gruden prefers multiple-tight-end formations to the one-tight-end, one-fullback look.

Paul, who entered the NFL as a wide receiver, received consideration as a second-year player from coaches for a move to safety before settling in at tight end, possesses the versatility to wear both hats, coaches believe. And Paul agrees.

“The fullback nothing but an extension of the tight end anyway,” he said, adding, “I’m a jack of all trades. We were just arguing about it out there, and you can’t label me with one thing. I can play receiver, I can play fullback, I can play tight end. I can play wherever you put me at. I’m a real Swiss Army knife out here.”