Last week, somebody asked me what I thought the story might be with Quayvon Hicks, who started out gangbusters last season but saw his playing time diminish as it went on and has now been shifted into a new role at H-back. My answer was that the coaches appeared to believe that Merritt Hall was the more consistent blocker at fullback. That may still be the case. But it may be that something else is in play, too.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said Georgia played in a three-receiver, one-tight-end set more than 70 percent of the time last season. That formation takes the fullback off the field. Bobo would like to move away a little bit from the traditional fullback mold like the Bulldogs have had in the past with Jeremy Thomas, J.T. Wall and Brannan Southerland.
More than 70 percent of the time? Sounds like Bobo has already moved away a little bit. And it may be the case that Hicks has a better skill set for what Bobo is moving to than as a more traditional I-formation fullback.
Richt said the 6-foot-2, 265-pound Hicks “did pretty good,” considering he only has 15 practices at the position under his belt.
“It’s definitely not polished there, but he’s proved to be able to put his hand on the ground on the line of scrimmage and pass pro and run block pretty darn good,” Richt said. “Just learning what to do, he did a pretty good job and part of it is what we call the F position is a fullback but it’s also a tight end. The fullback is out and the F is the tight end in a three-receiver set. A lot of times that F will run the same route sometimes from a fullback position, sometimes from a tight end position or a tight end alignment. There’s a little carryover there so that probably helped him some.”
Carryover… like this moment at his old spot (dial the clip up to the 2:09.00 mark):
It’s too early to know how serious this all is, of course. It may be little more than window dressing to move a player who hasn’t developed the way the coaches needed at a particular position. But I hope it’s more. Hicks has too much talent to let it go to waste.
Get The Picture 
I suspect you’re dead on about Hicks, certainly on the right track with that. Good stuff, there.
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a man for sure.
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I was disappointed in the way we moved away from using Hicks last season, although we certainly needed to shore up our blocking whether running, or passing the ball. It also seems the only way we will get to see Brendon Douglas on the field going forward. Such a variety of ways a fullback can be utilized effectively.
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Douglas is serviceable, IMO, whether at TB, FB, or F. It’s great to have a guy like that. He can block, catch, and he’s not bad running with it, either.
Which brings up another thought. I was reminded by a good friend of mine the other day .. one serviceable player we’re going to really miss this year, that nobody in the Dawgosphere has mentioned, is former walk-on Rhett McGowan.
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He may be just serviceable as a RB, I don’t know, we have only seen him play as a true FR. I think he could be a dangerous FB as he matures because of his speed for his size and his willingness to mix it up. I know he and Green were thrown into the fire last year and performed above anyone’s expectations in the emergency role. With the depth/talent we had in front of them I am sure they didn’t get the crash course until we were really crashing. Seems like a talent we can find a place for, it doesn’t look like there will be much opportunity at RB with what we have and what is coming in.
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You’re right on McGowan. I’m not sure we win UF last year w/o him.
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Eh…McGowan was a DGD and made some good catches, but I don’t know that I’d say we’ll ‘really miss’ him. That’s not a knock on him, it’s just that I don’t see him as the kind of talent who can’t easily be replaced. Even in the Florida game, the only reason he was on the field were due to injuries to Conley, Scott-Wesley, Mitchell, etc.
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That’s precisely what made him valuable, IMO. We’ll just disagree on this one.
When others couldn’t play, he made the plays. Over and over again, especially his last two years.
When we had nobody to safely field punts in big games, we could always depend on him to handle the ball with the game on the line. When we had to convert a 3rd down, Murray knew if he got the ball near McGowan, he’d catch it.
Guys like that are important contributors. I’m confident we’ll miss him, unless someone steps forward to fill his role.
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After the 2:09.00 mark the Hicks, Gurley, and Douglas shoe was great to watch. They ran the clock out for over 8 minutes.
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Let talent go to waste? Not at Georgia
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Do something other than run straight ahead at full speed and go down after first contact, and your “talent” wont go wasted.
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With a TB like Gurley the FB is only in the way. Get a man out of the box with the extra receiver and let him run. In the old days the FB virtually always carried the LBers to the football. You don’t need the lead blocker if the box is less one man.
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Wonder if SOS would have tried to score up 14. Anyone for history lessons.
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SOS would run up the score on his mother if she had pissed him off as a boy. The man holds some serious grudges.
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Douglas needs to be Tripped to fullback. At least until 2015 when we will need him back at RB. He going to be the only non-walkon 4 year running back/full back. TG and KM are gone after this year.
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The only non-walkon 4 year running back? What? In 2015 we’ll still have Douglas, Turman, Chubb and Michel (that’s if both Gurley and Marshall leave, and I’m not so sure on Marshall).
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If anyone is slated for FB, I’m thinking it’d be Turman. How else would he see the field aside from a transfer?
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One thing I’ve been critical of over the years is our tendency to line up with a fullback in the backfield, and hardly ever give him the ball. Might sound trivial, but it does get predictable for the defense. Hell, just give an OT or OG a jersey number in the 40’s, it would be like pulling a heavy every play.
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I see your point and I agree to a certain degree. However, I think a great offensive team needs to have the ability to deliver a good ‘ole fashioned butt whoopin. The demoralization of being run on time and time again with no answer can’t be overlooked. Bama did it to us in the second half of the SECCG 2 years ago, and we did it to the OBC for the last 8 min of the Carolina game above. Pure fullbacks still have a valuable place in football. I believe they always will honestly.
Bobo has shown that he can score so many ways that it’s just another tool in his belt to use when the time comes. Football is in a passing evolution now, but the game is cyclical and running the ball will have more value once again.
Look at Denver’s inability to run the ball, or the Falcons for that matter. Seattle and San Fran both run the ball more than any other team in the NFL. You can argue they were the top 2 teams last year. Running = Winning and because of that fact the fullback will always have some value on the field. Thats just my opinion however, and.I’m certainly no expert on the subject. Enjoyed the article and insight
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Sorry, probably replied to the wrong post. Brightidea is more of the comment I had in my mind.
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Nice observation there, Rugby.
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Conspiracy! Heresy! Senators who shalt not see the truth, shalt not see the difference.
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