Michigan Wolverines Football: Examining the Fullbacks

Back when giants ruled the earth and dinosaurs were not such a distant past, we had a different species that was hard to determine what it was.  Was it just a blocker? A pass catcher? A rusher? Did it do everything?

We have seen great specimen from this species such as Mike Alstott, Larry Csonka, and Sam Cunningham, as well as Heisman winners Doc Blanchard and Alan Ameche.  Currently, this species is near extinction and won't be seeing any type of repopulation efforts any time soon. 

I am speaking about the fullback.  Here are the fullbacks on Michigan's roster:

No. 36 Johnny Childers - 6'1" 233 lbs

No. 44 Mark Moundros - 6'1" 234 lbs

No. 49 John McColgan - 6'1" 238 lbs

The fullback may be the most under-used position in football, especially in Coach Rich Rodriguez's spread, but it's still a spot on the roster.

Sure, there may be a few good one's out there but they are such a rarity.  You have Stanley Havili (USC) and Charles Clay (Tulsa) as threats in the passing and running game and Owen Marecic (Stanford) as a more classic style fullback.  That's the best of them out there. 

Unfortunately, none play for the Wolverines.

Mark Moundros

The senior from North Farmington Hills HS has been a fullback for Michigan since he arrived.  He's scored only two touchdowns and has a grand total of 27 yards from scrimmage.  He's a good blocker with good size and has great passion for the game, as displayed by his picture at the top. 

He's currently trying to make the switch to linebacker and we might be seeing him on both sides of the ball.  I hope that we can get some productivity out of the guy somewhere.  He has some experience at tackling, as he has made 15 special teams tackles in his career.

So far in his career he's had minimal impact in nearly every game he's played, but he'll look to have a bigger impact during his final season at Michigan.

John McColgan

He'll be the guy that will play fullback more now that Mark Mondros is transitioning to linebacker.  He played in 10 games last season with minimal impact.  He's a good lead blocker, but nothing more.

Jonny Childers

The sophomore from Muskegon Mona Shore HS is a player that is used to playing both sides of the ball.  He played fullback and linebacker in HS, and a dual threat fullback seems to be the new trend at Michigan.

Overall, Michigan has a decent group of fullbacks, however, they'll rarely have an opportunity to touch the ball and they must be versatile if they want to see the field.

I'll give this group a "C."

Also, I would like to send prayers to Jon Bills, the tight end who was hurt in a car accident.  We're all praying for a speedy recovery, Jon.