Top three fullbacks for Redskins to target in 2020 free agency

The Washington Redskins seem likely to employ a fullback under Ron Rivera. Here are a few options they could look at on the free-agent market.

When Jay Gruden took over the Redskins during the 2014 season, the fullback position quickly fell out of favor. Though Darrel Young remained with the team for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, he didn’t see much work at all in his final year, playing just 10 percent of the team’s offensive snaps down from 20 percent the year before.

After that, the position disappeared. While some other players were given a shot to win jobs on the 90-man roster each season, none ever made it to the active roster.

But now, with Ron Rivera in the fold, it’s possible that the fullback could make a triumphant return to D.C. Well, it kind of already did with Mike Burton’s signing under Bill Callahan last year, but the point is that the new head coach may well continue to do what Callahan did late in the season, at least regarding that position.

As I pointed out in a recent article, Rivera employed a fullback in each of his nine seasons as the Panthers head coach. So, history would suggest that he will look to add one in Washington this offseason.

That’s by no means a guarantee. But given that the Panthers once had one of the league’s highest-paid fullbacks in Mike Tolbert, it seems more probable than not that a fullback will be in the Redskins future.

While the ‘Skins could look to add some talent at the position either in the very late rounds of the 2020 draft or in undrafted free agency, the squad could also look at some of the options available on the free-agent market. There aren’t a lot of big names out there, but there are a few intriguing players who could make an impact on the running game at minimal cost to the squad.

With that said, here’s a look at three fullbacks the Redskins could target in free agency this offseason.