A Look at Actual Fullback Leonard Weaver

I think they call that the Huck-a-Buck

Oh my dear sweet God, finally we have a fullback.  The Eagles have addressed their most obvious need of the off-season, inking former Seahawk Leonard Weaver to a one year deal.  Assuming that the 2010 season is uncapped, Weaver will be looking to improve in every facet of the game and prove he should be a big money guy.

Leonard Weaver’s role in the offense of ‘09 is unclear.  Last season, the Eagles fullback position was a joke, and epitomized the arrogance of the Eagles front office (again thinking they were smarter than everyone else and a DT could play FB).  Having such a glaring weakness at fullback must have had some type of impact on the way Andy Reid uses the position, and the Eagles frequently ran out of the singleback.

Signing Weaver definitely changes things in the Eagles backfield, and hopefully he isn’t the final backfield addition.  Assuming the Eagles draft a running back, touches may be limited, but then again with the current wide receiver core I hope we’ll be seeing a new-age three-headed monster early and often.

Run game:  Andy Reid should be more than willing to run Weaver into the ground; he is a young, strong and athletic player who is looking to prove he is worth a major deal.  Weaver isn’t necessarily a short yardage back, but if he gets touches in the redzone or on short yardage situations, Weaver is going to have to come up with yards and touchdowns.

Passing:  Donovan McNabb loves checkdown passes to the backfield.  Weaver has a chance to capitolize on this, and if he can start chewing up yards on first and second down checks, he has a chance to really get involved on the offense.

Blocking:  I do not have access to coaches film of Weaver blocking, so I am not sure how good he is.  I will make my judgement off the word around the internet, which is that he can pick up the blitz well but he is not an excellent lead blocker.  However, with Brian Westbrook being so ineffective in the playoffs, Weaver should be looking to take care of himself by taking care of #36.  If Weaver improves on his lead blocking and Westbrook goes off, the Eagles are going to score a lot more points.

Overall:  This is a great signing by the Eagles.  Fullback was a gigantic hole that became painfully obvious as the season wore on, and we snagged the best available player.  Weaver says that the fullback payscale does not apply to him because of his versatility, and I hope he is right.  Weaver sounds like the Jason Witten of fullbacks, he can carry, catch, and block.  He is a hungry young player who wants to make money, and the only way to do that is to put together a highlight reel.