Seahawks draft film breakdown: Assessing Robbie Ouzts’ scheme fit as a fullback

Ouzts was a tight end at Alabama but projects as a fullback in the NFL.

This was definitely the most surprising pick of the entire Seattle Seahawks draft. Robbie Ouzts was a player projected to be an undrafted free agent, and he wasn’t a great test player at the NFL Combine, unlike most of the picks. Even though he was a late fifth-round pick, it was still early for a FB project.

Who is Robbie Ouzts?

Ouzts is from Rock Hill and grew up with Brad Hoover, the Panthers’ FB, as his favorite player. In fact, it was because of him that he picked number 45 during his time at Alabama. He played in high school as a hybrid of FB and TE and played in that same role when he chose to go to Alabama as a 3-star prospect.

Seahawks’ history with fullbacks

The Seahawks have some excellent fullbacks in their history. John L. Williams (1986-1993) was the first of these, helping pave the way for Curt Warner and making two Pro Bowls with the Seahawks. He helped block Curt Warner in the late 1980s and then made two Pro Bowls with the Seahawks in 1990 and 1991 before finishing his career with the Steelers. During his ten-year NFL career, Williams played in 149 regular season games, started 135 of them, and had 1,245 carries for 5,005 yards and eighteen rushing touchdowns, and 546 receptions for 4,656 yards and nineteen receiving touchdowns.

After Williams came Mack Strong (1993-2007) a UDFA out of Georgia (one of my favorite players on the team when I played Madden 07). He played no less than fourteen years in the NFL, all with Seattle providing a role for iconic RBs such as Chris Warren, Ricky Waters and Shaun Alexander. Strong made the Pro Bowl in 2005 and 2006, and was named to the All-Pro First Team in 2005, the year that Shaun Alexander won the MVP award. Strong was a five-time winner of the Steve Largent Award (given annually by the Seattle Seahawks to the team’s player who best exemplifies spirit, dedication and integrity), the most times a Seahawk has won the honor. He finished his career with 1,456 receiving yards for 10 TDs and 909 rushing yards for 5 TDs. In addition, he held the record for the longest run in Seahawks playoff history, 32 yards against the Washington Redskins in the 2005 Divisional Round. This record was later broken, also against the Saints, by Marshawn Lynch’s 67-yard Beastquake. Due to a herniated disc in his neck, Strong had to retire.

In the following years, the position was occupied by Leonard Weaver and Justin Griffith without much prominence. Then, the Seahawks signed Michael Robinson (2010-2013) after being released by the San Francisco 49ers. Robinson was a jack of all trades at Penn State, playing receiver, running back and QB. He was selected in the fourth round in 2006 and became the RB2 behind Frank Gore. Robinson was moved to fullback after Zak Keasey’s injury and it was in this role that he arrived in Seattle. He was a Pro Bowler in 2011, a leader for the team, and co-captain of special teams in 2011 and 2012. He played his last professional game in the 2013 Super Bowl against the Broncos.

Other notable and more recent Seahawks fullbacks include Derrick Coleman (2012-2015), Will Tukuafu (2014-2016), Marcel Reece (2016), Tre Madden (2017-2018), and Nick Bellore (2019-2023). It has been a long time since the Seahawks used a pure fullback. Recently Dareke Young (WR) has been used, Byron Murphy (DT), and Brady Russell (TE before making the switch to FB).

Here are all the pure fullbacks the Seahawks have drafted:

• John L. Williams, 1986 first round, pick 15;
• Heath Evans, 2001 third round, pick 82;
• Chris Davis, 2003 fifth round, pick 165;
• David Kirtman, 2006 fifth round, pick 163;
• Owen Schmitt, 2008 fifth round, pick 163;
• Robbie Ouzts, 2025 fifth round, pick 175

How can he fit into the scheme?

As mentioned above, the Seahawks didn’t use the FB much in their old schemes. That should change under the new offensive coordinator. Adam Prentice, who visited Seattle just before the draft, played 275 snaps for the Saints last year in that role. That’s a small sample of Klint Kubiak’s use of fullbacks. Add to that Taysom Hill’s 65 snaps in the backfield.

Coach Mike Macdonald says Ouzts will compete with Brady Russell for the fullback spot — and that Russell isn’t a guy who gives up space to anyone. According to PFF, in 2024, Brady Russell played 33 snaps on offense, 18 of which were in the backfield as a fullback. This offseason, he made the switch from TE to FB.

Alabama has no problem letting Ouzts block the defensive end here. The other TE double-teams the LT and Robbie stays in the 1v1.

Used as a puller, he finishes his block with the defender on the ground.

As a puller again, but he shows a good read realizing that he won’t need to block the EDGE on the opposite side, but passes to the next target and throws the LB to the ground.

In the pure definition of a zone blocker. He realizes that he doesn’t need to help in the double-team and advances to the next level.

Alabama aligns him open and brings him in motion to the opposite side. Unlike the inside runs, he serves as a lead blocker for Jalen Milroe. Again showing good field vision and speed.

This was one of the ways he was most used, as a split-zone blocker. This type of run requires a blocker on the opposite side, a TE, FB, or H-Back to come and block a defender (usually an EDGE) who is purposely left unblocked.

He recorded 16 receptions on 21 targets for 192 yards and 3 TDs. Used a lot in checkdown situations, he can find space between the zones.

There are some important points to highlight. The first is that Ouzts’ snaps as a FB per se were very few, so he will have to adapt to the new role. He has not recorded a single run in his years at Alabama. In addition, he had 537 snaps on special teams, including having to make two kick returns. This work on special teams should help him stay on the team, but he will also compete with Brady Russell in this regard.

Final Thoughts

Even though he was selected with the penultimate pick of the fifth round, I still think it’s too early for a FB. Ouzts was projected as a UDFA player, and Seattle had three seventh-round picks in addition to the sixth-round pick that could be invested in him.

Between his pick (175) and Seattle’s next pick, Bryce Cabeldue (192), some interesting names were chosen, such as:

• Tyler Baron, EDGE;
• Dorian Strong, CB;
• Ollie Gordon, RB;
• JJ Pegues, DT/FB (with more TDs than Ouzts);
• Jaylen Reed, S;
• Myles Hinton, OT;

I’m not arguing that these players will be steals in the draft. However, they would all add more value than Ouzts as a FB. And, again, the Seahawks had three seventh-round picks to secure their selection if they didn’t want to risk going with the UDFAs. Another example is that CJ Dippre, Ouzts’ teammate at Alabama, who was ahead of him on the depth chart, was the 12th TE on Dane Brugler’s board and was among the UDFAs.

Finally, Jalin Conyer, from Texas Tech, a TE who could do everything, was an UDFA. He had experience running the ball, throwing, and playing like Taysom Hill. He had better numbers and higher expectations, and ended up going to the Dolphins after the Draft.

Even though in Klint Kubiak’s scheme we will have more snaps with FB, I think it was a higher investment than it should have been.