With Josh McDaniels reprising his signature role as the offensive coordinator of the Patriots, we’re starting to see the influence he has on the personnel with the types of players they’ve added in the offseason through free agency, the NFL Draft, and the undrafted free agent market.
The McDaniels offense thrives by utilizing all of its skill position players in the passing game, with the running backs working as receivers, adding in crossing routes for the slot receivers, and getting creative to include the tight end as part of the air attack.
A positional staple of a McDaniels offense is the fullback, which is a position that’s become obsolete in the NFL, however, that’s not true for an offense run by McDaniels. In fact, both teams he was the head coach of, the Denver Broncos and the Las Vegas Raiders, had a fullback on the team. Even the one year that he served as the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams in 2011 had a fullback on the team.
It’s worth mentioning that when McDaniels was first hired by New England in 2001 as an assistant and was eventually promoted to offensive coordinator in 2006, the Patriots’ offense was already operating with fullbacks by the time he took over the position.
Over the early years, McDaniels watched how the offense worked at the time with former offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss, whose offensive concept is built with a fullback on the field. In that time, he saw Marc Edwards, Larry Centers, Fred McCray, and Patrick Pass all run out of the backfield in New England.
Once McDaniels took over, he added Heath Evans to that mix and then eventually James Develin and Jakob Johnson throughout his two stints with New England. He even took Johnson with him when he became the head coach of the Raiders in 2022.
The fullback position has proved to be important to the Patriots throughout the history of the franchise, and they’ve always had one on their roster for the better part of 20 years.
That said, McDaniels found another fullback that he wants to have a closer look at with undrafted rookie free agent Brock Lampe, who will join New England for minicamp.
Lampe is a 6-foot-1, 252 lbs traditional fullback out of Northern Illinois. Like most fullbacks, Lampe was a linebacker in high school and then continued as a freshman in college before converting to fullback on a full-time basis. He started getting opportunities as a fullback during his senior year of high school as a lead blocker, and it’s something he’s enjoyed doing ever since.
"You know, it’s fun. I like lead blocking so I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help us win. So if that means me going both ways, then I’ll go both ways."Brock Lampe as a senior in high school
At Northern Illinois, Lampe was utilized as a Swiss Army knife for their offense. He lined up on the line as a tight end, in the backfield as a fullback, split out wide as a receiver, and even on the line as an offset tackle. He’s also used on special teams, as well.
During his four-year career at NIU, Lampe totaled 20 carries for 66 yards and scored two touchdowns as a runner, and he also had 18 receptions for 216 yards and scored one touchdown as a receiver.
Lampe is most known for his expert-level blocking abilities, especially in the run game, which led the way for NIU to have 203.8 rushing yards per game in 2024, ranking 16th nationally.
When I watched the film, I was extremely surprised to see his production as a fullback. He was a Swiss Army knife for the Huskies, lining up on the line and all over the field, as they wanted to take advantage of his blocking skills.
Also on the film, I noticed that Lampe was expected to win his matchup for the play to work. I saw him attack defensive ends out of the backfield and also flatten defensive tackles when he’s lined up across from them.
NIU was very creative in the way they used Lampe and lined him up. The most creative was in a three-tight end set that had Lampe lined up offset the line in between the tackle and tight end. This is creative because the outcome is unpredictable, with endless options for the offense. With Lampe, they’ve run out of this set, which has him pulling like he’s a guard.
NIU also had some fun with Lampe in the passing game with his versatility and athleticism to get him involved through the air. While watching the film, I saw a designed play where he was lined up at tight end and down blocked the defensive end along the line while keeping his eyes on his quarterback, and when he notices his quarterback roll past him, Lampe slips away, becoming a receiver, and gaining near 20-yards on the catch-and-run.
As a fullback, Lampe was on the kick return team for NIU, where he blocked at the first line of defense for the kick returner. I saw a return during a game where Lampe made the key block for it to result in a touchdown.
Lampe is the versatile utility player that McDaniels enjoys having in his offense. He’ll be able to design for him as a lead blocker, a personal protector of the quarterback, a runner, and a receiver. Lampe is the full package, as James White, former Patriots running back who was on NIU’s coaching staff last season in a player personnel role, said to Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston on his Next Pats Podcast.
"He’s definitely the fullback of the future… Josh [McDaniels] has always used a fullback in his system and I think this is the perfect addition— and he can catch the football, we threw it to him quite a few times out of the backfield, he can run routes and make plays that way too. There’s some versatility, he’s lined up in the backfield, lined up in the wing formation, lined up in empty, he’s gotten some fullback belly— so I was happy to see he got an opportunity."Former Patriots RB James White
White spent his entire nine-year career with the Patriots, with McDaniels calling the plays. He was also teammates with both Develin and Johnson at that time. If White, who was with Lampe last season, says that he’s the fullback of the future in New England, I have to agree with him.