Broncos Film Room: Meet Rich Scangarello’s secret weapon out the backfield

We’ve seemingly already covered just about everything about the Denver Broncos’ new offensive system under first-time offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

From the differences between Gary Kubiak to Scangarello’s modern twist on the attack, to how it can positively affect quarterback Joe Flacco, to the impact of the tight end position, and the influence of Sean McVay’s scheme, we’ve left very few stones unturned on the impact of Scang’s West Coast attack.

However, one underrated aspect that we haven’t covered yet is how the new system will impact a position that’s quickly becoming forgotten in the modern NFL: the fullback.

Coming from Kyle Shanahan’s version of the West Coast, Scangarello’s San Francisco 49ers played fullback Kyle Juszczyk a whole lot last season. In fact, Juszczyk was on the field 63-percent of the time, easily the highest percentage of an offense’s snaps in the NFL last year.

The Niners incredibly high fullback usage is such an outlier that they were the only team to play a fullback over 50 percent of the offensive snaps, with the New England Patriots as the only other team to even feature the position over 30 percent of the time.

That’ll be a big change if Scangarello plans to replicate that in Denver, and while it sounds antiquated to roll out a fullback over half of the offensive plays, that unique approach can actually lead to some trickeration and disguises that NFL defenses just aren’t used to scheming against in 2019.

That’s why we once again went back to the Niners tape and took a look at Andy Janovich’s skills to see how this subtle but significant change can alter the Broncos offense starting next season.

Kyle Juszczyk and the Niners’ offense

An outlier like fullback Kyle Juszczyk’s ultra-high number of snaps doesn’t just happen; the former Harvard standout played a big part in his high usage, as easily the best all-around player at his position in the league.

So reproducing that type of reliance on the fullback won’t necessarily occur to the same extent unless Denver has someone who can replicate that type of production.

Obviously, any fullback is going to have to be used primarily as a blocker, a big reason why the position has disappeared in the pass-happy modern game, but the advantage of having someone like Juszczyk lies in the other things he can do, especially in the passing game.

In 2018, Juszczyk was targeted 41 times, the sixth highest number of targets on the team, and caught 30 passes for 324 yards.

When you have a fullback on the field so often, moving him around the formation and targeting him in the passing game can actually work quite well because defenses simply aren’t focused on covering them. 

This play below is a great example, as the Chiefs lost Juszczyk when put in motion from the backfield and lined up as a tight end, leading to a wide open touchdown. 

Having a secret weapon like that rendered the Niners attack especially dangerous, as Shanahan’s scheme is aimed at overloading zones with more targets in one area than defenders. Juszczyk was often the man getting lost in the shuffle for wide open big plays.

This specifically impacted the seam, as tight end George Kittle had a partner in crime to overload defenses up the middle and underneath, leading to Kittle’s breakout season. When you have to respect the tight end, the fullback was logically left open more often than not.

Just watch No. 44 here as he was lined up on the line to the right in a two tight end set and got wide open when running across the formation and hiding behind the line of scrimmage. The combination of play-action bootleg and Juszczyk running against the grain completely confused the opposing defense for yet another easy completion.

The NFL’s highest-paid fullback didn’t need to be a phenom or otherworldly mismatch to get his last year, but when the opportunities presented themselves, he was talented enough to separate from linebackers in space. With the scheme already getting him open, that’s really all Juszckyk needed to do to succeed in 2018.

Whether on wheel routes out of the backfield or put in motion and lined up as a second or third tight end, San Francisco was very creative and successful in hiding their secret weapon to generate easy chunk plays.

Being able to do so made life much easier on their inexperienced young quarterbacks and Juszczyk’s strong hands and deceptive athleticism were crucial in turning those open receptions into big plays.

Even when he wasn’t thrown to, the Niners offense was so successful in confusing opposing defenses with misdirection that the fullback was still getting open with ease.

Another factor that created the higher usage of the fullback was a lack of depth at tight end, as the Niners would ideally have liked to use a few more three tight end sets but didn’t necessarily have the horses to do so. That’s where Juszczyk entered as a de facto third tight end or H-back and had plenty of success.

Once defenses had to account for the fullback in the passing game, it opened up space for everyone else and suddenly made the offense much harder to key in on pre-snap, as simply seeing No. 44 on the field didn’t necessarily mean a running play was coming.

In a scheme that has always featured, and still should, plenty of two back and two tight end sets, having a reliable, versatile player at fullback who can be a factor as a runner, blocker, and especially as a receiver was key for San Francisco’s offensive success a year ago.

Replicating that should be a priority in Denver even though it won’t get talked about much.

The Jano factor

With all the similarities between the Kubiak offense and what Scangarello will bring to the Mile High City, it’s pretty convenient that the Broncos already have a fullback in Andy Janovich who was brought in specifically for Kubiak’s attack back in 2016.

Janovich will have the opportunity of a lifetime in front of him in this scheme and must be ready to take his game to the next level.

Obviously, Jano is in the NFL because of his blocking ability, as he’s disciplined and physical, and can mix it up with some of the best linebackers in the game to open up one-on-one opportunities for his running backs—see this beauty of a block on Thomas Davis at the second level.

Jano has also proven to be a strong runner with good power and contact balance allowing him to stay on his feet and break tackles. He also possesses quick feet for his position, decent lateral mobility and effective straight-line speed to bust off the occasional big play.

In fact, it’s been a bit surpassing that we haven’t seen Janovich get more carries in short down and distance where he can do a bit more than just convert the one to two yards necessary to move the chains.

Where Jano’s still a bit of an unknown is as a receiver, though he has shown flashes and like Juszczyk, though to a slightly lesser extent, is more than athletic enough to take advantage of the space he’s given in coverage and exploit linebackers who are chasing after him.

On tape and in workouts, Janovich has shown he’s an underrated receiver with fairly smooth hands, even if a bit undersized, with more speed than most people think. He’s also no fun to tackle in open space and could certainly take advantage of the type of open opportunities he’d be gifted from this scheme. 

Just like with the Niners, Jano’s also proven he can be plenty reliable on broken plays where Denver attacked zones by overloading them and getting their fullback open.

Here’s a great example as the defense is stretched vertically by the tight end running up the seam and the two underneath defenders lose Janovich as they’re focused on picking up the running back to the flats.

After a drop off in snaps from his 2016 rookie year to 2017 (21 percent to 14 percent), Jano’s snap count hit a career high last season seeing the field 239 times, good for 22 percent of the offensive snaps.

That number should significantly increase if the talented fullback can produce at a similar rate to Juszczyk who is a comparable athlete and possesses almost identical size. 

H-backs, speed options, and other alternatives

We talked quite a bit about the third tight end in this scheme a few weeks ago and especially how Troy Fumagalli could be a nice weapon out the backfield as a third tight end and H-back. He too could play a role similar to Juszczyk’s and split some of the offensive load with Janovich.

Another option will be rookie stud Noah Fant, who should be moved around a ton and whose speed could really be menacing if lined up out the backfield and utilized on crossers like this.

Losing Fant in the backfield will really create havoc for opposing defenses.

Another slightly lesser factor will be Pitt undrafted free agent George Aston, the one other fullback on the roster. When watching tape of Aston, he stood out for his strong production, especially as a receiver in short-yardage situations, and for his deceptively nimble feet for his size, with decent lateral quickness to make defenders miss and gain extra yards.

Supplanting Janovich who’s seemingly a lock to make the roster due to his special team’s impact won’t be easy, but Aston sure will try.

Of course, the flip side of this is that between Janovich getting more snaps and more multiple tight end sets being unleashed in the new scheme, the third receiver won’t see nearly as many snaps as they have in the past and do in the rest of the NFL.

That might be a good thing given the Broncos unproven corps of wideouts and should allow for a much more creative approach than the all-too vanilla attacks we’ve seen the past few years under Mike McCoy and Bill Musgrave.

Using the fullback more often might sound old, boring and antiquated but if Scangarello can do it the right way, it could unlock a whole new element for the Broncos offense that’ll give a new meaning to smashmouth football.