WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Austin Johnson jokes that he’s the last of a dying breed. He’s looked at rosters, heard the talk. He knows that maybe, if he were coming into the league a decade from now, that his job options as a traditional fullback would be even more limited.
In many cities, the game has evolved to a point where there isn’t a need or it isn’t economical to expend a roster spot on someone whose chief — sometimes only — responsibility is to blast open holes for a running back. The math of a 53-man roster often makes more sense when a player from a different position can moonlight in that role.