Figgins moves to very important position for Dawgs

As much attention as the quarterback gets at any and every program, and as important as the wide receivers and the offensive line can both be, one position seems to be overlooked at most programs across the country: fullback. With teams going to the shotgun spread-read option, the fullback seems to be going the way of the dinosaur and dodo bird. However under Mark Richt, the University of Georgia has always had a dominant lead blocker out of the backfield that has paved the way for Musa Smith, Danny Ware, Thomas Brown, Knowshon Moreno and the other tailbacks. And Richt has also shown in his time that he isn’t afraid to run the fullback around the goalline or even flip it to them over the top. Verron Haynes anyone?

The position has been locked up for seemingly the last eight years by Brannan Southerland and Shaun Chapas with a dash of Fred Munzenmaier tossed in over the last few seasons. Those guys are gone now though and the position is in a bit of transition, at least until recently when a certain Bulldog that has had some trouble in the past deciding to do what is right for the team and switching positions.

Bruce Figgins agreed to move to fullback for the Liberty Bowl and he apparently has decided to stick at the position with Chapas and Munzenmaier graduating. Figgins, a former tight end, came to Georgia with a lot of hype and had some success early on, catching a touchdown pass in his first game against Oklahoma State in 2007. Figgins missed the 2009 due to a suspension and injury but came back last year to haul in a TD pass against Georgia Tech in Georgia’s win over its in-state rival.

True Figgins likely looked at the now-stacked TE position and saw Aron White, Orson Charles, Arthur Lynch and newbie Jay Rome and thought, “Gosh, playing time might be scarce.” However, I choose to believe that Figgins decided to make the move for the good of the team. He will serve as lead blocker for Isaiah Crowell, Boo Malcolm and Carlton Thomas in 2011, and he might still catch a few passes if history repeats itself.

With all of the Ealey talk dominating the current Georgia discussions, it is nice to see a Dawg sacrifice for the team. Figgins is pitching in and let’s hope he starts a trend of giving it up for the Red and Black.