Lawton’s trade leaves a void that Colts won’t bother to fill

By Anthony Bialy  |   Monday, June 09, 2008  |  Comments( 8 )

Indianapolis Colts
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Former Indianapolis Colt Luke Lawton had more tackles than rushes last season: He had seven stops on special teams compared to five rushes, although to be fair he had nine total touches counting four receptions. As an alleged fullback whose primary responsibilities were during possession changes and not possessions themselves, it’s not superficially a surprise that the Colts traded the Louisiana native to the Eagles for a conditional draft pick next April.

While the McNeese State product is now working for his sixth team counting time spent on practice squads, he did and does offer value beyond the stat line. In addition to his likability and character, the 6-foot, 245 pound utility man served as an option at six o’clock blocker for an offense that usually doesn’t like to clutter the space between the quarterback and the likely rusher.

So, who takes his place? There aren’t any immediately obvious candidates currently occupying a roster spot: Dominic Rhodes is listed at 205 pounds, while both Kenton Keith and rookie Mike Hart are under two bills. None could be considered a legitimate candidate for fullback conversion, and each would likely get knocked over like a vase in a "Three Stooges" short in the wholly unlikely scenario where any of them was actually used as a pure blocker. They might be individually good at respectively different levels in the area of fending off tacklers as the carrier, but none of them will make a living clearing space for the carrier.

On the same note, Clifton Dawson, at 5-10 and 212 pounds, is fairly big for a running back but still too slight to hold up as a fullback, so he’ll have to make the team in other ways, perhaps by taking Lawton’s place as a special teams ace; he should expect to make more than a single kicking-play tackle as he did last season if he wants to remain a Colt.

The answer is nobody. While this team still has an entire summer to make a move and nab a fullback, it appears likely for now that the Colts are going to revert to an alignment where the only man behind Peyton Manning will be a pure rusher. After all, if they truly wanted a fullback, they wouldn’t have sent Lawton away.

That might make life tricky for chief rusher Joseph Addai and that list of backups, particularly near the end zone, but the team obviously hopes that winning the collisions at the line of scrimmage will do more for ground plays. Having nine men, two of whom are tight ends, hover relatively close to the defense is an attempt to immediately repulse defenders rather than let them get through the ranks where a fullback stands as the final barrier.

Fans should likely also bank on some three-wide receiver sets, or perhaps 2.5 receivers/1.5 tight ends if Dallas Clark is inserted in the slot. The latter is more likely, as the versatility created by stationing an extra eligible blocker along the extended line rather than a few yards behind the snap means that defenses have to account for tight ends running pass routes, a scenario they virtually never have to fear with a fullback in the game.

It looks like the Colts are headed back to cheating toward the pass, not that they were ever quite a wishbone offense, or at least banking on getting enough extra protection from a pair of tight ends. As for handoff recipients, they’re going to have to hope that the indirect threat of a spread field and blocking up front outweighs the direct benefits of following a bowling ball through gaps.

The distraction created by scattering offensive players across the formation will once more be designed to confuse opponents who won’t anticipate running attacks. The rusher alone makes their backfield full enough.
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