There may not be a player in the entire NFL that the term ‘quiet achiever’ applies to more than Redskins Fullback Darrel Young. Not only does Young dedicate a considerable amount of his own time to working with charities and visiting US troops overseas, he does it all without promoting himself on social media; he does not have a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account.
A rare specimen in 2015, indeed.
Although Darrel Young may spend his off-seasons visiting troops in places like Honduras, and El Salvador, during football season for the past few years he has been providing the Redskins with an unusual combination of blocking prowess, athleticism, and versatility from the Fullback position.
NFL 2014 – Fullback Touchdowns
| Player | Snaps | Rush TD | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darrel Young (WAS) | 215 | 3 | 2 |
| Bruce Miller (SEA) | 473 | 0 | 2 |
| John Kuhn (GB) | 195 | 1 | 0 |
| Marcel Reese (OAK) | 398 | 0 | 1 |
| Anthony Sherman (KC) | 254 | 0 | 1 |
In 2014 Young led the NFL in touchdowns by a Fullback, and was an integral part of all of the Redskins 4 wins last season.
Young’s 2014 Touchdowns
Young scored the Redskins only touchdown in their season opener in Houston, with a Fullback lead dive that required Young to extend the ball over the plane. (JJ Watt blocked the Extra Point kick).
In the Week 2 game versus Jacksonville, only minutes after Quarterback Robert Griffin III went down with a broken ankle, Young hooked up with Kirk Cousins for a 20 yard receiving touchdown that put the Redskins into the lead and kept them there.
The first NFC East division matchup in 2014 saw Young again making it to the endzone, this time catching a 5 yard pass from Cousins on an outside slant route.
Young again scored against the Eagles, this time in Week 16, and this time making it into the endzone not once but twice. Both times with 1 yard carries from the goal line, and both times with identical results; six points on the board.
Under-utilized?
Given the ability to both run and catch the ball, it’s fair to wonder why Darrel Young wasn’t given more opportunities last season. After starting the season so well with touchdowns in each of the first 3 games, Young was a victim of a wildly inconsistent 2014 offense that famously included multiple Quarterback changes. With this instability came an impact on his snaps; in week two vs Jacksonville Young had 26 snaps, yet in week five vs Seattle he had 11, and in week six vs Arizona he had just 5 snaps. And that was not even his lowest total for the season.
Following the shut-out loss at home vs St Louis, where Young was only on the field for a grand total of 3 snaps, I spoke to him in the locker-room and asked him about the lack of apparent consistency in the gameplan when it came to the utilization of the fullback. This was his response:
“I don’t know man. Every week is different… It’s frustrating, but we’ll see what happens from here”.
What to expect in 2015?
Given that Young demonstrated to rookie Head Coach Jay Gruden in 2014 that he can be trusted with the ball, it will be interesting to see just how much that changes things moving forward into 2015. Especially given that new Redskins Offensive Line coach and Running Game coach Bill Callahan will be in charge of the ground game.
Last year in Dallas, Coach Callahan did not have anywhere near the level of talent and versatility at the Fullback position that Young brings to the table (Dallas Fullback Tyler Clutts had 163 snaps in 2014, and did not get any carries at all). This year, Young represents a secret weapon that Callahan can add to his repertoire, both on the ground and in the air.
Amazingly, Darrel Young has never fumbled the ball, nor has he ever dropped a pass in his entire career.
For his part in all of this, Young told reporters earlier this year that he wants to continue working with his team mates to try and get better, and to try and get more wins on the board. He also specifically mentioned that he wants to continue working with Alfred Morris, as his lead blocker;
“You know what you’re going to get from your O-linemen at the first level. Good things happen, bad things happen, but the big runs are what happens on the next level – the linebackers, secondary – so for me, personally, I want to get the hell out of Alfred’s way and be better for him, open holes for him, give him clearer reads.”
With an improved offensive line and the addition of an elite-caliber coach in Bill Callahan working with both the line and the backs, Young is a Redskins player who could see huge results in 2015.
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