Green Bay Packers: A Lack of Playing Time for Danny Vitale in 2019

Surprisingly, we saw very little of fullback Danny Vitale on the field in 2019 for the Green Bay Packers. And hopefully that changes moving forward.

There was a time in the NFL where it looked like the fullback position was on its way to extinction as teams began to spread things out more on offense. However, in recent years we have seen a resurgence at the position but don’t be mistaken, many of these players aren’t your traditional fullbacks. Instead, they are do it all superbacks that can catch, block and line up all over the formation.

The Green Bay Packers have their own superback in Danny Vitale who was a very good pass-catcher during his time at Northwestern where he totaled over 1,400 receiving yards on 10.6 yards per catch with 11 touchdowns. And in small doses this past season, we saw Vitale flash in the passing game as well as the mismatches that he can create.

However, in the end I was surprised at how little Vitale was utilized in 2019. Especially under Matt LaFleur who I thought would have Vitale playing a much larger role within the offense.

While when he was on the field we saw his versatility as he lined up in the backfield, inline, out wide, and in the slot, Vitale was only on the field for 15.7 percent of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive snaps. But when he did get the ball in the passing game he was quite effective as he averaged nearly 14 yards per catch, albeit on only seven receptions though.

In terms of the potential that Vitale has in this offense and what we will hopefully see from LaFleur moving forward, we just have to take a look to San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan and Kyle Juszczyk, where there is some overlap between the two offenses.

Although he played in just 12 games due to an injury, Juszczyk was still on the field for nearly 37 percent of the Niners total offensive snaps and had 20 receptions on 24 targets at just under 12 yards per catch with a touchdown. And like Vitalte, Juszczyk was lined up all over the formation.

Now, those numbers certainly aren’t eye-popping by any means and I’m not saying that if Vitale played more the Packers passing game woes would have been solved. But as Shanahan pointed out in an interview with the Green Bay media prior to their Week 12 matchup, just having the fullback on the field can create confusion for opposing defenses:

"“When you have a fullback in there, the defense knows there are certain blitzes and certain things they can’t do because you’re going to be able to block it all up. If you have a fullback in, no matter what they do, you have a chance to run the ball, or at least the threat of it. So it changes some looks and allows you to call whatever you want if you really want to do that regardless of what the defense is doing.”"

This offseason Vitale is an unrestricted free agent but is coming off a contract with Green Bay where he earned $1.2 million over two years. So bringing him back shouldn’t break the bank and it’s a move that I hope they make because he can add tremendous value to this Packer offense.

With that said, in the coming months as LaFleur reflects on the 2019 season and looks for ways to improve offensively, trying to find more ways to get Danny Vitale on the field moving forward should certainly be on the to-do list.