James Develin and Jakob Johnson saw 129 snaps on offense this fall. They saw 30 snaps on special teams. They saw the football in their hands on three occasions and left a significant mark without it.
The New England Patriots will now see how things look without a fullback.
But Patriots head coach Bill Belichick knows that not all fullbacks are ones in title. Not even in Foxborough.
“There’s not a lot of fullbacks in college,” Belichick said Monday on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni & Fauria. “I’d say probably at least half of the fullbacks – or close to half of the fullbacks – in the NFL aren’t fullbacks.