Charles Scott knows what to do with the ball in his hands. He rushed for 2,317 yards at an average of 5.3 yards per carry while scoring 32 rushing touchdowns during his time at LSU.
Now, Scott is getting used to doing damage without the ball in his hands. Scott dabbled at the fullback position in college, but is now playing the position on a full-time basis in the NFL. In the preseason opener, Scott didn't get a single carry.
"I'm trying to get used to that," Scott said. "They already know that I can run the ball. That's a thing they know I can do. They've seen me on film. I'm trying to get used to fullback where it's second nature and then we'll see if we can mix a few carries in there."
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg echoed Scott's comments and added that his versatility "may very well help our team."
"He was a fine, fine ballcarrier coming out of LSU," Mornhinweg said. "He can play both halfback and fullback. Ninety-nine percent of his work here, right now, is on that fullback spot because that's a new position for him and he's doing a fine job. There are a couple things we've discussed that I want to see out of him in this next ballgame. However, he's done a fine job up to date."
Scott said that the physical aspect of the fullback position isn't a challenge since that was his style of running to begin with. The toughest part of the transition is lining up three yards closer to the line of scrimmage and having to be able to process what the defense is doing that much quicker.
"It forces you to react at a whole different level," Scott said. "You have to be focused on your pre-snap reads and your assignments after the ball is snapped. You don't think about it, just go. I had a problem of thinking and not playing, playing, playing. I think I can work on just going fast, playing out of my mind and not worrying about it."
All Scott has to do to see the value of a versatile fullback is look at the man ahead of him on the depth chart in Leonard Weaver. An All-Pro last year, Weaver had 463 yards of total offense and a career-high four touchdowns in 2009.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 8:20 p.m., August 17
