Klint Kubiak is re-energizing Raider Nation as the new Las Vegas Raiders head coach.
And for good reason.
Kubiak represents a beacon of hope for a football team that featured one of the worst offenses the storied franchise witness in 2025. The incompetence rivals the Bed & Breakfast offense way back in 2006 and was a sever low-light in former head coach Pete Carroll’s long career.
The Silver & Black lack an identity — unless you consider a comedy of errors a true Raiders characteristic — is ever present
as the team cycled through head coaches. Kudos for owner Mark Davis not wanting to let things linger and make moves to fix mistakes, but boy, there’s a ton of miscues.
And the 38-year-old Kubiak represents a potential solution. A dedicated grinder with elite offensive expertise, the newly-minted head honcho in Las Vegas has the skillset to turn the moribund franchise around. And we’ve written quite a bit about how the Raiders move forward with Kubiak, such as how Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is a fit for the lead man’s offense, to bad roster fits, and can the head coach maximize speed on the roster.
For me, though, I’m an old-school traditionalist in one particular way: A true fullback on the roster. And with Kubiak as head coach, that OG position appears on the horizon of return. If you’ve read my stuff before, you now I’m a special teams and fullback truther. And based on Kubiak’s history as an architect of an NFL offense, fullback is in his repertoire. He confirmed this week the Raiders will be looking for fullbacks this offseason.
From C.J. Ham during his stint with the Minnesota Vikings, to Adam Prentice with the New Orleans Saints, and most recently Robbie Ouzts and Brady Russell with the Seattle Seahawks, Kubiak is keen to use a stout presence as the lead blocker in his offense.
Once a distinct and traditional 53-man roster spot, Kubiak’s arrival portends to a break in a 40-year cycle returning.
As you can see above, Ouzts — taken in the fifth-round (175th overall) in the 2025 NFL Draft — converted from tight end at Alabama to a 6-foot-3 and 274-pound fullback in Seattle. Russell also brings size to the table at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds. Ouzts played in 12 games with two starts this past season notching 203 offensive snaps (27 percent of the Seahawks’ total). Russell was primarily a special teamer with 396 snaps (87 percent of the team total) while notching 58 on offense (six percent).
Kubiak’s tendencies tailor towards 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) and 21 personnel (two running backs and one tight end), and with a talented young tailback as the bell cow — Ashton Jeanty, the sixth-overall pick in the 2025 draft — maximizing potential is mission critical. Thus, having a big presence as his lead blocker is equally integral. Having extra beef leading the way with improved offensive line play can give Jeanty much-need time to operate in 2026 after the running back finished his rookie season with 975 yards and five touchdowns on 266 carries (3.7 yards per carry average) along with 55 receptions for 346 yards and five more scores.
Getting more dedicated coaching and concentration in the trenches with a lead-blocking fullback can only help Las Vegas rise from the 32nd-ranked ground game in terms of yards (1,317) and touchdowns (five).
Kubiak Method
The Raiders new coach and offensive play caller isn’t a one-dimensional cat. When presented with a true fullback on the roster, Kubiak knows what to do with them. And when there isn’t one, he’s apt to take a tight end and convert them to the position group.
When Kubiak joined Seattle’s coaching staff as the offensive coordinator, he spoke openly about his preference for 21 and 12 personnel, noting he certainly loves playing with a fullback. The presence of one in Kubiak’s system helps establish the run game as a cornerstone and both the outside and wide zone, alongside power elements, are a family tradition dating back to his father Gary Kubiak and the Shanahan coaching tree of Mike and Kyle.
A hard-nosed and physical fullback gives Klint Kubiak the ability to create horizontal and vertical movement to pave the way for running backs — such as Alvin Kamara (New Orleans) and most recently Kenneth Walker III.
That noted, lead blocking isn’t their only task.
Kubiak uses timely shifts and pre-snap motion to force the defense’s hand and help identify or adjust coverages they’ve called.
In-House Options
Whatever happened to JJ Pegues being used on offense?
The Ole Miss’ defensive tackle was taken in the sixth round (180th overall) of the 2025 draft and brought versatility as a short-yardage back in Lane Kiffin’s offense. The 6-foot-2 and 325-pound linemen rushed for seven touchdowns in 2024 and in his rookie season in Las Vegas, Pegues logged zero snaps on offense. With his size and feet, Pegues should get some looks on offense with Kubiak now as the offensive orchestrator.
Carter Runyon is a potential conversion from tight end. The undrafted free agent stands 6-foot-4 and 243 pounds and logged 45 offensive snaps his rookie season this past year (13 games played, zero starts). The Towson product has NFL speed (4.62 40-yard dash at pro day sprints) and is more of a pass catcher, but he has shown the ability to be a move blocker than can shift the defense and provide pop on inside and outside runs.
Runyon has the speed, leaping ability, and hands to be a threat out of the backfield which, in turn, can force a defense to account for another potential pass catcher. If Runyon can improve as a blocker and put on more weight to his frame, he has a chance to stick as a converted fullback.
Feel A Draft
The traditional fullback position is going extinct across both the pro and collegiate levels, but it’s not gone yet. And if the Raiders are inclined to snag a prospect at the position group this April in the 2026 draft, there’s some standout talent.
Michigan’s Max Bredeson brings ample size (listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds) and excellent lead-blocking skillset coming from a pro-style system the Wolverines deploy. Indiana’s Riley Nowakowski also brings good size (6-foot-1 and 247 pounds) alongside a versatile skillset as he played fullback, tight end, and even offensive lineman in the Hoosiers offense.
There’s also outside-the-box prospects like Ohio State’s CJ Donaldson (6-foot-2, 237 pounds) and Air Force’s Dylan Carson (6-feet, 230 pounds) that are power ballcarriers who bring requisite physicality to be lead-blocking types.
