Move over, Travis Hunter, there is a new two-way player in the NFL worth talking about. It’s a 335-pound defensive tackle who has recently started bulldozing people out of the way as a fullback.
We are,
of course, talking about the New England Patriots’ Khyiris Tonga.
For the last two weeks, Tonga has been helping out on offense as a big-bodied lead blocker in the run game. While playing only nine total snaps and still adjusting to life on the other side of the ball, he has had an active hand in some big plays — including TreVeyon Henderson’s 69-yard touchdown run against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday.
On that particular play, Tonga helped open up the edge by bowling through several defenders as well as teammate Will Campbell. It may not have been pretty, but it worked and left a positive impression on teammates and coaches alike.
“It’s very impressive,” said wide receiver Stefon Diggs. “Best two-way player in the league, if you ask me. Guy does everything you ask of him and he’s making plays, taking out like eight people including our own players.”
A seventh-round draft pick by the Chicago Bears in 2021, Tonga is not entirely unfamiliar with playing on offense. During his rookie season, he lined up at the fullback position for one solitary snap.
Over the next three seasons — which took him to Atlanta, Minnesota and Arizona — the career journeyman did not get a chance to add to his offensive résumé. Then came the Patriots, who he joined on a one-year, $2.1 million free agency contract in March.
While he began his fifth season in the NFL in standard fashion, playing on both defense and special teams, he slowly started entering the fullback conversation along the way.
“It’s probably a vision,” explained head coach Mike Vrabel. “I think you’re like, ‘Who can do this?’ You go through, you end up with a couple of names and then it’s process of elimination. So, I think it’s vision and then just watching the skill set, maybe how they play.”
Tonga, obviously, fit what the Patriots staff had been looking for. And two games into his fullback career, he has already earned plenty of praise.
“It’s impressive just how quickly he gets out of his stance,” said Vrabel. “He’s been able to get out in front of the running back. Sometimes fullbacks are a little slower, they’re out of phase with the runner and the runners run up their heels. So, you just try to look, be creative and see where guys can help you.”
The 29-year-old adding fullback duties to his repertoire was not specifically planned when he initially joined the Patriots in March. Rather, it was the result of circumstance and, apparently, a joke backfiring on him.
New England originally planned to have Brock Lampe fill the fullback role in Josh McDaniels’ offense. However, when the rookie suffered a season-ending foot injury in July, the team had to adapt. It initially did so by converting tight end Jack Westover to fullback — a somewhat natural transition — and later by adding Tonga to the mix as well.
According to the man himself, however, he did not believe the plans to be serious at first.
“It was just a joke,” Tonga told MassLive. “‘Alright, get ready. If we ever put you in goal line, can you do it?’ Jokingly, I said yes, and next thing you know, I’m over here sitting with the O-line, looking at D-line fronts.
“It’s fun. I enjoy it. The trust they’ve got in me, I’m grateful to have it. I’m just trying to do whatever they ask me to do.”
His head coach also views him in the same light.
“We need a little bigger size in there to try to push the pile a little bit and get some movement,” Vrabel said. “I think he does a nice job at it, too. He’s got a good feel for it. Helped us in the short yardage in Atlanta and helped us last week. I know that if asked and called upon, he’ll be willing to help us again.”
