Dallas Cowboys: Meet Hunter Luepke – FB North Dakota State
It seemed all to natural to start the running back profiles with Jahmyr Gibbs (Alabama) or Bijan Robinson (Texas). For a Dallas Cowboys writer, it was borderline tempting. While those players will get the attention they deserve, starting on profiles of players that have not received as much fanfare is a much more appealing way to go.
Hunter Luepke is not a household name by any stretch of the imagination but in Mike McCarthy’s offense it is someone we definitely should get to know as Dallas Cowboys fans.
Will Mike McCarthy continue to make adjustments to this Dallas Cowboys offense by adding a familiar position to his scheme?
Hunter Luepke is a 6’0″ 236-pound fullback out of North Dakota State University. He is one of the more multi-dimensional players in this year NFL Draft. In his bag, he carries a plethora of skill sets that is going to get the attention NFL teams during this draft process.
For the Bison offense, he took advantage of his opportunities to run the ball, catch passes and block in different formations. His running style is very upright and a bit stiff, but his yards after contact definitely makes up for it. He is one tough dude for defenders to take down. Luepke can be very useful to the Dallas Cowboys in short yardage situations.
He has above average hands similar to Kyle Juszczyk of the San Francisco 49ers. I believe he is a very underrated pass catcher in this draft class. He played a lot of the H-back position for the team and in some games last year he lined up in a wide receiver position.
Dallas Cowboys fans have been begging for the screen game to be used more often than it has over the last several years. Well, with this prospect, he was heavily involved in their screen game over the last two years so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to expect some of that from him.
Mike McCarthy has been either a head coach or offensive coordinator for the better part of the last 16 years. In that time, he has always employed a full back in his offensive scheme. John Kuhn in Green Bay was the most recent. Before that – Chris Hetherington with the 49ers in 2005.
With the New Orleans Saints as Offensive Coordinator, he had Terrelle Smith. Granted, back then, it was so much easier to keep a full back on the roster. It was a norm in the NFL to have and use a full back. Now, if a player is going to play that position, you have to be able to bring more to the table, specifically to the offense. This prospect, Hunter Luepke, can do just that.
So often, the team has relied on Ezekiel Elliott to handle the blocking duties on passing downs over the last few seasons. Imagine if we had a full back who could handle that chore. Hunter Luepke is a willing blocker.
On tape, he will introduce himself to linebackers at the point of attack. As with Juszczyk and Kuhn, his ability to slip out in the flat for easy dump downs would keep defenses honest. He is a Dak Prescott friendly player. Oh, and did I mention he wouldn’t cost the team $10 million to do so?
Projected Draft Spot: The NFL combine is going to be very telling for this prospect. His measurables and athletic testing will be on full display. That could boost or drastically change his draft position.
So often, full backs go undrafted so it wouldn’t be out of bounds for the Dallas Cowboys to use their draft capital in other areas. However, I would suspect a fourth or fifth round pick for someone with his skill set.
Next. Cowboys draft profile: Peter Skoronski OT. dark
NFL Comparison: less athletic Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco 49ers