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FOXBOROUGH - If Bill Belichick was teaching a class on the finer points of football, the material he was covering would fall into the Fullback 101 category.
Fullback can mean different things to different coaches, but the most common definition seems to be "blocker," lining up in front of the running back to create a gap through which to run.
Seven-year veteran Heath Evans most often carries out that role with the Patriots. Rewind the tape to one of the team's most productive running plays in last Sunday's win over the Bills, and it came when Evans bulldozed a path for Laurence Maroney over the right side on a powerful 9-yard, first-quarter carry.
But that hardly sums up Evans's work.
He also ran the ball (10 carries, 56 yards). He played as a third-down back, lining up in the shotgun next to Tom Brady, and caught two passes for 10 yards. He stayed in to pass protect, with mixed results. He also played on four special teams units - punt coverage, kickoff coverage, punt return, and kickoff return - and was on call if the team needed a tight end in a pinch.
How then, Professor Belichick, would you describe this type of fullback?
"Heath is a lot like the fullbacks from the '70s and early '80s when I came into the league, and prior to that going back into the '60s," he said Wednesday. "The fullback and halfback, their carries were kind of evenly balanced. You had Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. You had fullbacks that carried the ball - [Larry] Csonka and [Jim] Kiick, [Jim] Taylor and [Paul] Hornung. The halfbacks blocked for the fullbacks and the fullbacks blocked for the halfbacks. That's kind of what Heath is."
Although the term "throwback" is perhaps overused, it does apply to the 6-foot, 250-pound Evans.
Evans is thankful the Patriots view him that way, because he was utilized more as a one-trick pony - a blocker - through the early part of his NFL career with the Seahawks (2001-04) and Dolphins (six games in 2005).
Then he came to the Patriots, who have treated him as a jack-of-all-trades.
"I think everything is opportunities," Evans said Wednesday. "I don't think you grow a new arm or a new leg overnight, but Coach Belichick and his staff gave me opportunities and I've been able to perform well at some of them, and not so well at others. I've been thrown in roles that I've never had before at this level in the NFL, and thanks to them, most of the time I'm well prepared."
Evans has had some obvious examples to follow among his teammates.
"I try to model myself after a guy like Mike Vrabel, or even someone like Junior [Seau], who does multiple things. Troy Brown, when I first got here I was watching him step in at defensive back and watching him do all these different multiple sets," Evans said.
"The bar has been set high here. I enjoy the fact that I can try to fill multiple roles. I try to prepare myself to be ready for anything and everything, knowing the offense inside and out from a lot of different positions. Sometimes there is a consistent role for me, and some weeks that changes."
As for the changes to the fullback position over the years, Belichick provided a CliffsNotes-type version of the evolution. He recalled that in 1975, his first year in the NFL as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts, the fullback was as much a runner as a blocker. That carried into the early '80s.
But the I-formation - in which a bruising fullback lined up in front of a more elusive running back - soon became more prevalent.
"When teams went to the I-formation, then you really, in essence, put a guard in the backfield and you gave the ball to one guy," Belichick said. "In the I-formation, there are two backs but it really is a one-back set because the tailbacks get 90 percent of the carries, if not more."
Soon enough, Belichick noted that teams wanted more flexibility out of the fullback position. He pointed to the Redskins, under coach Joe Gibbs, as an example.
"They said, 'Why put someone who is basically a lineman back there? Let's get another tight end or let's get a guy who's got a little more playmaking ability.' That's kind of how the game has evolved.
"Of course, you watch college football and some teams don't have any backs in the backfield, teams like Florida, all they have is a quarterback back there."
Evans hasn't been asked to carry out those responsibilities, but he's covered just about everything else.
So while some say fullbacks are becoming extinct in the NFL, it's alive and well in New England. Just with a unique, all-around twist.
Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
