When the subject of Ravens running back Le'Ron McClain comes up among other teams, it's fairly common to hear coaches and players make the point that McClain is far from the typical fullback because of his productivity as a ball carrier.
Although he has fullback size, the 260-pound McClain went on to lead the Ravens with 902 rushing yards on 232 carries. Actually, Lorenzo Neal, whose career-long forte has been blocking, has often been McClain's lead blocker.
"I would classify him maybe as a running back rather than a fullback," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said Tuesday of McClain. "Either that or they're handing the ball off to the fullback 200 times a year. He's a real good player. He pushes the pile, he's a north-south runner, he's got good vision and he's tough. That's what you need if you're going to take the approach they take with their run game. They create a lot of third-and-ones and third-and-twos which makes it hard to get off the field."
Sounds innocuous enough, even complimentary, until you travel the Titans locker room and then Fisher's comment that McClain is a running back rather than a fullback or else the Ravens are "handing the ball off to the fullback 200 times a year" takes on more meaning.
There seems to be a feeling that just maybe McClain was misclassified for the purpose of Pro Bowl voting and that Tennessee's own fullback, Ahmard Hall, was short-changed in the process.
Hall, basically a starter at fullback, had just eight carries all season but did the dirty work as the lead blocker for Chris Johnson (1,228 yards) and LenDale White (773 yards).
Hall gave McClain his props for answering the bell as the featured running back when Willis McGahee struggled, but ...
"It's hard for me to take that because it takes away my spot from going to the Pro Bowl but at the same time he does have that title. When Willis [and others] were playing he did play fullback. It just is what it is," Hall said.
"I think he's definitely a tailback," the Tennessee fullback added. "He carries the ball the majority of the time for them and they probably misclassified him."
