The Chargers have turned their former sixth-round defensive tackle draft pick, Scott Matlock, into a developing two-way star who is now a mainstay on offense.
While Matlock has been an interesting athletic prospect on defense, he has yet to show any sort of real production. With that, his transition to fullback has been mildly successful, showing major improvement from the start of the year to the end.
That said, the questions being asked are: Can he continue his development on both sides of the ball? Can he be a defensive standout in a position of need while still being an offensive weapon? Is this too much for one player?
Chargers’ Scott Matlock Could Thrive on Defense Without Hurting Offense
First, starting off with the context behind this question is one of Scott Matlock’s offensive coaches recently commenting on what Matlock envisions for himself, stating:
“Scott (Matlock) wants to be a Pro Bowl D-Tackle, and I want to support that.” “He has visions of being himself being an elite defensive player, we have visions of him helping us on offense. And how that all works together, I think you’ve seen some of that this spring.”
Even though coach Andy Bischoff has given reassurance regarding Matlock’s role as a Chargers two-way player, it still does not inspire much confidence in the actuality of Matlock hitting his desired defensive goals.
A major reason for the lack of confidence is due to the history of how it happened and how his career has gone up to this point.
Scott Matlock: Before The NFL Position Versatility
The former Boise State defensive tackle did have some versatility in college, as he caught multiple touchdowns as a jumbo tight end. Usually, a late-round selection like Scott Matlock, who was able to have some fun on the other side of the ball, does not get the chance to continue the two-way ability into the NFL.
As a rookie, he was strictly a defensive player, where he played in 12 games, for 33% of the defensive snaps. He did not flash much in that time, but showed enough athletic potential to keep his roster spot going into 2024.
Going into 2024, the second-year defensive tackle was able to gain some offensive snaps at full back during the off-season, once former fifth-round pick Jordan McFadden seemed to fail to make the transition from guard to full back.
Moving onto the preseason of 2024, Scott Matlock started just playing defense, eventually garnering some offensive snaps in games two and three. Next thing you know, the Chargers had him playing 18 offensive snaps in the season opener against the Raiders.
Eric Smith of the Chargers interviewed Matlock and got fun context behind his transition:
“It was kind of just of this thing that kind of grew into what it’s become… We started off on the goal line, tight end to block…Then I was successful at that, so they were like, ‘Okay, maybe let’s try you here.’ Then it kind of just over the days expanded, expanded and expanded into what it’s become… It wasn’t like a foreseen thing to be honest.”
The Precedent Of This Position Change
This Chargers coaching staff and front office have deep ties to the Ravens organization. The Scott Matlock experiment was extremely reminiscent of what happened with Patrick Ricard, the All-Pro full back for the Ravens. Ricard was once a defensive tackle who eventually committed fully to playing offense after a few years of playing both ways.
In year three of the transition (and of his career), Ricard made his first Pro Bowl, leading him to fully lean into offense in year four. Ricard made three Pro Bowls in a row, and recently made an All-Pro this past season. If Matlock wants to be like Ricard, maybe a full commitment to offense is necessary.
Patrick Ricard’s Snap Counts By Year:
-
2017, DT/FB
Offensive Snaps: 149 (14%)
Defensive Snaps: 38 (4%)
Accolades: None -
2018, DT/FB
Offensive Snaps: 96 (13%)
Defensive Snaps: 47 (7%)
Accolades: None -
2019, FB
Offensive Snaps: 342 (31%)
Defensive Snaps: 140 (14%)
Accolades: Pro Bowl (first selection) -
2020, FB
Offensive Snaps: 402 (41%)
Defensive Snaps: 0 (0%)
Accolades: Pro Bowl (second selection) -
2021, FB
Offensive Snaps: 555 (57%)
Defensive Snaps: 0 (0%)
Accolades: Pro Bowl (third selection) -
2022, FB
Offensive Snaps: 698 (64%)
Defensive Snaps: 0 (0%)
Accolades: Pro Bowl (fourth selection) -
2023, FB
Offensive Snaps: 443 (39%)
Defensive Snaps: 0 (0%)
Accolades: Second‑team All‑Pro -
2024, FB
Offensive Snaps: 435 (39%)
Defensive Snaps: 0 (0%)
Accolades: Pro Bowl selection (returned for fifth time in six seasons), First‑team All‑Pro
Scott Matlock’s Snap Counts By Year:
- 2023, DT
Offensive Snaps: 0 (0%)
Defensive Snaps: 266 (33%) - 2024, DT/FB
Offensive Snaps: 362 (34%)
Defensive Snaps: 137 (13%)
The general takeaway from seeing these snap counts is that as soon as Patrick Ricard had enough time focusing on offense, his career took off and he began to collect accolades. Scott Matlock’s dreams of becoming an elite defensive player may come at the cost of playing offense for this team. That decision ultimately lies with him and the coaching staff’s vision.
Other Chargers Full Back Options
The Chargers have already come out and said that we will see Scott Matlock play both ways this season, at least from all tea leaves given during this off-season. However, if Matlock were to go down or go on a tear on defense and the Chargers did not want to disturb said defensive tear, who are the other options that can fill in on offense?
Tucker Fisk was on the Chargers last season and was a very pleasant addition to the Chargers struggling run game. Fisk is a shorter tight end with the perfect build to play the full back role. He usually was in tandem with Scott Matlock, adding “beef” to this mean Chargers offense. Fisk could likely fill in at full back if called upon due to his size and blocking prowess.
Stevo Klotz is a tight end full back hybrid out of Iowa State, who has received major praise from Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. Klotz may be the odd man out in the tight end room, but he will definitely make a spot on the practice squad if his play is anything like how Harbaugh envisions. If anything happens with the full back role, Klotz could very well take that roster spot.
Finally Answering The Aforementioned Scott Matlock Questions
Can he continue his development on both sides of the ball?
Of course, Matlock can continue developing both skill sets, especially his offensive skill set as he has so much more to learn in comparison to defense, where he played in college and one full season in the NFL. The caveat is that his development will likely be stunted as history has shown that it is not sustainable. That history being Ricard having to finally devote his time fully to one side of the ball to finally garner accolades.
Can he be a defensive standout in a position of need while still being an offensive weapon?
This is where it gets tricky. Developing both positions is somewhat easy, as the previous question did not ask for a finite amount of improvement. 1% better at both positions technically means development. However, when looking into whether he can be a standout on defense, that very well may be out of the picture for Matlock.
This analysis is merely to predict using history, data and general football knowledge, not to put a ceiling on Matlock’s abilities. If he could be an upper-echelon full back who can come in on third downs on defense and become a 15-pressure defensive lineman, that would be an absolutely incredible outcome.
Is this too much for one player?
Even at the lower levels of the game, playing both ways and special teams is no joke. It takes a physical toll on the body while requiring immense cardio, not even mentioning the mental aspects of things. A sixth-round pick taking all of this on is not quite Tom Brady level of outperforming draft status, but definitely in the realm of doing so; doing something no one has really done in the modern era of the NFL.
Main Image: Kirby Lee – USA Today Sports
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