Is Stanley Havili Competing Against Himself For Starting FB?

When asked yesterday whether 2nd year man Stanley Havili was the #1 fullback, Andy Reid's answer was simple.

"Yes."

It was a fairly predictable answer given that Havili is the only fullback on the roster with any experience. The only competitors are UDFAs Emi Igwenagu and Jeremy Stewart. The USC product spent last season on the Eagles practice squad where he learned the playbook and put on some pounds. After being listed as just over 230 in his rookie year, the Eagles say that Havili is now up to 248.

The question is, if Havili isn't competing against another notable player for the job is he actually competing for the job itself to exist?

"I feel like there's a spot for a fullback on this team," Havili told PhiladelphiaEagles.com. "This offense, where it comes from, they like to utilize the fullback in a lot of different ways."

Despite what Havili says, the evidence appears to be to the contrary. They don't really seem to "like to utilize the fullback in a lot of different ways." Last year, Owen Schmitt played less than 20% of the offensive snaps, carried the ball 4 times and caught 3 passes.

Now, before Schmitt the Eagles used Leonard Weaver a ton, but as PE.com also points out, Weaver was basically the backup RB. He really wasn't a traditional fullback. The interesting thing is that in college Havili was a lot more Leonard Weaver than he was Owen Schmitt. He had over 84 career receptions at USC and amassed over 1,800 yards from scrimmage. It's probably a lot to expect him to be a Weaver type contributor, but he certainly brings a lot more to the table offensively than Owen Schmitt.