Chris Lang's article on Chris Stokes
Posted: August 9th, 2006, 9:35 am
http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... th=!sports
Power running game Stokes Flames fullback
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
August 8, 2006
Once Chris Stokes heard Danny Rocco's basic offensive philosophy, he was sold.
A power running game? A two-back offense? Even a three-back offense?
Stokes, who converted from tight end to defensive end last fall, made his voice heard before spring practice. He wanted to play fullback.
"These are smart kids," Rocco said. "Most kids that you talk to, when you ask them that push-comes-to-shove question, they'll say they just want to get on the field."
That's how Stokes became the first Liberty fullback in more than a decade. Long known as running a one-back, pro-set offense, Liberty has had little use for a fullback in the recent past.
But that didn't jive with Rocco's offensive upbringing. He's a Pennsylvania guy, and Pennsylvania guys love power football.
"You can be a physical run team out of a one-back set," Rocco said. "But I'm telling you that we want our staple to be that we run with power and run with authority. In order to do that, you better line up in a lot of two-back and three-back sets."
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Stokes had the power and authority part down. He was a punishing blocker as a tight end, but his hands were an issue. He dropped too many passes and fell steadily down the depth chart behind Chris Luck and Corey Rasberry.
Midway through the season, he moved to defensive end and made two starts, finished 16th on the team in tackles, forced one fumble and recovered another.
"What he did on defense really shows the talent and the toughness that he has," Liberty running backs coach Frank Hickson said. "Him being able to help the team on defense last year certainly earned him the respect of the players and caught the eyes of a lot of people."
The Flames had enough depth along the defensive line, though, that finding consistent playing time there this year was going to be a challenge.
Stokes heard that Rocco needed a fullback and offered his services
immediately. The conversion was smooth. The reason he agreed to play defense was that he loved to hit. He improved as a pass-catcher and quickly learned the blocking schemes on offense.
As a result, Stokes was the talk of spring practice and won the Samkon Gado Award given to the most improved player in the spring.
"The biggest difference in making long plays is not having to run through an arm tackle," Flames tailback Rashad Jennings said. "With him up front, you don't need to run through arm tackles. You just sprint."
Selling Stokes on what he calls "the big five" was easy for Hickson. By switching positions last year, Stokes earned a reputation as the consummate teammate.
That's exactly the sort of back Hickson is looking for. He attaches an 8?x11-inch sheet of paper to each handout he gives to his backs at meetings and video sessions.
It reads: "5/5 = 100% ? team players."
Fullbacks and tailbacks alike must adhere, which means learning to be equally adept at ball carrying, blocking, receiving, faking and thinking.
"In every play, you have responsibilities, and you have to be one of those things," Hickson said. "A perfect example would be a young man who runs the football for a 20-yard gain. On the next play, because he ran the ball so well, he has a play-action pass and he doesn't pull up and carry out his fake.
"So you've got two plays, and the young man is a 50 percent team player as opposed to being a 100 percent team player."
Hickson said Stokes has bought fully into the system. His strength is in his physical nature, but he's worked hard to improve the other areas as well so he's not seen as just a blocking back for Jennings.
"I've always felt like I was a fullback," Stokes said. "Even coming in, I remember hearing guys saying we should have had a fullback, and me and some other guys would have played the position, and I would have been really happy to do that. So, yeah, it's pretty neat."
