Exploring a lead blocker for Ashton Jeanty

Veteran tight end Ian Thomas, rookies JJ Pegues, Pat Conroy are options in Las Vegas Raiders’ backfield

The Silver & Black’s storied history of deploying effective fullbacks came to an end last season. The 2024 season was the first time since 1984 where a traditional fullback wasn’t on the 53-man roster.

And the history wasn’t just relegated to burly hammerhead lead blocking types, either. There were the more agile ball carrier/pass catcher types mixed into Raiders lore.

Heading into a 2025 campaign under new general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll, there’s potential for the old-school position — a dying breed in today’s NFL — to be absent once again. While Carroll has historically had a fullback on his roster during his Seattle Seahawks days, his chosen offensive coordinator Chip Kelly doesn’t share the same philosophy.

The Raiders’ training camp and preseason games will provide an answer soon enough if fullback is indeed alive or dead, thus, I’ll just use “lead blocker”. As in, let’s explore who’ll join prized 2025 NFL Draft pick Ashton Jeanty in the backfield as the lead blocker for the sixth overall selection.

At this juncture, there are three potentials: Veteran tight end Ian Thomas, undrafted free agent Patrick Conroy, and 2025 sixth-round pick JJ Pegues.

The Veteran

At 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, Thomas brings plenty of size. And along with his seven years in the NFL, brings plenty of savvy, too. The Indiana-product arrived to the league as a fourth-round pick (101st overall) int he 2018 draft by the Carolina Panthers.

Outside of his rookie campaign (where he caught 36 passes for 333 yard and two touchdowns), Thomas has been more blocker than pass catcher. His participation rate on offense the last two seasons in Carolina were meager (eight receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns on 216 and 94 offensive snaps, in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The caveat to those two seasons for Thomas, however, is the 12 games played in 2023 and five games in 2024 were the least he’s played with the Panthers. Before that, the 29-year-old played in all games from 2018 to 2022.

A return to form to his ability to block in 2022 and prior, along with the best trait of availability, will be instrumental to Thomas’ Raiders roster chances. Whether he’s lined up in front of Jeanty in the backfield or as an in-line tight end that turns into lead blocker, Thomas has shown the ability effectively do so. He just has to prove it again in Las Vegas.

The Rookies

I initially dove into the potential for both Conroy and Pegues to play the lead blocker role back in early May.

Of the two, Conroy has the most experience in the backfield lined up as a traditional fullback at Old Dominion as he was an H-back in college who dabbled as tight end and fullback. Standing at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Las Vegas’ official team website lists the undrafted rookie as a tight end and he’s been given No. 86.

Conroy has had a very impressive tale of the tape in terms of relative athletic score (RAS) as seen below:

But at his size and weight, Conroy represents the shortest in the tight end bunch — starter Brock Bowers is 6-foot-4 while Michael Mayer stands the same height. Veteran Ian Thomas is also 6-foot-4 while incumbent Justin Shorter is 6-foot-5, for example. While Conroy could always shine and beat out others for a spot at tight end, he appears more built as a fullback in the pro game.

Speaking of built, this brings us to Pegues. A defensive tackle by trade, this 6-foot-2 and 309-pound sixth-round pick from Ole Miss showcased an uncanny ability as Lane Kiffin’s short-yardage back at Mississippi.

Recruited to Alabama as a tight end, it’s difficult not to be impressed with Pegues’ ability to convert short-yardage situations into key drive-continuing first downs or — better yet — six points with a touchdown. The quick feet that make him a terror to block paid dividends on offense and it’s equally hard to see the Raiders not give Pegues the opportunity to roll on offense, too.

His sheer mass and power make for an intriguing ball carrier and lead blocker — especially on those goal line situations where NFL teams often go power vs. power (despite a trend to more snaps out of the shotgun inside the five-yard line to spread defenses thin).

Chip Ahoy!

With Kelly now running the Raiders offense, it’ll be interesting if a traditional lead blocker is even a thing. His background as a coach — be it college or the NFL — is to forgo the fullback position altogether and use tight ends in blocking roles when warranted.

We saw this last season when Luke Getsy and Scott Turner had their turns running Las Vegas’ offense as Bowers and Mayer were lined up in the backfield. That could occur once again under Kelly’s watch as both Bower and Mayer improved their blocking acumen since arriving from the collegiate game. But we can’t ignore the tremendous value Bowers’ brings as a pass-catching tight end.

The skinny here is: If Conroy makes the team, the Raiders are back in business with a traditional-style fullback. If he doesn’t and the duty goes to another Raider, then it’s merely a “fullback” is once again absent from the roster.

And it’s difficult to see it return.