Mike Sellers is back where he belongs. The 6-3, 275-pounder has moved back to the fullback position in Al Saunders's offense.
For the last two years, Sellers has played H-back for the Redskins. The H-back position is sort of a hybrid of the tight end and fullback positions.
Sometimes Sellers was a blocking tight end. Sometimes he was a fullback blocking for Clinton Portis.
More often than not, though, Sellers lined up at tight end. He attended positional meetings with the tight ends.
This offseason, Sellers has switched meeting rooms and is back with the running backs.
"I've had most of my success in my career as a fullback," he said. "I've been asking the coaches to have me get back and do that. And now that's basically what I do."
Saunders has always used fullbacks in prominent roles in his offenses. In Kansas City the last five years, Saunders helped Tony Richardson develop into a Pro Bowl fullback for the Chiefs.
Sellers expects to play a similar role in the Redskins' offense next season.
"I think I'll be a lot more involved in this offense than I was in the past," Sellers said. "I'll be doing a lot more blocking--and that's fine with me. I've always said that I'd rather lay someone out [with a hard block] than score a touchdown."
Sellers found himself scoring touchdowns often last season, a development that surprised even him.
Lining up as either a tight end or fullback, Sellers was often unnoticed and uncovered by defenses in red-zone situations. He caught seven touchdown passes last season, mostly off of short passes in the flat from quarterback Mark Brunell.
Overall, Sellers logged 12 receptions for 72 yards. He also barreled into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run against Philadelphia in Week 9 after lining up at fullback.
For his NFL career, Sellers has started 24-of-85 games, with 38 catches for 360 yards and 15 touchdowns. Originally signed by Washington in 1998 as an undrafted rookie, Sellers played in 45 games for the Redskins in 1998-2000.
"I'm still a little surprised at my touchdown-to-catch ratio last season," Sellers said. "It wasn't something I expected coming into the season. I still look back to those games and I remember every single one of those touchdowns. I still can't believe it. It's not that I didn't deserve them, because I worked hard to get those touchdowns. It was an added plus for me to have all of that happen."
Moving back to the fullback position has reinvigorated Sellers as he prepares for the team's full-squad mini-camp, June 16-18 at Redskins Park.
"Right now I'm loving practice," he said. "I used to dread practice. The tight end position was a little hard for me because I was so used to playing fullback. It was a learning process.
"I'm elated to be at practice now. Coaches are constantly putting something new in the offense where I get to do something out of the backfield, not just as a tight end anymore."
