Hunter Luepke-FB-North Dakota State

Originally posted by thl408:
But how does he perform at the main task a fullback does, lead blocking?

It will be up to Malstrom and redshirt freshman Hunter Luepke to uphold the tradition of the Bison fullback. For starters, it's the look. You have to be somewhere around 6 feet tall and somewhere around 240 to 250 pounds.

Then there's the attitude. You have to like to block. You have to like hitting people. In that once-in-a-blue-moon chance you carry the ball, you look for somebody to run over, instead of somebody to run around.

"You have to be physical and tough," Malstrom said. "You have to be willing to throw your body into defenders and pretty much put it on the line for the team. That's what it's all about though."

"I knew I wanted to come to NDSU for the culture," Luepke said. "It's an amazing program and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

He was 6-1 and around 220 pounds when he first enrolled. He's up to 245 -- and gaining.

"He's done a really good job, he's learning," Malstrom said of Luepke making the switch from a high school tailback to a college fullback. "It's more blocking than running the ball and he's doing a good job of transitioning into it."

Originally posted by 49ers808:
Seems perfect for us

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by 49ers808:
Seems perfect for us

And he has a name I'd most likely never spell correctly. The perfect replacement for Juszycyk.

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by 49ers808:
Seems perfect for us

And he has a name I'd most likely never spell correctly. The perfect replacement for Juszycyk.

You spelled Juices name right and missed a phenomenal opportunity

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by 49ers808:
Seems perfect for us

And he has a name I'd most likely never spell correctly. The perfect replacement for Juszycyk.

You spelled Juices name right and missed a phenomenal opportunity

No he didn't. If it was spelled that way, it'd be pronounced "Yuzzzeeee-check"

The 6-foot-1, 235-pound junior was the star of the show in NDSU's semifinal victory against James Madison at the Fargodome, catching touchdown passes of 32 and 22 yards while rushing for 110 yards on 19 carries. His rushing yardage and three catches for 89 yards were season highs.

The Bison had him lined up at fullback, running back and a wing tight end. Luepke's game-winning 22-yard TD catch early in the fourth quarter came when he was a "U tight end" and ran a looping route to find open space along the right sideline.

"I think versatility is pretty good in football, so the more versatile you can be it helps," Luepke said.

Luepke was recruited out of Spencer High School in northern Wisconsin as a fullback, but was clearly a superior athlete when he stepped on NDSU's campus in 2018. He redshirted that year and played 11 games as a freshman in 2019, making two starts at fullback.

That's when Bison coaches began to envision bigger and better things.

"Out of high school, they mostly just wanted me to play fullback and maybe be a wing. I don't think I actually took any other kinds of reps until after the 2019 season," Luepke said. "That's when they started moving me around."

The results have been spectacular, if somewhat sporadic. Luepke's had a handful of explosive games, a number in which he was rock-solid and some in which he barely registered.

Example: Luepke was fairly quiet through NDSU's first three games this season and through most of a 16-10 meatgrinder against North Dakota at the Alerus Center before suddenly getting five carries (for 40 yards) on a key fourth-quarter drive.

Luepke was injured in NDSU's only fall 2020 game against Central Arkansas and didn't play until the fifth game of the spring 2021 season against North Dakota. Luepke took his first carry 55 yards for a touchdown on the game's first drive and he finished with 190 yards and three touchdowns in a blowout victory.

With a depleted backfield, the Bison leaned on Luepke as their lead back the rest of the season but he never again rushed for more than 100 yards.

This fall has seen a more versatile Luepke. He's had 73 carries for 461 yards and five touchdowns. He's caught nine passes for 169 yards and three TDs.

Luepke's lined up pretty much everywhere on the field and Roehl and the offensive coaching staff have found creative ways to get him the ball. They've found simple ways to get Luepke the ball, too: His 49-yard touchdown rumble at Youngstown State was good old-fashioned power football.

Bison coaches can use Luepke's size to block, his power to run and his speed and hands to catch the ball downfield. It makes for a full plate.

"I kind of like the challenge. I need to know every position on the field," Luepke said. "I mean, it's pretty fun. It makes every other position a lot easier when you know someone else's. I think it has helped me as a football player. I'm pretty grateful I got to learn all that stuff."

Does he like being moved around or would he prefer to focus more on one position?

"It doesn't really matter to me. As long as I'm on the field I'm happy," Luepke said.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
You sold me Phoenix. I just dont know if the Niners are ready to move on from Juice. Can he play tight end and back up Kittle and Juice? If he has that kind of versatility I would jump on him in the 5th rd.

Originally posted by Waterbear:
Pretty soon our entire offense will all be former fullbacks.

Originally posted by Waterbear:
Pretty soon our entire offense will all be former fullbacks.

Originally posted by frankieuc68:
Oh NICE! Nice feet, hands and vision. Versatile and great blocker which we all know are prerquisites to Shany's offense. Mike Alstott size that can move, will he be there on one of our 3rd round comp?