FRISCO, Texas — Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Friday that fullback Hunter Luepke is a jack-of-all-trades for the Dallas Cowboys, a player who gets better the more the staff puts on his plate.
Luepke is listed as a fullback. Schottenheimer said he sees him as a third-down back, a fullback, a part-time tight end, a core special teams player, and the backup long snapper.
“No, I consider him a jack-of-all-trades. I mean, I can’t say enough about him as a special teams player one, four-core, outstanding every phase, really good at every phase,” Schottenheimer said. “I see him as a third down back. I see him as a full back. I see him as a part-time tight end, if you will. There’s so many things he can do. And like I said, he can do most of them really, really well. And he’s a backup long snapper.”
Most players lose something at their main job when they take on more, Schottenheimer said. He has not seen that from Luepke.
“He’s a really talented player that the more you give him, sometimes guys they lose being good at the one thing they’re supposed to be really good at, which for him it’s fullback. Not this guy,” Schottenheimer continued. “This guy, the more you put on his plate, he still continues to thrive in all areas.”
Hunter Luepke Went From Undrafted To Extended
Dallas signed Luepke as an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State after the 2023 draft. He won the 2022 Lowman Trophy as the top fullback in college football, and the Cowboys had not carried a true fullback since 2019 when he arrived.
Luepke agreed to a two-year extension worth up to $7.5 million in September 2025, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported at the time, according to WSAW.
Schottenheimer broke into the NFL when nearly every offense used two backs, he said, and he believes the two-back offense is coming back with a different kind of player in the role.
“I think when I first broke into the league, it was what everybody did. Everybody was 21 personnel, whether it was Daryl Johnston and guys like that doing it. We’ve had Kimble Anders in Kansas City. We’ve had Lorenzo Neal in San Diego. So I do think two-back offense is coming back,” Schottenheimer said. “I think what you’re seeing now is it’s not always just a true fullback, but it’s athletes that can do it. And so they give you more run-pass flexibility.”
Brian Schottenheimer Says The Fullback Will Never Leave The NFL
Former linemen can play the spot too, Schottenheimer said, pointing to the 310-pound men leaning on people around the league. He does not expect the position to disappear.
“Former linemen can do it. In the case of Ricard and those guys in New York, the Giants, I mean, 310-pound men that just lean on people. So I do think it’s a fascinating position that will never go away,” Schottenheimer said. “I don’t think it ever leaves the game because there’s going to be times in every game that you need to run it and make a couple yards. And those guys can be very, very helpful to do that.”
College football is not producing many fullbacks, which forces NFL teams to convert undersized tight ends and physical linebackers. Schottenheimer named Nick Bellore, whom he coached in Seattle, as one of his favorite fullbacks.
“There’s only a handful of schools that still do that. That’s why you see people taking tight ends that maybe are undersized, linebackers that maybe aren’t good enough to make an NFL roster as a linebacker, but they’re physical,” Schottenheimer said. “One of my favorite fullbacks of all time is Nick Bellore, who just retired. Had him in Seattle. He was a linebacker. He came into the league, Central Michigan, I believe, was a linebacker, went to Detroit as a linebacker. And then they had enough linebackers, so they moved him to fullback, and he ended up having like a 17-year career.”
“He’s a dominant special teams player. But we have to be more creative now because you turn on college football on Saturday and you don’t see a lot of teams sitting in I formation,” Schottenheimer added.
The Cowboys play the Houston Texans on Sunday at Reliant Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on Fox.
