A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a halfback, a wingback or a fullback. A running back will sometimes be called a "feature back" if he is the team's starting running back.
The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be effective blockers. On the other hand, unlike offensive linemen, they are eligible receivers adept enough to warrant a defense's attention when running pass patterns.
Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley to play for the California Golden Bears, where he set several career passing records, including lowest single-season and career interception rates. He was selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Packers.
Orlando Lamar Pace is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. Pace played college football at Ohio State, where he twice received Unanimous All-American honors, and was selected by the Rams first overall in the 1997 NFL Draft. He spent all but one season of his professional career in St. Louis, concluding his NFL tenure as a member of the Chicago Bears.
John Allen Hannah, nicknamed "Hog", is an American former football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at Alabama, where he twice received All-American honors, and was selected fourth overall by the Patriots in the 1973 NFL Draft. Considered one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time, Hannah was selected to nine Pro Bowls and received seven first-team All-Pro honors. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. The same year as the former, he also became the inaugural inductee of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame.
Matthew Andrew Cavanaugh is an American football coach and former quarterback who was a senior offensive assistant for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). During his playing career, he earned two Super Bowl rings. Since his retirement after the 1991 season, Cavanaugh has worked as an offensive coach and coordinator, for teams including the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, where he earned a third Super Bowl ring as a coach, and Washington Redskins.
Chris Palmer is an American former football coach and college athletics administrator. Palmer served as the head coach for Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1999 to 2000 and in the same capacity with the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League (UFL) in 2010. He was the head football coach at the University of New Haven from 1986 to 1987 and at Boston University from 1988 to 1989. Palmer has also served as an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. He later returned to the University of New Haven and served as the athletic director from 2018 to 2019.
Kliff Timothy Kingsbury is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously a collegiate football coach from 2008 to 2018, where he achieved recognition for his development of quarterback prospects. During his collegiate career, Kingsbury served as the offensive quality control coach for two-time Sammy Baugh Trophy winner Case Keenum at Houston, the offensive coordinator for Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M, and the head coach for Sammy Baugh Trophy winner and future NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech. Kingsbury was named the head coach of the Cardinals in 2019, whom he led to the playoffs during the 2021 season.
A halfback (HB) is an offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball on most rushing plays, i.e. a running back. When the principal ball carrier lines up deep in the backfield, and especially when that player is placed behind another player, as in the I formation, that player is instead referred to as a tailback.
Rick Steven Dennison is an American football coach and former player who is currently the senior offensive advisor for the Minnesota Vikings. He was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 2019-2020. An assistant in the NFL since 1995, he served as offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans (2010–2013), and Buffalo Bills (2017), and served as quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens in 2014. He was the special teams coach for the Super Bowl Champion Broncos in 1997 and 1998. A linebacker who spent his entire NFL playing career in Denver from 1982 to 1990, he appeared in Super Bowls XXI, XXII, and XXIV.
Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions, and the stand-alone term "tackle" refers to the offensive tackle position only. The offensive tackle is a position on the offensive line, left and right. Like other offensive linemen, their job is to block: to physically keep defenders away from the offensive player who has the football and enable him to advance the football and eventually score a touchdown. The term "tackle" is a vestige of an earlier era of football in which the same players played both offense and defense.
Bruce Rankin Matthews is an American former professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons, from 1983 to 2001. He spent his entire career playing for the Houston / Tennessee Oilers / Titans franchise. Highly versatile, throughout his NFL career he played every position on the offensive line, starting in 99 games as a left guard, 87 as a center, 67 as a right guard, 22 as a right tackle, 17 as a left tackle, and was the long snapper on field goals, PATs, and punts. Having never missed a game due to injury, his 293 NFL games started is the third most of all time, behind quarterbacks Brett Favre and Tom Brady.
James Thomas Parker was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle and guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts from 1957 to 1967. He played college football at Ohio State University from 1954 to 1956. Parker was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
Jeff Davidson is an American football coach who most recently served as the offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) and is also a former player. He has also spent time as offensive line coach of the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos and as offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns.
Dante Scarnecchia is a former American football offensive line coach and assistant head coach. He worked for the New England Patriots of the National Football League for 34 years. Scarnecchia has spent the majority of his professional coaching career with the Patriots, joining them in 1982, only leaving in 1989 to coach with the Indianapolis Colts, before returning to the Patriots two years later. He remained with the team as a coach until his retirement following the 2013 season. He was rehired as the offensive line coach on February 16, 2016.
Brian Daboll is a Canadian-born American football coach who is the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Alabama Crimson Tide. Daboll has also served in various capacities as an assistant coach for the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2006 and again from 2013 to 2016.
Dave DeGuglielmo is an American football coach who is the offensive line coach for the Boston College Eagles. He has previously been offensive line coach for the NFL's New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and New York Giants. DeGuglielmo was part of two Super Bowl-winning teams in his coaching career; the 2007 New York Giants and 2014 New England Patriots.
Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans second overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. Mariota played college football at Oregon, where he was the starting quarterback from 2012 to 2014. As a junior in 2014, Mariota became the first University of Oregon player, as well as the first Hawaii-born athlete, to win the Heisman Trophy.
Nathaniel Hackett is an American football head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time assistant to Doug Marrone, Hackett previously served as the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, as well as the Syracuse Orange in college football, all from 2010–2021.
Justin Patrick Herbert is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks, where he won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and was named MVP of the 2020 Rose Bowl. He was selected by the Chargers sixth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
