Aaron Ripkowski | Fullback | Oklahoma | 6'1" - 257 lbs.

 

OVERVIEW
2014: named All-Big 12 second team by the league's coaches. Played in all 13 games with nine starts at fullback. 2013: Played in all 13 games. 2012: Played in 12 games with one start. 2011: Saw reserve duty in nine contests.

PRO DAY RESULTS
40-yard dash: 4.71 and 4.69 seconds
Vertical jump: 33 inches
Broad jump: 9 feet, 5 inches
Short shuttle: 4.33 seconds
3-cone drill: 7.59 seconds


STRENGTHS Outstanding size. Knows he is in to be a hammerhead for Sooners' rushing attack and takes great pride in that. Carries good speed and knee bend to his target. Drops low and explodes into linebackers with his outside shoulder, issuing a jarring, powerful pop. Looks for additional work after making first contact. Also took snaps as an in-line tight end.

WEAKNESSES Will duck his head before contact, briefly losing sight of his target. Leans into his block prematurely at times losing power and leverage. Hands must improve in both sustaining and delivering a punch. Used very sparingly as a pass-catcher and appears to be a one-trick pony.

DRAFT PROJECTION Round 7 or priority free agent
BOTTOM LINE Old-school blocking back who will have a hit or two each game that wows the crowd and gets his teammates fired up. He often charges in head-first and with a lowered head, so his success rate can vary greatly from game to game. Lack of pass-catching background hurts his chances.

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Camp competition for Kuhn, see if he wins out

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Well besides Jake Ryan I think this is the first pick where we know exactly how the Packers plan to use him. He's a bruiser that's going to earn his playing time on special teams and short yardage plays. Hasn't been used as a receiver out of the backfield so not sure if that's something the Pack think he can work on or if they just don't care and are happy enough with his blocking. The part about an in-line TE is interesting not sure he's tall enough for any real NFL future there.

Might have to spend a year on the PS learning how to catch and more importantly how to pass block. Hopefully Kuhn will take him under his wing.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.....doesn't sound as good as Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn

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With a name like Ripkowski, it is fitting that he is an old-school, smash-mouth type of player.

Ripkowski blocking for Lacy.

He’s also a viable option on short yardage and goal-line place.
Has some things to learn, but not unhappy with this pick.

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I don't know if I watched the right player after readying this report, but I tried to watch Oklahoma fullback Aaron Ripkowski and what I saw is a guy that's good at normally sealing a guy off by making him turn his shoulders like FB Korey Hall used to, but no real drive bull power block like that of Quinn Johnson.

And while maybe not used as an H-back a lot in college, he looked like he has the route running, body adjustment skills and hands to be a good target in the passing game and some power when he runs with the ball. Looks more like an H-back than a FB to me.







This 2nd video is of Blake Bell (which distracts from Rip) but you get to see a lot of #48 FB Aaron Ripkowski playing both H-back and FB, and I think he's much better as an H-back than a FB.

1st play runs straight and just pushes a DB
0:21 just runs behind the line and lightly hits a guy
0:30 very good kick out of a DB
2:05 He runs up the middle like a FB, not really getting his guy
2:23 Run blocking runs into a DL and guys no push or block really
2:31 runs down but again not much push

Point being watching him, he looks more like a power Korey Hall sealer H-back type to me than power FB like Quinn Johnson. You see him run over guys more with the ball in his hands than as a blocker, as a blocker he seals guys out more than over powers them.

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Well, it's something to work on, right?

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Yeah no doubt, I'm not complaining about him as much as saying I'm reading reports he's this power blocking FB and I'm seeing the opposite of him on the film. I'm complaining about the reports more than him.

As for him, I was disappointed in his lack of power blocking (after reading he had it) but surprised by his power running and thinking that power shows he clearly has the potential to power block with better coaching. Also in the first video, I'm pretty surprised by his body control in his route running... usually you don't see a FBs be able to adjust that much on routes like he does and he catches a poorly thrown ball, it looks like with one hand. I think the kid has a lot of potential as an H-back, power runner and zone FB... and IF the coaches can teach him to power block then he's got the power to do it.

And while I'm not sure this is true with FBs per say... but with TEs there used to be a saying that the college coaches don't have enough time to focus on everything so they skip certain things and often times teaching to block is what they skip, and TEs have to learn how to block correct once they get to the pros. I don't know if that's true for Rip or not, but it looks like they might be as he seems to do a lot of other little things correctly just not power block (but the most important part is there, the full effort attempting to).

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Skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii doesn't sound bad.🤣

Let's be honest, Kuhn has been around to long to lose any snaps.

This guy will be a camp body and that's it.

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