HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Connor Heyward spent his first four seasons in Pittsburgh, playing a mixture of tight end and fullback for the old-school Steelers.
With the chance to go elsewhere as a free agent, Heyward was given an opportunity by first-year Raiders coach Klint Kubiak to focus on fullback and exhibit his varied abilities. Heyward knew Las Vegas was his destination.
While fullbacks aren't nearly as common in the NFL these days given the popularity of spread offenses, some teams have committed to using the position and taking an older style of football and updating it with modern philosophies.
That includes Heyward and the Raiders. He not only often lines up in the backfield, he also plays out of a receiver spot and even as the quarterback in the Jalen Hurts-style “Tush Push” when the Raiders need to convert on fourth-and-short.
“It's just fullback doing the dirty work,” Heyward said. “I've always prided myself on that, but in Pittsburgh, I wasn't able to showcase this, but here I'm able to play a true fullback position. I did fullback stuff, but was playing tight end.”
Heyward said he sees the fullback position making a comeback, but most coaches opt to go without it because of the movement toward passing offenses that use three- and four-receiver sets. A fullback is more of a throwback to the offenses favored by those who prefer a more traditional approach, though young, innovative coaches such as Kubiak and San Francisco 's Kyle Shanahan often employ that position.
“The fullback position is a key position on our team,” Kubiak said. “A guy that can play special teams, all four quarters. He can protect. He can clean up things in the run game. He can fit in at running back if needed. So the fullback has to be a very versatile player. That’s what Connor is.”
Entering this week's games, only eight teams had used fullbacks 10 or more plays per game. The Raiders had the third-highest rate at 22.6 plays per game, behind the New York Giants (25.2) and Los Angeles Chargers (25), teams coached by the Harbaugh brothers who emphasize a physical style of football.
The average of 14.2 plays per game for a fullback throughout the league was the third-lowest average since 2006, when it was 50.3. That rate has been below 20 plays each season since 2015.
Because of the scarcity of fullbacks, teams that use the position could have a strategic edge given opposing defenses don't prepare for it much on a weekly basis.
The 49ers gained 198 yards and scored two touchdowns when using at least two backs in Monday night's 23-17 victory over Washington. They have gained at least 160 yards in multiple-back sets in four of their six games.
“We’re in a lot of 11 formations (one running back, one tight end), so people like to go nickel-defense to defend one-back formations,” Shanahan said. "But when you have a fullback on the field at any time, there’s a threat of I-formation. So defenses have to account for that. And there’s some things that you do on one-back that aren’t very sound versus two-back. So sometimes it could limit the looks we get and things like that.”
His fullback, Kyle Juszczyk, gives the 49ers the ability to keep defenses off balance because he doesn't line up strictly at that position. But when he does, Juszczyk uses his blocking ability to clear out defenders.
“He’s extremely smart — not just because he went to Harvard. It’s actually real,” Shanahan said. “He can handle anything we give him. When you play fullback at that level, people have to honor what a fullback does compared to a third receiver, which changes personnel.
"Then when it comes to putting him in other spots, it doesn’t matter really what it is. He’s got as good of hands as anyone I’ve seen on the team. And he’s not scared of the moment. He makes big plays and he is fearless.”
Hunter Luepke is used similarly by Dallas, and he doesn't like to define himself as only a fullback.
“I think you have to be an athlete," Luepke said. "You have to be able to block. You have to be able to play special teams.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer agreed it wasn't fair to pigeonhole Luepke nor the fullback position itself.
“It’s athletes that can do it,” Schottenheimer said. “They give you more run-pass flexibility. Former linemen can do it, I mean, 310-pound men that just lean on people. So I do think it’s a fascinating position that will never go away. 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 it.”
Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins is thankful to have a player like Heyward line up behind him and provide that kind of flexibility. Cousins said he has played with fullbacks since his freshman season at Michigan State in 2008.
“Fullbacks and tight ends, I think tend to be that Swiss Army knife player where if you have one who’s as versatile as you want him to be at the position,” Cousins said, "he should be able to run a seam route. He should be able to set the edge and block the edge. He should be able to handle protection. The ability to wear a lot of hats gives you a lot of flexibility.
"That’s something Connor Heyward can do here, and I think it makes a big difference.”
AP Pro Football Writers Josh Dubow in Santa Clara, California, and Schuyler Dixon in Frisco, Texas, contributed to this report.
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FILE - Las Vegas Raiders fullback Connor Heyward warms up before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police on Tuesday charged a driver with intentionally causing serious injury to an Australian federal lawmaker who is in critical condition after being struck by a car in an apparent escalation in political violence that has shocked the nation.
Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent politician, was in hospital in critical but stable condition after being struck by a car outside her office in the city of Wangaratta, in Victoria state, on Monday in what police alleged was a “targeted” incident.
Brendan Nugent, from nearby Tarrawingee, was charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official, police said in a statement on Tuesday.
Nugent has been in police custody since shortly after Haines was injured and a crowd of bystanders subdued him. He will appear in a Wangaratta court on Wednesday, when he could potentially be released on bail.
His father, Rod Nugent, released a statement Tuesday describing Haines as a “deeply respected, valued and much-loved member of our local community.”
“Helen has been our friend for more than 20 years and what happened to her yesterday is devastating and unfathomable,” the father said, adding that he would cooperate with police.
The incident shocked Australians as political violence is rare here and politicians have always been accessible to the public. Most lawmakers are not accompanied by security officers and go about their work and personal lives on their own.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he phoned local barber Ricky Jefferies, who had run from his store to help members of the public detain the suspect, to thank him on Tuesday for intervening.
“It’s a reminder that at the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character,” Albanese said in Melbourne.
Jefferies earlier told reporters he searched the driver’s pockets and removed a knife. Police confirmed a knife had been found. Jefferies also said he did not consider himself a hero.
“It was crazy,” he said. “A lot of people got involved immediately and they didn't even check for danger. They just ran to help.”
Haines’s family released a statement expressing thanks for the “swift assistance of bystanders” as well as health workers and police.
Haines, who was first elected to Parliament in 2019 and had been reelected twice since, was initially taken to a hospital in Wangaratta, a city of 30,000 people. She was airlifted later on Monday to a hospital in the state capital, Melbourne, 236 kilometers (147 miles) away.
The Alfred Hospital didn't respond Tuesday to a request for comment on media reports that Haines had had a leg amputated.
Albanese announced on Monday that the national counterterrorism team was investigating, incorporating police and intelligence agencies. Police have since said the incident appears to be isolated.
“This wasn’t an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear. We don’t know what the motivation is,” he said.
Recent data has shown that threats of political violence have grown in Australia. The head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation spy agency, Mike Burgess, on Tuesday reiterated an earlier warning that politically motivated violence was a top security concern, along with espionage and foreign interference.
Police reported in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the past three years. Official data showed more than 1,000 such threats against politicians in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Albanese and lawmakers from across the political spectrum spoke to media outlets Tuesday, urging their colleagues, reporters and the public to turn down the heat in increasingly fractious political debates. Many also said they hoped Australia’s easygoing culture of approachable politicians wouldn’t change.
Haines was not known for polarizing views. The daughter of dairy farmers and mother of three was a nurse, midwife and academic before entering politics, and advocated for rural health matters. She was initially elected in 2019 with a campaign focused on health equity, rural prosperity and climate action.
Albanese said eyewitnesses had reported the suspect passed Haines in his SUV as she stood by the trunk of her parked car. The SUV then turned and came back before the driver allegedly drove into the politician, the prime minister said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the driver allegedly reversed and struck Haines a second time, pinning her against her car, after initially hitting her.
One of the bystanders who came to Haines' assistance, Cody Lepoidevin, told reporters he thought he was witnessing a hit-and-run when the SUV backed away after she was first struck.
But instead of fleeing the scene, Lepoidevin said the driver “then reversed and drove back into her.”
Elsewhere in the world, authorities have warned of growing threats to lawmakers. The United States has seen a rise in political violence over the past decade.
That includes the 2022 hammer assault on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, in California; the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally during his presidential campaign, as well as another on the president at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April; and the assassinations in 2025 of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah.
In Britain, killings of politicians have also prompted bolstered security. Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, while Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the militant Islamic State group.
In July, the former British politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe was found beaten to death with a hammer at her home. A man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offenses.
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
A church sign advertising a vigil for independent member of parliament Helen Haines at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Wangaratta, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, second right, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, third left, Victorian Premier Ben Carroll, Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Mike Bush, left, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett, obscured, and Victorian Police Minister Paul Edbrooke, right, hold a meeting following the attack on federal independent member of parliament, Helen Haines in Wangaratta, at the Commonwealth Offices in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)
Tributes and flowers are placed outside the electoral office for independent member of parliament Helen Haines in Wangaratta, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (James Ross/AAPImage via AP)
People line up to light a candle during a vigil for independent federal member of parliament, Helen Haines at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Wangaratta, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)
A woman delivers flowers at the electoral office of independent member of parliament, Helen Haines, in Wangaratta, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)
