There are a lot of elite players on the Cowboys roster, but one continually gets praised, yet we hardly see him on the field.
There are always players on a roster who fans think should get more snaps and others who get a lot of snaps but don't, and for the Dallas Cowboys, one intriguing player is fullback Hunter Luepke.
We have heard Mike McCarthy and now Brian Schottenheimer speak glowingly of Hunter, and we hear Schotty regularly declare his liking for Hunter and what he does for the team.
But we hardly see him on the field.
In 2024, Luepke managed to play just 30 percent of the offensive snaps and 37 percent on special teams. Under Schottenheimer last season, Luepke played 21 percent of the offensive snaps (221) and 50 percent on special teams (240).
In his three years, Luepke has managed just 128 rushing yards and one touchdown from 34 attempts. As a receiver, Hunter has also been used sparingly, managing 238 yards and a touchdown from 28 receptions.
So, why not more usage of Hunter when Schotty has spoken so highly of him?
On 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys insider Bobby Belt gave his takeaways from Matt Bowen's ESPN article on how Dallas is the best team running 11 personnel, and one was that he doesn't understand the hype about Luepke.
“I made jokes about this before, but it's 100 percent something I don't want to see, and I talk it up every year, and I get really frustrated about, and that is we [the Cowboys] got to figure out how to get Hunter Luepke more involved," Belt said. "We got to get Luepke on the field more.
"I cannot understand for the life of me where the love affair with Luepke comes from, because they clearly don't have a strong feeling towards the position itself, because if you love them that much, it'd be really easy to get him on the field.
"But when you've gotten him on the field, the offense has run inefficiently. They're so desperate to get him on the field. It sounds like they're talking about running him out there as a single back at times, which he was in college."
Given that the Cowboys have repeatedly stated they love what Hunter is about both on and off the field, to the extent where they gave him a contract extension, yet they haven't been proactive in getting him on the field more, despite Dallas stating he can play fullback, running back, and tight end.
Only the coaching staff knows why, but as Belt stated, if you do really like a player, you'll get them on the field.
Look at KaVontae Turpin, Ryan Flournoy, Dallas like them, and they get on the field, so why not Luepke?
How the offseason plays out for Hunter and how involved he is will be perhaps an underrated storyline, because he often shines in preseason games, yet doesn't really get the chance to show it in the regular season.
Bottom line: Is he a jack of all trades, master of none?
