Fulton excels on offense

BY CHAD DARE

RANTOUL August 08, 2008 07:59 am

— Illinois left tackle Xavier Fulton had seen it before.
A one-time defensive lineman gets demoted with a move to offense.
Fulton, who at one time considered leaving the program, was just thankful for the opportunity and he flourished.
The senior from Flossmoor started all 13 games a year ago and earned second-team all-Big Ten honors.
“I’ve seen other guys get moved over the O-line just cause they were too slow to play D-line,’’ Fulton said. “They weren’t too happy about it and they didn’t do very well.
“I figured that I might as well make the best of it and try my hardest. Things have worked out pretty well.’’
Fulton, who was moved to the offensive line the day before spring football started in 2007, had a team-leading 109 knockdowns a year ago and was part of an offensive line that helped Illinois lead the Big Ten in rushing for a second consecutive season.
“To go and make the change shows what kind of person he is,’’ Illinois coach Ron Zook said. “He’s a smart guy. Wolfy (Illinois offensive line coach Eric Wolford) and he hit it off. He did everything from weight gain to strength gain that he was asked to do. He’s even taken on a leadership role.’’
Fulton, who was voted the outstanding offensive line for the Illini in 2007, had never played left tackle before last season.
“I had played right tackle when I was in high school,’’ he said.
So, did he understand the importance of left tackle to junior quarterback Juice Williams?
“No, not at all,’’ he said. “They didn’t tell me it was that big of a deal until later on when I got a little better at it.
“I figured that it was his blindside, but I didn’t think it was that huge of deal — then, it clicked. He really can’t see what is going on over here.’’
Even when the Illini put Fulton at left tackle a year ago, he figured it was only temporary.
“I thought I would end up going to right tackle or back to defense,’’ he said. “But, coach Wolf invested a lot of time and effort in individual time with me.
“He has a lot of tips, tricks and things that really helped me out. It basically saved me.’’
Fulton started 10 games on defense in his first two seasons, but a knee injury in 2005 was nearly the end of his days of playing football at Illinois.
“I thought about leaving. Coach Zook had told me that he had thought about making me leave,’’ Fulton said. “That was while I was rehabbing my knee. The nicest person can turn into the meanest person because that stuff is awful.’’
During the 2006 season, Fulton redshirted and spent his time on the defensive scout team.
It was the following spring that he was asked about the move to the offensive line and he was the team’s most improved player that spring.
When the 2007 season started at Camp Rantoul, he had unseated Akim Millington at left tackle and Millington was moved to the right tackle position.
Not only did Fulton produce at his new position, he helped Illinois go 9-4 after the program had won a total of seven games in his three previous years.
Being a part of that and being one of the top offensive linemen on the team were very special for him.
“It really means a lot to me because for a while, I was on my way out the door with the whole program after my knee injury,’’ he said. “Things were looking down for me for a long time.
“I got a chance to try something different and it worked out pretty well and everyone loves me for it.’’
Fulton and the Illini are currently practicing at Camp Rantoul and the season opener for Illinois is Aug. 30 in St. Louis against the Missouri Tigers.