Alec Ingold Is a Jack of All Trades
Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Fun fact: A friend of mine named “Stan” was acquaintances with a current Miami Dolphins player. The player in question is fullback Alec Ingold, who grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, attending Bay Port High School. While Stan didn’t know Alec very well, as they went to two different schools, they did cross paths at one point. In his limited interactions with Ingold, one thing that stood out immediately was how different Alec looked compared to everyone else he knew.
“I mean, the dude was a freak athlete in high school.” Stan recalls. “We just saw each other really in passing, but he was a beast when he entered any room.” I found it particularly interesting that one of Stan’s main impressions of Alec Ingold had to do with his supposed off-the-charts athleticism. By NFL standards, Ingold is nowhere near an elite athlete. As a matter of fact, he rates as a below-average athlete in nearly every metric relative to his position, per MockDraftable.
Again, that’s not to say Stan’s observation was incorrect, because it’s all a matter of perspective. Stan only weighed 106 pounds at the time, so from his point of view the 6-foot-0, 220-pound Ingold was Hulk-ish in comparison. If anything, this discrepancy highlights the difference between what it means to be considered an elite athlete in high school football versus the collegiate or professional level.
This story also begs the question, what does it take for a below-average athlete to make it at a position that has become all but extinct in the modern NFL? You have to be a jack of all trades, and Alec Ingold certainly fits the bill.
Ingold was a multi-positional, multi-sport athlete throughout his high school career. Originally a running back, he rushed for over 1,000 yards and 22 touchdowns in his sophomore campaign and was named First Team All-Conference. Ahead of his junior year, Ingold switched over to quarterback, where over the next two seasons he threw for 2,838 yards and 28 touchdowns to just 9 interceptions. He earned First Team All-State honors and was the 2014 Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year. In addition to all that, he lettered in both baseball and wrestling, winning the 2015 state title in the 220-pound division.
Coming out of high school, Ingold was ranked as the No. 10 recruit in the state of Wisconsin. Due to his multi-positional nature, Ingold was recruited at different positions by different programs. Choosing which college to commit to is stressful enough, let alone figuring out what position you want to play at presumably for the rest of your career. Ingold originally committed to Northern Illinois as a quarterback, until he received a phone call from Paul Chryst, head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Chryst wanted to recruit Ingold under the condition that he switch to linebacker. Although Ingold wasn’t too keen on changing positions, the allure of playing for his favorite team as a child in a Power Five conference was an opportunity he simply couldn’t pass up on.
Ingold started his collegiate career at linebacker, but that experiment would only last a few weeks. Due to mounting injuries at running back, he switched positions yet again. However, during that process, Ingold found his true calling at fullback. In his first season with the Badgers, he rushed for six touchdowns, which was more than he’d ever expected.
“When I went to Wisconsin, there was a good chance I was never gonna score a touchdown or touch the ball ever,” Ingold told WFRV. Things turned out way different. Ingold would go on to rush for 21 total touchdowns, scoring on average once every 5.6 times he touched the football.
Ingold’s production led to him getting an invite to the NFL Combine, a rarity for fullbacks. Still, that didn’t prevent Alec from going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft due to the lack of demand at the position. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Raiders and spent three years with them before signing with the Miami Dolphins in 2022.
Mike McDaniel – who was a first-year head coach at the time, coached under Kyle Shanahan, who is known for his heavy usage of fullbacks. Similarly, McDaniel also emphasizes the use of fullbacks, which is why he made it a priority to sign Ingold – the best free agent at his position — from the moment McDaniel arrived in Miami.
2023 was a career year for Ingold, who made his first Pro Bowl appearance. However, he doesn’t consider his personal achievements nearly as meaningful as the impact he strives to make on those around him.
“You’re building a community so that number 30 means more than just a single person,” Ingold said. “It’s all of those people that you try and serve. All of those people you play with. All of the community that you’ve built. The number one goal is to inspire others to believe in the best version of themselves.”
The reason Ingold cares so little about his own stats is because of his experience of being tasked to do so many different things. On the football field, he’s spent time at quarterback, linebacker, and running back. However, Alec Ingold’s long, winding journey to the league helped shape the player he would become for the Dolphins. His team-first game and attitude is an invaluable part of the organization.
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