‘He’s a tone-setter:’ Fullback Alec Ingold is anything and everything for Dolphins offense

On game day, Alec Ingold will receive frequent pointers on the sideline from running backs coach Eric Studesville.

But then wide receivers coach Wes Welker will remind Ingold of how to turn his shoulders coming out of a break on a route. Or tight ends coach Jon Embree will discuss the nuances of a blocking technique.

That’s life for Ingold, the 26-year-old fullback who morphs into whatever the Dolphins need him to.

Playing a position that has mainly been cast aside by spread offenses in the NFL, Ingold has been a versatile player for the Dolphins, averaging more than one-third of the team’s snaps through the first month of the season.

“He’s a tone-setter for the whole offense and the whole team,” offensive line coach Matt Applebaum said.

A native of Green Bay, Ingold would go to the grocery store as a child and be starstruck at the sight of Packers players. The tight-knit connection between Green Bay’s organization and the community left an indelible mark on Ingold.

“You learn to love football real quick,” he said.

That family-like connection is also something Ingold, who was adopted at birth, seeks to build through his Ingold Family Foundation, which launched earlier this year. Its work is centered around outreach to kids who are in foster care or adopted.

“[A kid] might look up to you because you’re in the NFL, because you have a cool job and you get to play football on Sundays,” Ingold said. “And then you get to break down barriers and be like, ‘Hey, I understand what you’re going through. This is what I had to go through.’”

Ingold took to football quickly in Green Bay. He was a standout quarterback at Bay Port High School and named the Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year. Ingold originally accepted a scholarship to play quarterback at Northern Illinois but turned it down to attend the University of Wisconsin as an athlete. Ingold said he saw a better path to the field this way.

He began his college career as a linebacker but soon shifted to running back and then fullback as a sophomore. After four years at Wisconsin, Ingold wasn’t picked in the 2019 NFL Draft but signed with the then-Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent.

As is the case with undrafted rookies, Ingold was aware of the long odds he faced as training camp opened. As a finance major in college, he interviewed for a position with computer software company Oracle to prepare for a potential future without football. A decline in playing time as a junior forced him to consider what would be next if the NFL didn’t pan out.

Ingold received a job offer before graduation but Oracle allowed him to delay a decision while he was in camp with the Raiders. When he officially made the team’s 53-man roster, he was more than happy to decline the company’s offer and focus on his pro career.

“I was literally going to be in a cubicle selling software,” Ingold said.

Ingold spent the next three seasons with the Raiders as a key blocker and scored three touchdowns. A torn ACL last November prematurely ended his 2021 season but he was still on track to return ahead of the start of the 2022 season. The Dolphins in March signed Ingold to a two-year deal as he reunited with offensive coordinator Frank Smith, who was the Raiders’ tight ends coach from 2018 to 2021.

Third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s ascension can be attributed to many factors, from coach Mike McDaniel’s scheme to the dynamic pairing of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. However, Ingold’s presence has been a boon for the Dolphins and a bind for opposing defenses who struggle to match up with the nimble but powerful 6-foot-1, 235-pounder.

“When you’re able to go 21 personnel [two running backs, one tight end, one wide receiver] and still move a guy out wide and actually be able to run routes and be a viable receiver, it changes the way defenses think,” Welker said.

Sometimes, Ingold’s an extension of the offensive line in the backfield, a battering ram that paves lanes for running backs. Sometimes he’s streaking down the sideline to haul in a pass — or taking the center snap on a sly quarterback sneak.

He’s everywhere the Dolphins need him to be.

“Man, Alec is a dawg,” said Waddle, whose season-long 59-yard reception against the Baltimore Ravens was assisted by a key block from Ingold. “I’m talking about he really loves the challenge of him going against someone and blocking him. He just goes about it each and every day like a real pro. I love playing with Alec.”