The Green Bay Packers figure to give the Minnesota Vikings their first taste of rookie fullback Quinn Johnson on Sunday at Lambeau Field.[img_r]http://media.jsonline.com/images/199*210/quinn103009.jpg[/img_r]

Johnson, 6 feet, 1 inch and 255 pounds, was inactive for the first four games behind veterans John Kuhn and Korey Hall. With Hall sidelined the last two games with a calf injury, Johnson has split time evenly with Kuhn at 32 snaps apiece.

"I think Quinn is getting better each week," running back Ryan Grant said. "His confidence is pretty high right now. So I do expect him to have a good game."

In four starts against the Vikings' heretofore vaunted run defense, Grant has carried 64 times for 337 yards and a hefty 5.3-yard average.

The problem is that Grant has averaged just 16 carries per game, a total that coach Mike McCarthy undoubtedly would like to increase to 25 or more.

Clearly, Kuhn is the more skilled player of the two fullbacks. He's an efficient receiver and can be effective as a change-of-pace rusher, too.

By playing Johnson, however, McCarthy would be attempting to exert the Packers' will over the Vikings. His calling card is sledgehammer lead blocks, which isn't a main feature of the offense.

Still, the ability to play with brute force remains a critical component of football at any level, and Johnson does provide that.

"He wants to go hit somebody," said Edgar Bennett, who coaches running backs. "I mean, that's football. You love to see that. Displacing people. Going in the other direction."

If the Packers employed a power-based run game, Johnson would be isolated in many more traditional one-on-one collisions with inside linebackers. There is some of that on the Packers' inside-zone plays, but the outside-zone runs require the fullback to make blocking adjustments on the move.

"The kid doesn't make a lot of mistakes," said Bennett. "We've been working on his fundamentals since day one and his play speed is coming along. If he plays with pad level, whew. He is a different cat."

Unlike some running backs, Grant says he has no preference whatsoever for operating from the I-formation or one-back sets.

It is a different picture because you have a lead blocker, said Grant. Sometimes you have to set things up a little differently. As a runner, Ive been doing this a long time. Ive run with both and Im comfortable with both.