Savoring those memories of the Eagles' last fullback, Thomas Tapeh, now with the Minnesota Vikings after four fairly forgettable years at Lincoln Financial Field? How quickly we forget.

Because of Tapeh's departure, the Eagles have a fresh crop, more or less, of three fullbacks fighting it out for a spot on the roster.

The job involves blocking and catching the occasional short-yardage pass, with an even less occasional call to actually bang out a couple of tough yards.

In the West Coast offense, the fullback is in the game for maybe 30 percent of the snaps. When an extra receiver trots onto the field, the fullback is the first guy to trot off. Increasingly, anyone who wants to make a career as fullback had better find other ways to contribute, mostly as a special-teams player, which helps explain why Tapeh is gone.

It also helps explain why none of the three fullbacks in the camp this year is an old-style bull of a fullback, a thick-necked, muscle-bound behemoth.

So far, the favorite at the Lehigh training camp is Jason Davis, a free agent out of the University of Illinois, in his third year with the Eagles.

If Davis' name does not ring a bell, it might be because he spent 2006 on injured reserve - he hurt his knee in the first preseason game - and spent last year on the practice squad. In other words, the fullback may be more familiar to the coaches, but he is still something of an unknown.

"I'm part of the puzzle, just like last year and the year before," Davis said yesterday. "What part of the puzzle depends on the coaches."

He knows an Eagles fullback won't likely be a workhorse ballcarrier.

"It doesn't matter how much I bring to the table when you've got [Brian] Westbrook, [Lorenzo] Booker and [Correll] Buckhalter back there," Davis said.

Behind Davis is Luke Lawton, who played for the Indianapolis Colts last year. The Eagles picked him up in a June trade for a conditional draft pick.

The dark horse is Jed Collins, an undrafted free agent from Washington State whom the Eagles invited to camp just to throw another player into the fight at fullback.

So far, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg likes what he sees.

"I was expecting it would be a real good battle between the top two, and Jed has put himself right in the middle of the competition," Mornhinweg said after the morning practice.

Mornhinweg said that Davis, listed as 5-foot-10 and 245 pounds in the media guide, is getting better with each passing day, a versatile runner, receiver and blocker.

Lawton, listed as 6-0, 240, is still a bit behind the eight-ball, trying to learn a complex offense in a hurry, Mornhinweg said.

"He's doing fine physically," said the coach. "Pretty quickly, we should get able to get a better evaluation on him. Once he's a little more comfortable, his natural ability will show up."

Whether Collins has a future with the Eagles could come down to whether he can make himself valuable in other ways. In college, after two years as a fullback and linebacker, Collins made the switch to tight end. He has taken a few snaps as tight end here.

"He is kind of a dark horse, but he has caught the coaches' eyes," Mornhinweg said. "He's looking to make the team any way he can."