Baltimore Ravens set to give Kyle Juszcyzk larger role

Baltimore Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk (40) gets interviewed after mini camp at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Ravens rookie FB Kyle Juszczyk has been active in all five games this season, but the Ravens have not done anything with him on offense yet. It sounds like that’s about to change, though, based on the comments that Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has made on the fourth-round pick out of Harvard. You know, the guy who was set to replace Vonta Leach before the Ravens decided that they actually wanted to keep Leach on the squad.

Harbaugh said yesterday that he wants to see Juszczyk get a bigger role in the offense, “We’d like to see more with him. I think he’s coming on. [He’s a] talented guy, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we can develop him even more.”

Juszczyk fits the profile of a versatile, H-back type of player, and he isn’t an in-line fullback. The reason why the Baltimore Ravens decided to bring back Leach is that Leach is an excellent lead-blocker, whereas Juszczyk still has a lot of work to do in that regard. However, Juszczyk is a hard worker who could be regarded as one of the best receiving fullbacks in the NFL. He looked excellent as a pass-catcher in training camp, and he could be a nice wrinkle to the Ravens offense. With added development as a blocker, the 22-year-old could become a quality role player in the Ravens offense as a FB/TE hybrid and one of the better H-backs in the game.

It’s going to be interesting to see how much Juszczyk gets to play this week against the Green Bay Packers, and it will be even more interesting to see how the Ravens utilize him. Most of his work has come on special teams this year, but the Ravens official site notes that he received his first target on Sunday from Joe Flacco, and it looks like the Ravens are trying to bring their rookie FB along. This is shaping up to be an important Week 6 game for Kyle Juszczyk, so we’ll see if he can rise to the occasion and make good on the praise from Harbaugh.

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