Tag: Kyle Juszczyk

Eagles-49ers: 10 early stats to know for NFC Championship Game

We’re looking at 10 early stats to know ahead of Sunday’s NFC Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers

The Eagles are one win away from returning to the Super Bowl and they’ll face a familiar foe in the NFC Championship game when the San Francisco 49ers head to Lincoln Financial Field next Sunday at 3:00 pm.

Philadelphia (14-3) defeated the New York Giants 38-7 on Saturday to clinch a spot in the title game and then watched on Sunday evening, as the Niners (13-4) defeated the Cowboys 19-12 at Levi’s Stadium.

The two teams last met in Week 2 of the 2021 regular season, with San Francisco defeating Philadelphia 17-11 as Jimmy Garoppolo threw one touchdown pass and ran in for another score.

All-Pro quarterback Jalen Hurts had an uneven performance in the loss, completing just 12 of 23 passes for 190 yards. He rushed for 82 yards, including a 1-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

In that matchup from last season, Nick Bosa had two sacks and San Francisco’s defense shut down Philadelphia was dominant against Atlanta in a 32-6 season-opening win.

Both teams are far different from that Week 2 matchup and the Eagles are much more explosive on offense after the addition of A.J. Brown.

With preparation set to begin, we’re looking at ten early stats to know for the NFC Championship Game.

How the 49ers kill defenses in the passing game with the threat of the run

The San Francisco 49ers have interesting ways of killing defenses in the passing game with run threats and pre-snap motion.

It’s a long-held belief that you need a strong run game to be effective with play-action. Not true, and it’s been proven over time that it’s not true. What you need as an offense is the threat of the run, and run looks, to displace and fool a defense into thinking you’re going to zig, when zagging is all that’s on your mind.

If you have a great run game, however, and your offensive play-designer understands perfectly how to upset defensive assignments with play-action and pre-snap motion… well, you have what the San Francisco 49ers did to the Seattle Seahawks with 14:02 left in the fourth quarter of their Saturday wild-card game.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan comes into a stadium with a serious advantage in this regard, because the run game he’s designed over time is one of the NFL’s most diverse and effective. In-game, the little wrinkles he throws at defenses can open things up in ways defenses just can’t stop.

The play in question was a seven-yard pass from Brock Purdy to running back Elijah Mitchell. Pre-snap, this looked like a run — the 49ers had fullback Kyle Juszczyk motioning from left to right, and left guard Aaron Banks pulling the same way. With Mitchell in the backfield, this could have easily been a run, and you can see that Seattle’s linebackers reacted completely to that idea.

Purdy’s first read was backside to receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but Seattle cornerback Tariq Woolen had Aiyuk locked down. Now, Purdy had to deal with pressure, and he rolled right to get away from it.

Seattle’s defenders missed Mitchell entirely, which gave Mitchell a wide-open shot.

“Kyle is going to make you have to defend the entire field,” Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said this week. “Because of the amount of weapons that he has, you have to account for everybody, so it makes it a difficult challenge. It’s not like you can rotate a coverage or do things where you can eliminate one guy, you have to defend all 11 guys out there on the field. He does a great job of scheming up, calling it, and everything else, so like I said, it’s a great challenge that we have in front of us.”

That touchdown put the 49ers up 31-17, and San Francisco put the final nail in on their next drive, with this 74-yard touchdown on a short pass from Purdy to Deebo Samuel. Again, we have Juszczyk as a motion variable — this time, moving from the formation to the backfield. And again, a fake to the running back (Christian McCaffrey this time), and San Francisco’s offense was off to the races.

Good luck to any team having to deal with this offense throughout the rest of the postseason.

4 49ers recognized by peers in first-ever Players’ All-Pro vote

The 49ers were well-represented in the inaugural Players’ All-Pro team.

The NFL for the first time didn’t just leave All-Pro teams to media outlets. In 2022 they debuted the Players’ All-Pro teams, which is a set of two All-Pro squads voted on by players.

Typically the All-Pro voting is left to a panel of media members from the Associated Press. Pro Football Focus and other football analysis sites also do their own All-Pro teams.

A players’ version comes with the added bonus for players of getting recognition from their peers. 49ers’ fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who was a First-Team All-Pro, tweeted that landing in that group was one of the most meaningful honors of his career.

San Francisco was well-represented on the list, with four players making it on the first team. That’s tied for the most of any team with Kansas City – the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Here’s who landed on the Players’ All-Pro First-Team from the 49ers:

Kyle Juszczyk caps short drive with 1st TD of 2022

The 49ers are cruising in the first half vs. Seattle, and Kyle Juszczyk scored his 1st TD of the season.

The Seahawks muffed a punt and the 49ers recovered for their third takeaway of the game. They failed to capitalize on the first two, but they needed just four plays to find pay dirt after recovering the muffed punt. They capped the series with Kyle Juszczyk’s first rushing TD of the season and the 49ers went up 20-0.

Rating of Ravens FB Patrick Ricard in Madden NFL 23 revealed

Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard found himself as one of the best rated players at his position in EA Sports’ Madden NFL 23

The ratings of players for EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 23” have been slowly released over the last week. The Baltimore Ravens found players like tight end Mark Andrews, kicker Justin Tucker, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, quarterback Lamar Jackson and defensive lineman Michael Pierce rated in the game’s top-10 list of players at their positions.

Another player on the team that was rated as a top-10 player at his position by the game was Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard. The Pro Bowler was rated as an 81 overall, good for the No. 2 spot among all fullbacks.

Ricard, known as “Project Pat,” is known for his ability to do whatever the team asks of him. He can be a fullback, line up as a tight end, and even play defensive line if needed. Ricard has become one of the elite fullbacks in the NFL today.

Individual ratings that got Ricard to an 81 overall included a 95 lead block rating, a toughness rating of 90 and a 90 strength rating. The best rated at the position in Madden NFL 23 is former Ravens and current San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk with an 88 overall.

Through five NFL seasons, Ricard has caught 29 passes for 167 and five touchdowns on 167 receiving yards while also adding 18 combined tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and fumble recovery in 70 games. Ricard has also been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons.

How fullbacks are valued (and devalued) in today’s NFL

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick discusses the fullback position and how fullbacks are used in today’s NFL.

Over the last two decades, the fullback position has become an anomaly. Only a few teams in today’s game even have them on their roster let alone giving them consistent reps. On average, fullbacks that do see the field are only out there for 25% of their offensive snaps throughout a season.

In the early decades of the NFL, fullbacks were a critical part of the offenses, but when coaches started finding more efficient ways to score, they no longer relied on power on the ground to convert first downs and touchdowns. They went to the air instead. The more points, the better.

Today, almost no fullbacks even get selected in the draft. There has only been one fullback drafted over the last four years — the Baltimore Ravens selected Ben Mason in the fifth round in the 2021 NFL draft; and he was waived in less than a year.

They do say that history repeats itself, and since there is a need for faster and lighter linebackers, the fullback position may find its way back onto rosters in an attempt to counter defensive speed, with power.

It’s time to go over the top fullbacks around the league right now, how they help their offenses win in the modern NFL, and where those trends might be going.

49ers pick up option on FB Kyle Juszczyk’s contract

The #49ers in the least surprising move of the offseason exercised the option in Kyle Juszczyk’s contract. He’ll be with the team through 2025.

In perhaps the least surprising move of the offseason, the 49ers picked up the option on fullback Kyle Juszczyk’s contract to keep him with the team through the 2025 season per NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero. April 1 was the deadline for that option.

The bonus will earn Juszczyk a $2.155 million bonus. He carries a modest $2.9 million cap hit this year, but that’ll jump significantly next year to more than $6.5 million. In 2024 and 2025 that number climbs to $7.588 million per year for the final two seasons according to Over the Cap. Last offseason Juszczyk signed a five-year deal worth up to $27 million with $9.6 million guaranteed. He’ll be 34-years old at the end of the contract.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan made Juszczyk a priority when he arrived in 2017 and since then the fullback has been the highest-paid player at his position. His statistical production doesn’t jump off the page – he has 1,530 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns in five seasons – but his value comes from his blocking ability and positional versatility. There aren’t many players in the league who can do what he does for Shanahan’s offense, which is why the 49ers made sure he sticks around through the 2025 campaign.

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Ravens free agent Patrick Ricard could be what the Saints miss at fullback

The Saints ran through three different fullbacks last year. Ravens free agent Patrick Ricard could help improve in several different areas, via @DillySanders:

Fullback is not a major need for the New Orleans Saints, but it is an opportunity to get better and add some more dimensions to their struggling offense. And Baltimore Ravens free agent fullback Patrick Ricard could be exactly what the Saints have been looking for out of the position for years. The Saints haven’t been able to find consistency out of that role since the retirement of Zach Line in 2019; Michael Burton did well in 2020, then left for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. Instability followed in New Orleans.

Just last season, the Saints had three separate fullbacks on the roster at different times. Alex Armah Jr. signed as a free agent on a minimum deal, but was cut in December after nine games with the team. Sutton Smith was a college linebacker that the Saints attempted to convert to fullback, before waiving him in August. And a rookie, Adam Prentice, was claimed off of waivers from the Denver Broncos and finished the season as the Saints starting fullback. Prentice remains the only rostered player at that position for 2022.

Ricard would bring a high level of play and versatility to the position that the Saints have attempted to find in the past. If we look to how they used Prentice at the end of the season, there is an obvious want for a versatile weapon. Prentice lined up in the backfield, moved inline, ran routes from the slot, and even motioned out wide for eight snaps. But we need to see a lot more out of him before naming him the starter.

And Ricard is a very, very different athlete. He has a unique body type for the position as a former defensive lineman, weighing in at 6-foot-3 and over 300 pounds. At that size, however, he does not bring much as a runner (only three career rushing attempts), though he does have 29 catches for 167 yards and five touchdowns so far. This does fit the Saints’ use of fullbacks, as Prentice and Armah only combined for six more rushes than Ricard last season.

So here’s the case for signing Ricard: he can be a bulldozer at fullback and help stabilize a Saints blocking front that could lose some starters this offseason (left tackle Terron Armstead is one of the NFL’s premier pending free agents). He’s shown he can make plays in the passing game when his number is called, and New Orleans isn’t in a position to turn down weapons. Patrick may not be a position-less Kyle Juszczyk-caliber dynamo, but there are many things he could help the Saints improve at. It’s very much worth looking into him.

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49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk gives glowing review of new Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel

He clearly has respect from his former players.

The Miami Dolphins completed their head coaching search on Sunday night when they hired former San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

McDaniel beat out Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for the job, becoming the 11th full-time head coach in Dolphins history.

While there’s a lot of excitement from the fanbase regarding what the 38-year-old can do for Miami’s offense, and the team as a whole, it’s important to note the feelings of the players he’s leaving behind in San Francisco.

The Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad spoke with 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk who had nothing but great things to say about his former coordinator.

“Mike has been instrumental to our success on offense the past 5 years,” Juszczyk wrote in a text. “His creativity, ingenuity and ability to connect with his players is unmatched. We would not be the offense we are today without him. We are all so incredibly happy for his opportunity to lead a team as a head coach but he will be sorely missed by all of us.”

If McDaniel can get the Dolphins’ roster to buy in like the 49ers clearly did, they may be able to build on the small steps of success that they had under Brian Flores.

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How did 49ers fare at 2022 Pro Bowl?

How’d the #49ers representatives do at the Pro Bowl? A recap from a wild one in Las Vegas:

The 49ers were well-represented on the NFC roster in the 2022 Pro Bowl. In what amounted to something like a walk-through NFL practice, the AFC managed to sneak by the NFC in a 41-35 thriller that featured seven total touchdown passes, seven interceptions, 20 fourth-down conversion attempts and 53 total rushing yards including just 1 by the losing side.

San Francisco’s players included offensive linemen Laken Tomlinson and Alex Mack, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk.

Samuel, Kittle and Tomlinson all started for the NFC.

Kittle caught four of his six targets for 43 yards, and Samuel hauled in three balls for 26 yards on four targets.

Juszczyk was the only 49ers player to get in the end zone. His 14-yard touchdown catch from Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins tied the game at 7-7 early in the first quarter.

San Francisco didn’t have any representatives on the defensive side since defensive end Nick Bosa didn’t play in the game. Left tackle Trent Williams was also voted in but sat out because of an ankle injury.

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