Ravens: Project Pat is the perfect descriptor for Pat Ricard

Patrick Ricard has the coolest nickname on the Baltimore Ravens. It’s a perfect descriptor:

The Baltimore Ravens have a fullback with a very awesome nickname. Pat Ricard spent most of his football life as a defensive lineman. He’s been given the opportunity to be the fullback of the purple and black, and that’s where the name “Project Pat” comes from. He’s a fullback, he’s a defensive tackle and he’s a player who does whatever the coaching staff asks him to do.

While Pat Ricard is a great player, it’s important to remember that this is really just the beginning. He was an undrafted free agent in 2017 and there is still room for him to develop as a fullback. While his experience as a defensive lineman helps him to understand blocking and has entrenched him in the physical nature of the game, it’s important to remember he’s still relatively new at this.

Ricard went to the 2019 Pro Bowl and he’s clearly the best fullback in the AFC. Him and Kyle Juszczyk, who are very different players, are doing the position proud in an age of football where backup tight ends often play the role of fullback. The fullback hasn’t been the glory position since the days of Larry Csonka with the Miami Dolphins. Ricard is bringing the toughness back to the position.

Ricard is never going to be the type of player that Juszczyk was for the Ravens and is now for the San Francisco 49ers. He’s never going to be a player who catches 20-40 passes a year. However, Juszczyk is never going to be quite the bulldozing run blocker that Ricard is. Even at the least utilized position in the NFL there are multiple ways to go about it.

While the box score isn’t the measure of success for Ricard, the pass catching game is the biggest area he can grow in. Ricard has 12 receptions for 59 yards and three touchdowns in his career. Eight of those receptions and one of those touchdowns came in the 2019 season. This seems like a spot where the Ravens could get more out of Ricard.

Ricard isn’t a natural hands catcher. In fact touching the football is something he’s probably still getting used to. It’s not like he’s a running back, he doesn’t get his hands on the ball that much. He has been dependable though, and he’s not a liability in the passing game. It would be nice to see him etch out a Vonta Leach like impact as a receiving option out of the backfield.

In the 2012 season, Leach had 21 receptions for 143 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per catch. There is no reason Ricard can’t get to that level of production, especially as the forgotten weapon in the backfield.

Defenses are never going to prioritize Ricard as a player they have to defend. It goes, Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Marquise Brown and Mark Ingram in that order. Nobody will see it coming if Jackson hits Ricard in the flats on a semi-regular basis. Those are free yards, the Ravens ought to take advantage of that.

Ricard is a 6’3″ 311 pound bowling ball. He’s got fairly good contact balance and his tough running has picked up some first downs in close yardage situations. The Ravens need to let him unleash his inner Mike Alstott. He can be the one player nobody wants to tackle. He’s not going to beat an entire defense in a footrace but he will be able to drag a couple defenders with him for a handful of extra yards.

Ricard is not a finished product in the NFL and he’s already pretty awesome. This makes the nickname “Project Pat” incredibly fitting. It’s almost a promise of the things yet to come.