Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard will begin training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list because of offseason hip surgery, head coach John Harbaugh said last week, so it remains to be seen how the four-time Pro Bowl pick will fit into the system of new offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Ricard can be activated from the PUP list at any point during camp, and Harbaugh said Ricard “should be ready” shortly after camp begins. Veterans return to the facility on July 25, with the first training camp practice the next day. If Ricard were to suffer a setback and begin the regular season on the PUP list, he would be sidelined for a minimum of four games.
One of the Ravens’ top priorities this offseason was revamping the corps of wide receivers, and the addition of Odell Beckham Jr., Nelson Agholor and first-round draft pick Zay Flowers, coupled with the return of Rashod Bateman, who missed the final 11 games last season, could drastically alter the identity of the Ravens’ offense. Quarterback Lamar Jackson has joked that he hopes to throw for 6,000 yards in this offense.
All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews also returns as Lamar Jackson’s favorite target, and running back J.K. Dobbins has made no secret of the fact that he expects to be heavily involved (though he was a notable absence throughout spring activities.)
Where, then, does this leave Ricard, who, maybe more than anyone else on the roster thrived in the system of departed coordinator Greg Roman?
It was Roman, after all, who first suggested that Ricard, an undrafted defensive lineman out of Maine, consider playing fullback in addition to defensive lineman. Ricard thus began his career as an old-school, two-way player, at times switching jerseys in training camp to quickly move from offense to defense.
In his first three seasons he saw action on both sides of the ball. In 2019, Ricard played 342 snaps on offense and a career-high 140 on defense. He transitioned to fullback exclusively the next season and became the most heavily utilized player at a position that seemingly is being phased out of existence in the pass-happy NFL.
Ricard made the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2019, and he repeated that honor in each of the next three years as well. The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder has proved to be a punishing, road-grading blocker for the Ravens’ record-setting running game and also a capable receiver out of the backfield.
Ricard has just 10 career carries but 40 receptions, including five touchdowns.
This past season, Ricard was on the field for 64 percent of the Ravens’ offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Reference. That not only was the highest percentage of his career, but also was easily the highest percentage in the league among fullbacks. (Former Raven Kyle Juszczyk ranked second at 50 percent.) Ricard lined up as an inline blocker more than as a back, and even set up in the slot occasionally.
Ricard, who turned 29 in May, signed a three-year, $11.25 million extension in 2022, so he’s under contract through next season (though the team gains $4 million in cap savings if they move on from him after this season).
At his introductory news conference, Monken said the game has evolved throughout time, and the emphasis now is on speed and space and using the entire width of the field, rather than the pound-and-ground, traditional downhill run game. That suggests Ricard’s usage might drop sharply from last season.
Yet Ricard can take solace from something that emerged during the OTA periods open to the media: Ben Mason, the former Michigan fullback who spent all of last season on the Ravens’ practice squad and took all the fullback reps this spring with Ricard sidelined, was very active in full-team workouts. He made catches in several areas of the field during the noncontact workouts and appeared to be a significant part of the offense.
That suggests that, even as this Ravens offense evolves and shifts from what it was, Monken still sees a role for his Pro Bowl fullback.
“I do see a role for myself on this team with this offense,” Ricard told Glenn Clark Radio last month. “I’m excited for it. It may not be quite as much as I was used with Greg Roman, but I’m OK with that. As long as we’re winning games and I’m doing my part to help win, that’s all I really care about.”
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