New York Jets free agent profile: San Francisco 49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk

The fullback is an endangered species in today's NFL, but could Kyle Jusczcyk actually be a quietly fantastic add for the New York Jets? Positives Connection/scheme fit The primary reason that Kyle Juszczyk (pronounced "use-check") has been linked to the New York Jets is, of course, his connection to the coaching staff. He joined the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, the same year that Robert Saleh and Mike LaFleur moved into the Bay Area, sharing each of the past four seasons with the Jets' new head coach and offensive coordinator. There are not many teams left in the NFL that still utilize a fullback regularly, but among the ones that do, none made use of the position more than LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan's 49ers over the past four years. Juszczyk's total of 1,918 offensive snaps from 2017-20 led all fullbacks over that span. Based on how big of a component Juszczyk was for the Niners, if LaFleur runs an offense in New York that is highly reminiscent of the attack run by Shanahan in San Francisco over the past few years, a quality fullback will likely be needed. It goes without saying that Juszczyk fits the bill, considering he played in the LaFleur/Shanahan offense over the past four years in addition to quite simply being the most talented and heavily-utilized fullback in the league. Blocking Sure, you expect a fullback to be good at blocking in relation to most other players on the field outside of the offensive linemen, but not every fullback is a good blocker in relation to other fullbacks. It's not possible. There has to be a spectrum. Among all fullbacks, some are great blockers, some are average, and some are bad. Juszczyk is a great blocking fullback. Over the course of his career (regular season and playoffs), Juszczyk has been trusted to take on a massive workload of 1,618 run blocking snaps, earning a composite Pro Football Focus run blocking grade of 72.1 on those plays. That's a very good mark - the average among fullbacks over the past four seasons is 62.8. As a member of the 49ers from 2017-20, Juszczyk posted a 71.1 run blocking grade (regular season) that trailed only Patrick Ricard (79.0) among fullbacks. Juszczyk's 988 run blocking snaps for the 49ers from 2017-20 was 312 more than the second-ranked fullback (C.J. Ham). Juszczyk can also get it done as a pass protector. He has a career composite pass blocking grade of 75.6. The average among fullbacks over the past four seasons is 68.5. Receiving ability Juszczyk has proven to be a solid weapon as a pass-catcher. In each of the past seven seasons, Juszczyk was targeted at least 24 times and caught at least 19 passes for at least 180 yards. In 2020, Juszczyk tied for second on the 49ers with four receiving touchdowns. No other fullback in the league had more than two. Juszczyk's 202 receiving yards was nearly double C.J. Ham's second-ranked total of 110. Juszczyk's per-target efficiency as a receiver really took off over the past two seasons. From 2019-20, Juszczyk caught 39 of 53 targets (73.6%) for 441 yards, five touchdowns, and 16 first downs. Those totals give him 8.3 yards per target and a 39.6% conversion rate, two marks that closely rival the league-average wide receiver (2020 league averages at WR: 8.2 yds/target, 41.0% conversions). All fullbacks besides Juszczyk in the 2020 season combined to average 5.3 yards per target with a 35.5% conversion rate. Collecting his 441 receiving yards across 271 routes run, Juszczyk's average of 1.63 yards per route run from 2019-20 actually beats the 2020 positional average for wide receivers, which was 1.57. He more than doubled the average for non-Juszczyk fullbacks in 2020, which was 0.76. The man essentially produces in the passing game on a per-play basis like your average wide receiver. Durability Juszczyk played all 16 games in 2020, his sixth complete 16-game season out of eight years in the league. He has played 122 out of a possible 128 career regular season games (95.3%). Rushing progress It's certainly not a huge concern given everything else he offers, but Juszczyk has seldom been used as a rusher throughout his career, carrying the ball only 42 times in 122 games (0.3 attempts per game). In short-yardage situations, Juszczyk has been decent. He has converted on 16 of 22 career carries with one-or-fewer yards to go, a 72.7% rate. The league average conversion rate in that situation over the course of Juszczyk's career (2015-20) is 70.9%. On the positive side, Juszczyk did have a career-best year as a rusher this past season. In 2020, he set career-highs in rush attempts (17), rushing yards (64), rushing touchdowns (2), and rushing first downs (10). He was great in short-yardage situations, going 11 for 13 with one-or-fewer yards to go (84.6%). Heavy usage Juszczyk's ability to contribute in the passing game has allowed him to play far more snaps than you typically see out of a fullback. He has averaged 30.3 offensive snaps per game over the past seven seasons, playing about 45% of the offensive snaps in his average game over that span. Negatives Decline in 2020 blocking grades At PFF, Juszczyk's blocking grades were not all that good in 2020. His run blocking grade of 63.2 was the second-worst of his career and worst since 2015, ranking seventh out of 13 fullbacks in 2020. He allowed three pressures as a pass protector over only 27 snaps in protection, earning a pass blocking grade of 50.7 that was also the second-worst of his career. Age Juszczyk will turn 30 in April. With eight seasons' worth of miles on his tires at a position that involves highly physical head-on contact on a very frequent basis, teams need to think about the possibility of an upcoming decline for Juszczyk, especially considering his (apparent) dip as a blocker in 2020. Film Juszczyk has the complete package as a blocker. He's agile, takes high-quality angles, and finishes with ruthless tenacity. The 49ers asked him to take on almost every type of assignment imaginable - being the lead blocker on an inside run, kicking out to the front-side edge, taking out the back-side edge on a split zone, going in motion pre-snap and leading a jet sweep - you name it, Juszczyk probably did it at some point. On this play against the Patriots from last October, Juszczyk is one of two backs beside Jimmy Garoppolo in the shotgun, standing about one yard in front of Garoppolo to his right. Brandon Aiyuk comes across the formation from left-to-right and takes a pop pass from Garoppolo, leaving Juszczyk as the lead blocker, tasked with taking on the front-side edge defender. Juszczyk sprints out, squares up his target, angles towards the sideline, and pancakes the defender, paving the way for a huge (and easy) Aiyuk gain. Aiyuk gets the glory of the yardage credit, but Juszczyk is the real MVP of this play. Juszczyk was a monster in the 2019 NFC Championship Game. This was one of his best plays from the night. San Francisco fakes a counter play, and in the process, Juszczyk fakes as if he is going to block inside before pivoting back out and sprinting to the edge. Juszczyk takes on the cornerback and absolutely dominates him, driving him from the numbers to the sideline to create a highway-sized lane for Deebo Samuel. Juszczyk plays through the whistle as well, offering a little extra at the end. As a receiver, Juszczyk is surprisingly elusive with the ball in his hands, and the 49ers have done a great job of using deception to set him up with favorable open-field opportunities. Similar to the play above, the 49ers have Juszczyk fake an inside block before pivoting outside, but this time, they throw him the football. Juszczyk feigns as if he is going to lead on an inside zone handoff, but Nick Mullens keeps the ball and rolls to the outside with Juszczyk mirroring him into the flat. Mullens gives Juszczyk a good throw as Juszczyk turns upfield and hurdles a defender for the touchdown. Juszczyk was targeted three times in Super Bowl LIV, catching all three passes for 39 yards, two first downs, and this marvelous touchdown. The 49ers line Juszczyk up in the backfield before motioning him to the right end of the line. Juszczyk flows with the offensive line to the left as Garoppolo fakes the handoff. Then, just as we saw from him in the above two plays, he stops in his tracks and pivots outside. Juszczyk makes the contested grab, breaks Daniel Sorensen's tackle, and finds a crease over the middle as he dives in for the 49ers' first Super Bowl touchdown in eight years. Juszczyk runs through the A-gap and bluffs a block attempt on the linebacker before getting into a vertical route. The LB notices the play fake and tries to make contact with Juszczyk to begin covering him, but Juszczyk avoids the contact as he side-steps the LB and swims his inside arm over the LB's extended arms to beat him and break free. Juszczyk lays out for an absurd diving catch with the safety honing in from over top. This play got me all fired up for the rest of the day when I watched it on tape. Firstly, we have another example of the 49ers finding a creative way to get Juszczyk the football. Juszczyk lines up in the slot. Garoppolo fakes a swing pass to Juszczyk's side, and Juszczyk fakes a block to get the slot defender to bite. Freed up after the slot corner takes the bait, Juszczyk is left wide-open up the seam and hauls in a good pass from Garoppolo. Then, Juszczyk DESTROYS Minkah Fitzpatrick in a fit of rage. What did he do to you to deserve that, Kyle? That man has a family! Contract estimate When Juszczyk hit the free agent market back in 2017 after four years with the Ravens, he signed a four-year, $21 million deal with the 49ers that included $9.8 million guaranteed. In each of the past three seasons, his cap hit was more than double that of the league's second-richest fullback. 2017 - Juszczyk: $3,750,000 cap hit, Ryan Hewitt: $2,275,000 2018 - Juszczyk: $4,500,000 cap hit, Patrick DiMarco: $2,050,000 2019 - Juszczyk: $5,850,000 cap hit, Patrick DiMarco: $2,150,000 2020 - Juszczyk: $6,700,000 cap hit, Patrick Ricard: $2,983,333 Given that Juszczyk's impact level remains just as far ahead of the rest of the league's fullbacks as it was back in 2017, it makes sense to expect that he will receive a similarly rich deal in relation to his peers at the position. As things stand right now, Baltimore's Patrick Ricard is set to have the highest cap hit among non-Juszczyk fullbacks in 2020 at about $4.0 million. Minnesota's C.J. Ham has the position's largest contract in terms of total value, signing a four-year, $12 million deal prior to the 2020 season. Juszczyk's age could neutralize his value a little bit, but he remains this position's premier player by a longshot. In fact, it can be argued that Juszczyk is further above the average player at his position than any other player in the league. Obviously, that isn't saying a whole lot considering that fullback is by far the least valuable offensive or defensive position, but it is still an important fact regarding Juszczyk's market value. If a team wants a fullback, he is the LeBron James of the position, so they will have to pay up to get him. I would expect Juszczyk to get a deal that is similar to his last in terms of average annual value - somewhere from $5-6 million per year, keeping him at the top of the position's totem pole. The big questions are the years and the guarantees. Will a team be looking to invest long-term in a 30-year-old fullback? Projecting Jets' pursuit It makes sense to expect Joe Douglas, Robert Saleh, Mike LaFleur, and the Jets to give Juszczyk's agent a call considering the connection and Juszczyk's tailor-made fit in the offense, but with bigger fish to fry, Douglas and company might not be willing to dole out a considerable amount of cap space to a fullback. This pursuit will likely all depend on how important LaFleur believes the fullback will be in his offense. If he wants to utilize a fullback just as heavily as the 49ers utilized Juszczyk over the past four seasons, then the Jets should probably swallow their pride and cough up the extra dough to get LaFleur his man. If LaFleur wants to dial back the fullback usage and does not see the position as a major priority, then the Jets can steer clear of Juszczyk and find someone off the scrap heap to fill the role at a dollar-store cost. Or, Trevon Wesco can do it. Juszczyk is a very good football player, but as a rebuilding team with more holes than a sponge, the Jets will have to be careful about the cap implications of investing starter-level money in a 30-plus player at a dying position who will play less than half of the offensive snaps.

The fullback is an endangered species in today’s NFL, but could Kyle Jusczcyk actually be a quietly fantastic add for the New York Jets?