49ers roster: Business as usual for Kyle Juszczyk in 2022

The 49ers have their form of ‘old reliable’ in fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and his importance to the offense won’t go away anytime soon.

Each year, when Niner Noise does our regular offseason profiles of every player on the San Francisco 49ers’ 90-man offseason roster, there are a handful of players we simply don’t have to worry about.

They don’t come with injury histories. Their stock values aren’t volatile. They’re just good, sometimes great, and almost always on a consistent basis.

This pretty much describes perennial Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk, now entering his sixth year with the Niners after being part of that notable rebuild class under general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan back in 2017.

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No longer dealing with concern about whether or not he’d leave in free agency, Juszczyk is now entering year two of the five-year, $27 million re-sign contract he inked ahead of the 2021 season.

Maybe it’s the outlier for fullbacks, a position many consider “dying” in the modern-day NFL.

Not for Juszczyk, though, and certainly not for San Francisco.

Why Kyle Juszczyk actually improves for 49ers in 2022

There have been plenty of calls for the 49ers to use Juszczyk as more of a receiving weapon than the usual one or two targets he gets every game, and that makes sense.

But, with quarterback Trey Lance taking over under center, one might wonder if Juszczyk’s mismatch potential as a receiving option could be exploited a lot more.

Niners Nation’s Kyle Posey explained:

"I’m fascinated to see how his role changes with Trey Lance under center. Something tells me Juice will have a few more 20-yard receptions with Lance at the helm. I mentioned above how it’s all about moving the chains. It’s been since 2017 since Juszczyk had fewer than 52% of his passes go for first downs."

Fans may recall how quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo missed a wide-open Juszczyk in that Thursday night road game against the Tennessee Titans last year for what would have been a walk-in touchdown.

If Lance is able to make those throws, Juszczyk’s potency as a legitimate receiving weapon likely increases.

Why Kyle Juszczyk actually regresses for 49ers

From a statistical perspective, Lance might not “fall in love” with going after Juszczyk and could prefer to target the many other pass-catching weapons at his disposal.

And after years of clamoring for Juszczyk to be involved in the receiving game more, it doesn’t appear as if Shanahan is going to follow that script.

Some argued Juszczyk’s blocking regressed a bit in 2021 in comparison to what was seen in previous years, although Pro Football Focus‘ overall blocking grade for him last season was identical to what it was the year prior, 65.7.

Read More: Kyle Juszczyk stops by to chat with Niner Noise Podcast

Remember that part about consistency?

Now 31 years old, it is always possible that Juszczyk’s prowess as a lead blocker and mismatch weapon takes a step back as he ages, but that might be the only reason why one could expect or anticipate any regression here.

Kyle Juszczyk’s projected role with 49ers this season

There’s a reasonable chance fans see a bit more of Juszczyk as a receiving weapon with Lance at the helm, as Posey pointed out.

That would be the uptick, but it won’t take away the fullback’s primary role as a versatile piece who does so much in Shanahan’s offense.

Juszczyk saw 55.9 percent of the Niners’ offensive snaps last year, which is a tremendous amount for a fullback, as most teams elect to remove this position on the field in consideration of the more predominant three-wide formations.

In this regard, Juszczyk doubles as a blocking tight end who can line up all over the formation and does, which is partially what makes him so unique.

That won’t change at all this season, and provided he stays healthy, San Francisco will turn to him in the same manner as it has since he arrived with the team way back in 2017.