The Baltimore Ravens re-sign fullback “Project Pat” Patrick Ricard to a one-year deal fully guaranteed, as the fan favorite and key blocker returns for 2025. Pancakes will be back for the upcoming season, as his blocking on downhill runs for Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson cannot be understated. Having a weapon like Ricard as a blocker gives them an edge physically against defenses.
The 30-year-old and 300-pound fullback is pivotal for their heavy personnel package, as it was weird to envision someone else doing his job for the Todd Monken offense. While he saw career high usage rates, Ricard did see a big dip as a pass-catcher and wasn’t used as a runner, which makes sense. However, his impact isn’t in the numbers, it’s boosting the ground game in general, and that showed.
Ravens Bring Back “Pancake Pat” on a 1-Year Deal
According to the Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the one-year deal for Ricard is fully guaranteed, as Ravens’ beat writer for the Athletic Jeff Zrebiec notes “it will be around the $2.9 million range with a cap hit of under $1.44 million.”
Ricard and Kyle Juszczyk, who was a former Raven, are the two at the top of the full back position, but “Juice” was cut from the San Francisco 49ers. The position is so devalued with it being scheme specific, so if both hit the market, it would’ve been interesting what they could’ve gotten. Ricard comes back on a very team-friendly deal, as Baltimore took a chance on him as a former defensive lineman from Maine. The veteran is now entering his 9th NFL season and while he used to play both sides, he sticks to the offensive side of the ball now blocking for Jackson and Henry.
His 2024 season had career low numbers despite career high snap usage, as he only had 3 catches on 5 targets for 22 yards and a touchdown. Ricard didn’t receive a carry in back-to-back seasons, which is interesting since they use veteran tight end Mark Andrews on tush pushes. If he is moved, then I would figure they would let Ricard get a few more carries as a physical tone setter.
On his career, he has 7 receiving touchdowns and 315 yards through the air on 48 catches. It made sense his targets took a hit, as most of the targets went to the other tight ends, wide receivers, and running backs out of the backfield. Still, he is a former first team All-Pro last season, second team All-Pro in 2023, and is a five-time Pro Bowler. His focus last year was to pancake block in the run game with Henry behind him and that will continue for 2025 with the Ravens. Now the focus for Baltimore will go to other positions like the secondary, offensive guard, wide receiver, and edge rusher.
