Talliaferro at FB

[JoeyFlex5]

an article from the official site stated that coach hammock told talliaferro at the end of the season, that they were giving him a look at FB and he needed to study the playbook because it's his job to lose.

I just wanted to address this. Fullback is a dead position in today's NFL, but the Ravens have been one of the few teams who have kept it on life support, and done so with good results. Juice shattered the history of the FB market thanks to his contributions on the field and breaking the mold for a modern FB. Talliaferro could break the mold once again if he stays healthy.

FB is an unathletic position. Some of them can be light on their feet and run good routes with good hands, but rarely are they actually explosive athlete. Juice was a manchild when it came to lowering his shoulder, absurd power and ran with bad intentions, but he was only fast ENOUGH, not a special kind of fast, and while he was fluid, he was exactly agile or elusive, and certainly not explosive. Talliaferro however, has a special kind of explosion even for a HB, as a FB he brings explosiveness that you just have never seen before. He brings elusiveness and agility that HBs bring as well. I felt his running power didn't suit his imposing size, but he has more than the prerequisite size you want in a FB, learning to drive those feet better and lower that pad level a bit could make him a special threat at FB.

It will be interesting to see his impressive athletic talents being used at the FB position. I would hope that he gets used as a receiving threat often. I'm not anointing him, I wouldn't be surprised if the experiment totally fails, but IF he plays to his athletic potential and learns to block, he could be a new breed at FB

 

[SepticeyePoe]

You do a good job getting me hyped for the season.

 

[jboy19]

I've been operating under the assumption that there wasn't a spot for a FB and that Boyle or someone would be taking on the lead blocking responsibilities. I even thought that Ortiz could sneak onto the roster with some ST highlights in the preseason. Looks like I might have to rethink that at this point.

If Tali stays healthy and gets a spot on the roster, I would be a little interested to see what kind of role he'd play. Juice was able to stay on the field a lot because he was a reliable checkdown target. I don't really think that Tali brings that same skillset to the table, which works because I think we'll see a lot more 2/3 TE sets in those 3rd and 5-type situations. He definitely has some running talent but probably not more than West (or Dixon when hes off suspension).

I think his future is going to live or die on his lead blocking and since there's a very small sample size in recent history of players transitioning to Fullback, it's really anyones guess. The staff turned Juice into an Pro Bowl Fullback and he was pretty much a slot receiver in college.

Can't wait for the preseason and see what he does.

 

[K-Dog]

Do you know what Juice, as a FB got paid by S.F.?

 

[Somerset Ravens]

Do you know what Juice, as a FB got paid by S.F.?

Juice signed a 4 year $ 21M contract with the 49ers. The signing bonus was $ 5M with a total of $ 7M guaranteed.

 

[The Greek]

i must agree that the key for his transition to fb will be his handling of the blocking duties. what i do like is he has bulked up to 235lbs so maybe he becomes the short yardage back or becomes the le'ron mclain bruising style back that we have lacked. would be nice to see him finally stay healthy.

 

[Serrell Tuggs]

I'm glad to hear it. I always thought Taliaferro would be a great power back if he could stay healthy but if were going to keep 4 rbs it would be hard to justify a roster spot ahead of Buck Allen based on injuries and production. This way he could stay with us and maybe become a good short yardage/full back.

 

[jdynamite]

When I read about Taliaferro getting reps at FB on the teamsite, I didn't put much into it.

I mean fullback is a very demanding position and LT's been injuried quite often with limited action on the field.

Boyle was my personal pick for FB, but since he's the only healthy TE practicing I think he will earn the starting spot there.