Juszczyk Nears NFL Dream

The Harvard football team hasn’t had a player drafted into the NFL since the St. Louis Rams took Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 eight years ago. But that may change this weekend as senior Kyle Juszczyk steps into the public eye after weeks of speculation, press, and weighty expectations.

After transitioning from a high school quarterback to an All-American and All-Ivy H-back, Juszczyk might see his role shift once again when he enters the professional scene. He could become a hybrid fullback—a fusion of his former role on the Harvard squad and the position that fits his physical profile, fullback.

“[H-back] is a position that very few athletes have the skill set for,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Kyle is being developed as a fullback in the NFL, but it’s really a hybrid fullback, it’s not just a guy who’s going to lead block, which would be the technical definition of what a fullback does. He’s a guy who can do a lot of different things...because of his ability to perform at a high level at all of those positions. I think that’s what generated so much NFL interest.”

Juszczyk was a quarterback at Cloverleaf High School and a two-time All-Suburban League and All-Medina County player, but it was apparent to Murphy that his role would have to change to fit the Crimson’s offense.

“A lot of times, the best athlete in the high school program is going to end up playing quarterback, and in Kyle’s case, it was the case,” Murphy said. “It was also pretty clear that he wasn’t going to fit into our type of offense as a real quarterback, so we saw him as an H-back or a defensive end or a middle linebacker right away.”

Juszczyk’s aspirations to professional football have been long-standing. Despite having had to change positions over his career thus far, he has always hoped to suit up for a full 53-man NFL roster.

“He’s always wanted to play [in the NFL], ever since he was a kid,” senior quarterback Colton Chapple said. “That was his dream goal and for him to be able to provide for his family playing a sport, playing the game that he loves.”

While many kids dream of playing in the big leagues someday, Juszczyk’s dream began to inch toward reality during his junior season, when his performance started to meet those expectations. The Ohio native tallied a team-high 37 receptions that year and was awarded a second-team All-American honor.

Juszczyk’s success only grew the next year when he became Chapple’s primary target, connecting with the quarterback for over 700 yards on 52 catches. While the team was not able to repeat its Ivy League Championship run, Juszczyk’s performance garnered him an invitation to the Senior Bowl, where he saw playing time at fullback and H-back for the North team.

“I think that the people who are most serious about drafting him have a realistic expectation of what his skillset is, and that is a guy that is smart, dependable, extremely versatile, and a competitive football player,” Murphy said. “He can play fullback, he can play tight end if necessary, he can play H-back, and he can be an outstanding special teams player, and when you have such small rosters in the NFL, the versatile guys become the guys that become very, very valuable, especially on the second day of the draft.”

Murphy sees Juszczyk as likely to be drafted in the fifth round, which will be announced on Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN. The senior, who is currently taking the semester off, has spent much of 2013 being flown out to various NFL franchises.

According to Murphy, the Baltimore Ravens, from which Matt Birk ’98 recently retired and where several coaches have ties with Murphy, have expressed an interest in signing Juszczyk.

“I know he’s been flown out by something like 17 of the NFL teams, [and] we’ve had many teams call us,” Murphy said. “A lot of the people on the Ravens, [coach John] Harbaugh, who coached with me at the University of Cincinnati, as did Craig Ver Steeg, and their special teams coach and one of their secondary coaches were all with us at Cincinnati. They’ve called several times—they have a particularly strong interest.”

Chapple notes that while Juszczyk’s dream would be to be drafted by his hometown Cleveland Browns or his childhood favorite team, the New York Jets, he admits a certain level of pragmatism that the fullback has with regard to the draft. Juszczyk could not be reached for comment.

“If the Browns or Jets called [to draft him], I’m sure it’d be a pretty unbelievable feeling for him, but he doesn’t have a lot of control over it,” Chapple said. “He’ll be excited wherever he goes.”

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samanthalin@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @linsamnity.

—Staff writer Cordelia F. Mendez can be reached at cordeliamendez@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @CrimsonCordelia.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 28, 2013

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the first name of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.