How Much Do the Ravens Really Lose in Vonta Leach

First, I have to apologize. I volunteered for writing M/W/F and I have been busy/forgotten to do it Monday and Wednesday.

Now to the real article.

I am here to discuss Vonta Leach's actual value. He was going to get paid around $4 million in the last year of his deal. He only played about one-third of the snaps. That basically already makes him not worth the money. He did play very well on the snaps he did get. He is a great run blocker, but that is about where it ends. He can occasionally get a 1-yard gain for a first down and/or a touchdown. But the 1-yard gain is pretty easy to replace. Compare his contract to that of Michael Huff. Compare it to Chris Canty. They are veterans just like Leach. Huff is getting around $2 million annually. Canty's deal averages $2.67 million annually. Leach was going to get $4 million.

Think about it.

Leach plays one-third of offensive snaps and does well. Huff will play at least three-fourths of the snaps and should do well. Canty should play at least half of the snaps (possibly more, but we have a deep defensive line) and he will most likely do very good. If I put it that way, it seems like a good move.

It seems even better when we have someone like Kyle Juszczyk behind him and ready to play. We drafted him in the fourth round, which is pretty high for a fullback. It made most of us think that we were going to restructure or waive Leach. Juszczyk is a very good and versatile fullback. Juszczyk can probably play HB, FB, TE, and maybe WR. If we put Leach at any of those other positions, (unless we're in goal line formation) it woudn't work well. Juszczyk isn't quite the blocker Leach is, but he's still good. We can probably keep Juszczyk in the game no matter what the down and/or distance is. Let me throw you an interesting formation where Juszczyk could be useful.

Second or third down and three-four yards to go: One RB, three WR, one TE

TE: Dennis Pitta

WR1: Torrey Smith

WR2: Deonte Thompson/Tommy Streeter

WR3: Ray Rice

RB: Kyle Juszczyk

Usefulness: With three or four yards to go, we can either run or pass. We have enough receivers to make them think it's a pass play. All (from what I know) have good hands. We could have Torrey Smith run a slant route. Rice could get a 4 yard catch easy. Thompson or Streeter could go deep to get the D stretched out. Pitta can go on whatever route we decide there. Here is where Kyle comes in handy. He could run if we decided to do that. The reason I picked him over Bernard Pierce is because he can catch well too. We could easily run a pass here or we could run a draw/delay play.

All in all, I think the Vonta Leach loss will not do much to us. I am very excited to see what Kyle Juszczyk can do for us.