The Baltimore Ravens have known a thing or two about two-way players over recent seasons. Fullback Patrick Ricard has turned into a huge piece on the offensive side of the ball, but he also played defensive tackle for the team before making the full-time transition to fullback. Baltimore also drafted fullback Ben Mason in the 2021 NFL draft, who saw time on both offense and defense as well.
When speaking with the media on Friday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that Baltimore was cross training defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie at offensive line.
“We have. He actually has played on the offensive line in his career – in college and a little bit in the NFL, in some of the practice places he’s been. His [uncle], obviously, was a pretty fair offensive lineman. He even told me his dad kind of thinks he [maybe] should be an offensive lineman. So, we’re going to start working him over there a little bit – cross training him. We’ve got some time with him, but we still … He played already on the defensive line this year, so we might need him there. But that’s a thought – absolutely.”
As Harbaugh notes, McKenzie has experience playing on the offensive line before, and it doesn’t hurt to see what they have in a young player on their practice squad. They can see how he looks and judge from there, but with the success that the Ravens have had with two-way players in the past, they might be able to work with McKenzie to turn him into a quality piece on both sides of the ball.
