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Is 49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk a Future Hall of Famer?

The 49ers like to call Juszczyk an offensive weapon. In reality, he's just a decoy.

Grant Cohn

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) is hit by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton (32) in the first half in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) is hit by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton (32) in the first half in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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The 49ers roster is full of future Hall of Famers. Is Kyle Juszczyk one of them?

For nearly a decade, Juszczyk has been by far the best fullback in the NFL. And yet CBS Sports believes he will not get voted into Canton.

"Juszczyk has the bona fides as an eight-time Pro Bowler and earned his first All-Pro in 2023," writes CBS analyst Bryan DeArdo. "But no fullback has ever made the Hall of Fame without putting up some numbers, which is something Juszczyk doesn't have. Juszczyk's career is similar to Matthew Slater, a recently retired, 10-time Pro Bowl special teams standout. While both players have been recognized as being arguably the best at their position, neither one will likely sniff Canton unless the Hall's voters change their thinking."

That analysis is spot on. Juszczyk is an eight-time Pro Bowler primarily because he's one of the only fullbacks left in the NFL. It's a dying position. In fact, there shouldn't be a Pro Bowl slot for a fullback. Juszczyk should be classified as a running back or a tight end. And at either of those positions, he'd never sniff a Pro Bowl because he hardly ever touches the ball.

Juszczyk's main role for the 49ers is to go in motion before the snap. He does so much before the play even starts. Then the center snaps the ball, Juszczyk makes a block and the ball goes to someone else. Every time.

The 49ers like to call Juszczyk an offensive weapon. In reality, he's just a decoy.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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