OWINGS MILLS – Feared in NFL circles for his intimidating, bone-jarring blocks, Vonta Leach has built a reputation as a devastating lead blocker.
The Baltimore Ravens’ newly-minted Pro Bowl fullback was acquired via an $11 million contract to operate as a human battering ram and provide a boost to a running game that languished last season.
The Ravens specifically brought in Leach for a series of physical confrontations with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ hard-hitting linebackers. Let the hitting begin.
“He put more linebackers on their back than anybody I’ve seen in the last four years,” Ravens running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery said. “So, that makes him a powerful stud at his position. He looks to pancake guys.”
Few job descriptions in sports carry the connotation of a blocking fullback. It’s a position where dishing out brutal punishment is constantly required.
Having led interference last season for NFL rushing champion Arian Foster with the Houston Texans, Leach relishes the contact of football. He characterizes every play like it’s a car wreck.
“Fullback is a different position,” Leach said. “For people that don’t know the fullback position or don’t watch football, it’s a very important position to the offense. If you look at the teams that went deep into the playoffs and made a run, they have a fullback that does all the dirty work and really doesn’t get credit. It’s a real physical position. You have to hit the linebackers in the mouth all the time, and that’s what I like to do.”
The stocky 6-foot, 255-pounder has no illusions of halfback glory, or ambitions to touch the football often.
Unlike free agent Pro Bowl fullback Le’Ron McClain, Leach won’t be starting any social media campaigns to be moved to running back.
“I am a fullback, and that is the position that I play,” Leach said. “No, I don’t want to be a running back. I know my job and I know my position.”
Added Montgomery: “He is more of a fullback mold and not like Le’Ron. Le’Ron can block and Le’Ron can also run the ball. Vonta, basically his job, he’s a road grader and he’s going to attack, attack, attack. It’s nice to have him in this division.”
Given a $4 million bonus and a $6 million base salary, Leach is strictly here to block for Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice after the Ravens’ running game dipped to 14th in the league last season as they averaged only 114.4 yards per contest.
Rice’s average per carry fell to four yards per carry last season after gaining 5.3 yards per rush two seasons ago when he made the Pro Bowl.
“The mindset of the Ravens is you run the ball and everything else will take care of itself,” offensive guard Ben Grubbs said. “For years, we had been doing that and for whatever reason we kind of fell off last year. This year, we’re going to get that mindset back and start pounding the ball a little bit more.”
Last year, Foster rushed for 1,610 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Texans.
And Rice actually broke into song when asked about Leach, channeling the Pointer Sisters, ‘I’m so excited,’ catch phrase when asked about Leach.
“I watched what he did for Arian Foster, and he is an amazing fullback,” Rice said. “He lays the wood on people. Everyone knows his reputation, and I just can’t wait to follow him. Look, I could probably trip and get five yards running behind him. I’m just excited to have a guy like that in front of me.
“He’s all about business and all about hard work. When you’ve got a guy like that who brings that physical nature, your job as a running back is almost just run and catch the ball. He wants the dirty work. Here he goes, one of the best rocking fullbacks in the NFL.”
Leach grew up idolizing Dallas Cowboys fullback Darryl Johnston, embracing a blue-collar job.
“I was always a fullback, the only position I ever played is fullback,” Leach said. “I just like blocking and seeing the running back sprinting down for a touchdown. That is all I like doing.”
Except for how it makes his body feel the morning after games. That’s when a price is extracted when it’s hard to get out of bed.
“On Monday, it feels real bad,” Leach said. “Your body feels real bad and beat up. It feels real good knowing that you are playing an important position that the naked eye really doesn’t see. Your teammates, your peers, they respect you for what you go out to do: lay your life on the line, lay your body on the line every week.”
Undrafted out of East Carolina, Leach hasn’t forgotten his humble beginnings in the NFL.
He was signed as a free agent by the Green Bay Packers, learning behind veteran William Henderson before eventually thriving with the Texans’ top-ranked running game.
And Leach hasn’t forgotten those roots.
“It makes you feel good to know where I started from,” Leach said. “I’m just happy that I have put myself in a position where somebody wanted me. Undrafted, you always had that chip on your shoulder. I knew I could always play in this league and I knew I belonged.”
Quick to smile and laugh, Leach’s personality is a polar opposite from his persona on the field where his job is to be the toughest guy on the field.
It’s a contrast that he strives for.
“You can’t be a mean man all the time,” he said. “You have to smile and stuff like that, but I am kind of a laidback guy. On the football field, I turn into a different animal.”
Aaron Wilson covers the Baltimore Ravens for the Carroll County Times
