Former Penn State QB Trace McSorley expands his game with Ravens

Trace McSorley is following in Taysom Hill’s footsteps — but it seems like the Baltimore Ravens are trying to do more with the former Penn State quarterback.

Nowadays, NFL players don’t need a permanent position to make a roster. In fact, teams are much more open to bringing on guys who can be a jack of all trades. Most of the time, it’s quarterbacks who have to find a new identity on the field because their skillset won’t translate as well from the NCAA to the NFL. It’s not a knock on those guys; it’s just a fact.

We’ve seen plenty of position changes over the years by quarterbacks. Former Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller made the transition with a season left in college, and he ended up getting drafted as a wideout. Terrelle Pryor, another former Buckeye made it to the NFL as a quarterback, but a couple of years in convinced him to also make a position change to wideout.

More recently, everybody has had their eyes on New Orleans Saints quarterback, Taysom Hill. Last season, the Saints had Hill playing multiple positions ranging from quarterback, to wide receiver, and to even tight end. Seeing the slightest bit of success by the Saints when Hill was on the field inspired other teams around the NFL to draft dual-threat quarterbacks and see what else they can offer outside of their primary position.

Recently, former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley became the Baltimore Ravens newest offensive experiment. As a sixth-round pick, it was obvious that McSorley was going to automatically find himself as a third-stringer on the Ravens depth chart. Knowing that not every team keeps three quarterbacks active, McSorley had to find out a way to stand out and create an impact for himself in order to avoid getting released by September.

McSorley has to prove he’s ‘special’

The Ravens know that they can have another Taysom Hill-type of player in McSorley, but it seems as though they want to try and take it even further. Hill might be a solid receiver, but he hasn’t really dabbled in special teams. McSorley, on the other hand, wants to try and prove his worth everywhere. And if an NFL player can contribute on special teams, then their chances of making the final 53-man roster will likely skyrocket. So what has McSorley been doing in Baltimore in order to expand his range as a player? Returning punts.

"“It’s something that’s a new challenge for me, something that I hadn’t really had never done,” McSorley said, via the Ravens’ Final Drive podcast. “So it’s just something interesting to be able to come in and learn and try and prove myself in a different way that I can be able to get on the field and make an impact.”“It’s been interesting. It’s had its ups and downs, obviously the first couple times doing it, but it’s going well. I’m looking forward to be able to come out and do anything that I can, especially in the special teams aspect for the team. I want to prove myself there.”"

Just because he’s practicing returning punts, doesn’t mean it’s a lock that McSorley is going to get any reps there in the regular season. However, it’s never a bad idea for a player to expand their range and try out new positions. At this point, it’s become clear that McSorley will be a dark horse for the Ravens. Knowing he likely won’t play quarterback for them in 2019, they are trying to experiment with him as much as possible so they can find out what they could do with him to throw defense’s off in 2019.