Ravens Seeking 'Pedigree' in Important Position Group?
The Baltimore Ravens are hardly kidding around about their running back situation headlined by JK Dobbins.
According to a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Ravens' free agency plan partly centers around finding an experienced running back with two top men destined to hit the market. Dobbins is due after injuries ate away at each of his last two seasons while touchdown-maker Gus Edwards is likewise set to field offers.
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"Some personnel people inside the league believe the Ravens will target a running back with pedigree in free agency," Fowler writes. "Baltimore has a few tough salary cap decisions but should be able to keep most of its veteran base intact."
Fowler notes that while stud defender Justin Madubuike is perhaps the priority (especially considering how fast he'll probably be scooped up), it's easy to see why Baltimore would want to replenish its rushing weaponry.
The team topped the league in yardage last season though a good bit of that came from the legs of quarterback Lamar Jackson. That ensemble attack led by Edwards and Justice Hill came up big at several points and undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell likewise made linger contributions before succumbing to an injury of his own.
Fortunately for the Ravens' supposed blueprint, there are plenty of experienced rushers possibly looking for new homes come this spring. For the time being, some of the more marquee names (i.e. Derrick Henry) could be out of Baltimore's price range (currently holding just over $7.3 million in cap space), they could shoot their shot with redemption-seeking rushers like Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, or Tony Pollard, each of whom is looking to stave off long-term concerns of staying healthy or inconsistency.
The current running back landscape in the NFL is a complicated arena, one that has seen several former headliners of the game (i.e. Ezekiel Elliott) linger on the ledgers for extended periods, as teams have been reluctant to hand out long-term, expensive deals to those who rep the position, often opting for one-year franchise tag offers instead.
Baltimore, however, used the spot to its advantage last season and will no doubt look to keep it fresh, especially considering how haywire things went when they more or less abandoned the run game in the futile AFC title clash against Kansas City.
