NEWS: Ravens are confidence in their running back, but they plan to add players; a return from Gus Edwards or J.K. Dobbins is conceivable.

Eric DeCosta, general manager, provided details on the team’s strategy for running back

Running back is one position group where the Baltimore Ravens could see a significant change in the upcoming season. J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, the team’s top two players going into 2023 last year, are both unrestricted free agents. After sustaining a torn achilles injury less than a quarter of the way into Week 1, Dobbins was sidelined for nearly the whole 2023 season.

Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell are the only running backs still under contract; Mitchell is recuperating from an ACL tear sustained in Week 13. Early in the offseason, there have been whispers that the Ravens are interested in signing some of the best free agents at the position, including Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans, who has been a star for a long time.

General Manager Eric DeCosta of the Ravens discussed the team’s offseason strategy to address the running back position on Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine.

DeCosta stated, “We need more than two running backs, so I think we’ll make a few acquisitions along the way.” “We believe Keaton Mitchell will recover from his injuries to his knee. Justice [Hill] was a player for us last season and is arguably one of our team’s unsung heroes.

It is implausible that the Ravens would only carry two running backs, with one of them recuperating from a serious injury, thus DeCosta’s initial remarks are not shocking. Still, it’s impressive how confident he is in Hill’s performance and Mitchell’s recuperation.

It would be far less necessary to bring in outside talent at the position if Mitchell is well enough to play a role in 2024 and get back to his previous level. Midway through the previous season, the 2023 undrafted free agent made a big impression with roughly 400 rushing yards from early November to late December. In six straight games, he scored twice with a long run of more than 21 yards, averaging 8.4 yards per carry.

As DeCosta pointed out, Hill was crucial to the squad, especially in the final run after Mitchell’s injury. He became the starting third down running back because of his ability to block and catch passes. In the end, Hill set career highs with 387 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns, 28 receptions, and 206 receiving yards.

While DeCosta expressed confidence in both of these returning players, he made it clear the Ravens would be acquiring additional talent at the position. He did not rule out the possibility of Edwards or Dobbins being re-signed.

“We’re still talking to Gus [Edwards], we’ll talk to J.K. [Dobbins], a couple free agents that we have . . . hopeful that we can get something done with those guys,” DeCosta said.

Edwards is coming off a season with 13 rushing touchdowns and the highest yardage total of his career, but his market in free agency remains to be seen. Dobbins, meanwhile, is even more of a question mark given his continued injury struggles through four seasons. The Ravens could certainly re-sign one of them, but both returning seems out of the question.

DeCosta then suggested running back is not one of the deeper positions in this year’s draft class, but the free agent market possesses some talented players the team could look at.

“We’ve looked at the draft class; probably not . . . as deep as some other positions that we’ll see in this year’s draft class,” DeCosta said. “There are some UFAs this year in free agency, some talented players that we’ll look at as well.”

The Ravens have rarely used a high draft pick to select a running back. Prior to drafting Dobbins in the second round in 2020, the last time the Ravens had used a second-round pick on a running back was Ray Rice in 2008. Every running back they’ve drafted from then on had been a fourth-round pick or lower with the exception of Bernard Pierce (R3, 2012).

So, DeCosta doesn’t sound overly high on this year’s running back class, but the Ravens could still potentially make a later-round selection on a player they like. They’ve drafted a player at the position in three of five drafts since DeCosta became the general manager.

His claim that the Ravens will “look at” talented players on the unrestricted free agent market as well is particularly notable. Dating back to the trade deadline this past season, the Ravens have been linked to Henry and some other players in the rumor mill more recently like Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley.

It would be far less necessary to bring in outside talent at the position if Mitchell is well enough to play a role in 2024 and get back to his previous level. Midway through the previous season, the 2023 undrafted free agent made a big impression with roughly 400 rushing yards from early November to late December. In six straight games, he scored twice with a long run of more than 21 yards, averaging 8.4 yards per carry.

As DeCosta pointed out, Hill was crucial to the squad, especially in the final run after Mitchell’s injury. He became the starting third down running back because of his ability to block and catch passes. In the end, Hill set career highs with 387 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns, 28 receptions, and 206 receiving yards.

The Ravens haven’t traditionally made a major impression at the position during free agency. The most high-profile acquisition they’ve made at running back in a long time was the three-year, $15 million contract they signed Mark Ingram to in 2019. This free agency era, the aforementioned best available players would probably fetch more than that.

It will be intriguing to see if the Ravens’ reported interest in well-known free agent running backs is real or just a smoke signal. The Ravens seem certain to be active at the position this summer, whether it’s through re-signing Edwards or Dobbins, obtaining a drafted or undrafted rookie, or signing an outside free agency.