Ravens confident at running back but will make acquisitions; Gus Edwards or J.K. Dobbins return is possible

General Manager Eric DeCosta offered insight into the team’s plan at running back

One position group that could look much different for the Baltimore Ravens next season is running back. The team’s top two players heading into 2023 last year, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, are both unrestricted free agents. Dobbins missed almost the entire 2023 season after suffering a torn achilles injury less than a quarter into Week 1.

The only returning running backs under contract are Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell, the latter of which is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 13. There’s already been early offseason rumors that the Ravens will be in the market for some of the top free agent players at the position, notably longtime Tennessee Titans’ star Derrick Henry.

On Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine, Ravens’ General Manager Eric DeCosta touched on the team’s offseason plan to address the running back spot.

“We need more than two running backs, so certainly I think you’ll see us make a couple of acquisitions along the way,” DeCosta said. “We think Keaton Mitchell is going to come back from his knee injury. Justice [Hill] is a player last year … probably one of the unsung heroes of our whole team.”

The idea that the Ravens would only carry two running backs, one of which is recovering from a significant injury, is not plausible — so DeCosta’s first statement is unsurprising. His confidence in Mitchell’s recovery and Hill’s performance, however, is noteworthy.

Mitchell being healthy enough to contribute in 2024 and return to form would be a huge boost and lessen the need to add externally at the position. The 2023 undrafted free agent burst onto the scene halfway through last season with nearly 400 rushing yards from early November into December. He averaged 8.4 yards per carry and scored twice with a long run of 21+ yards in six straight games.

As DeCosta noted, Hill played an important role for the team particularly down the stretch following Mitchell’s injury. He emerged as the primary third down running back thanks to his pass-catching and pass-blocking skills. Hill wound up recording career-highs in rushing yards (387), touchdowns (three), receptions (28), and receiving yards (206).

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.

The Ravens do not have a history of making a big splash at the position in free agency. Their signing of Mark Ingram to a three-year, $15 million deal in 2019 was the highest-profile move they’ve made at running back in quite some time. The aforementioned top available players would likely command more than that this free agency period.

It will be interesting to see if when there’s smoke, there’s also fire when it comes to the Ravens’ rumored interest in big-name free agent running backs. Regardless, whether it’s through re-signing Edwards or Dobbins, acquiring a drafted or undrafted rookie, or landing an outside free agent, the Ravens appear certain to be active at the position this offseason.