Poe the Raven
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- Mar 16, 2019
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The Ravens set an NFL single-season record with 3,296 rushing yards last season. But they think they might have an even better running attack this year.
That’s because Baltimore drafted running back J.K. Dobbins, and plans to use him alongside holdovers Mark Ingram II, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill. General Manager Eric DeCosta said he thinks offensive coordinator Greg Roman is going to get creative with ways to use all four running backs.
“I would equate it to us last year having the tight ends that we had – the three tight ends,” DeCosta said, via the Ravens’ website. “Greg did an amazing job of taking those tight ends and really creating something special that made us very tough for defenses to play. And now we’ve got the four running backs and they all do different things well. It just makes us, I think, a really, really well-rounded team that’s tough to defend.”
The Ravens didn’t see running back as a need heading into the draft, but DeCosta said there was no way they were going to pass on Dobbins when he was still around when the 55th overall pick came up.
“We were ecstatic to get J.K.,” DeCosta said. “He was by far – by far – the highest-rated guy that we had on the board. We kind of felt like he fell out of the sky right to us, the type of team that we are to get a running back like that. These guys can all do different things, they should be fresh for four quarters. I think we protect ourselves in case of injuries or things like that. It fortifies us, it makes us stronger, and it gives us a guy with home run potential.”
The NFL has become much more of a passing league than a running league in recent years, but the Ravens are bucking the trends as a successful team that runs the ball a lot, and they plan to keep running a lot this year.