With the 2023 season complete, we'll look at each Ravens position group heading into the offseason. Today's focus is running back:
Players Under Contract
Justice Hill
Keaton Mitchell
Owen Wright
Pending Free Agents
Dalvin Cook
J.K. Dobbins
Gus Edwards
Melvin Gordon III
Season in Review
Dobbins suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1 and missed the remainder of the season. Mitchell provided a midseason homerun threat, exploding for 138 yards Week 9 and averaging 8.43 yards per carry before his season-ending knee injury in Week 14. Edwards and Hill nearly split the workload in their absence.
Edwards led Baltimore's running backs with a career-high 813 yards rushing and tied for fifth in the NFL with 13 rushing touchdowns. But he averaged a career-low 4.1 yards per attempt after averaging at least 5.0 yards per carry his previous four seasons.
Hill enjoyed his best all-around season (387 yards rushing, 206 yards receiving) with a career-high 84 carries.
"Justice was really one the unsung heroes of the team this year, down the stretch. I mean, the guy had a phenomenal season," General Manager Eric DeCosta said.
Baltimore led the league in rushing, averaging 156.5 yards per game, but Lamar Jackson once again finished with the most rushing yards on the team (821).
What to Watch This Offseason
Can Mitchell return from his injury by Week 1? Will Dobbins and/or Edwards re-sign with Baltimore or move on once free agency begins? These are just a few questions that need to be answered, and it would not be surprising to see Baltimore draft a running back or add a veteran to fill out the running back room.
"Obviously, we do have some free agents, and it was a challenge this year, with J.K.'s injury, which was unfortunate and terrible for us, and then with Keaton," DeCosta said. "We'll see where things kind of lay with Gus and J.K. – both are two guys that I have a lot of respect for and have been two outstanding players for us over the past three or four years. We'll look at the draft, we'll look at free agency."
