The Baltimore Ravens lost the entirety of their 2020 running back room just a few days before the 2021 regular season began. Veteran Mark Ingram II left for the Houston Texans, while the trio of J.K Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill all suffered season-ending injuries in either preseason action or practice.
When speaking to the media at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta was asked about how Dobbins is progressing from his torn ACL that he suffered in the final week of the 2021 preseason. DeCosta expressed confidence during his answer.
“It was certainly a big blow losing J.K. [Dobbins] and then Gus Edwards, and then Justice Hill – all three of our guys. Three of our mainstay players, losing those guys in the span of two weeks was very, very challenging as an organization. Saying that, we are very confident that those guys will all come back this year and play winning football for us. J.K., specifically, obviously suffered a serious knee injury, but he’s a young player. He’s a hungry player, [and] he has a great mindset. He’s been working very, very hard, and we are very, very confident that he’ll come back and be the type of player that he was two years ago.”
The former Ohio State University star was expected to have a breakout second year in the NFL, and many were excited to see what he could do with an even bigger workload. As a rookie, Dobbins totaled 134 carries for 805 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. If he’s able to return at full strength in 2022 he should have a major impact on the field, and DeCosta seems to be confident that the running back is well on his way to doing just that.