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Baltimore Ravens: It’s time to give up high expectations for Kenneth Dixon

By Richard Bradshaw

CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 1: Kenneth Dixon #30 of the Baltimore Ravens is tackled by Carlos Dunlap #96 of the Cincinnati Bengals and George Iloka #43 of the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter at Paul Brown Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by John Grieshop/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 1: Kenneth Dixon #30 of the Baltimore Ravens is tackled by Carlos Dunlap #96 of the Cincinnati Bengals and George Iloka #43 of the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter at Paul Brown Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by John Grieshop/Getty Images) /
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From future Ravens running back stud to soon-to-be faded out memory, Kenneth Dixon’s legacy in Baltimore is running out of gas.

I feel the need to link this article about Kenneth Dixon whenever I discuss him because people seem to think I hate him. Quite the contrary. I loved Kenneth Dixon coming out of Louisiana Tech, even before he was even a Baltimore Raven. I truly believed he was the second best running back in the 2016 NFL Draft, only behind Ezekiel Elliott.

But things change. Dixon has struggled to see the field through two-years of action, and his 2018 outlook is getting dimmer by the second. This is heartbreaking for most fans, but it leaves me devastated that a man I once believed would become a staple for the Ravens offense has burned out so fast.

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Is all hope lost for Dixon? Of course not! But we can’t rely on him to be the contributor we thought he’d become. It’s time we take down the high expectations we all had for Kenneth Dixon and just hope he can make the roster.

Dixon isn’t a bad guy by any means. In fact, we should all cheer for him to return to form and prove us all wrong. I am still a Dixon supporter, but I will no longer attach my wagon to him the way I once would have. There’s simply been too much negative to see the positives.

And not all of it is on him. Injuries have plagued Dixon since his time as a Bulldog in college, and they unfortunately followed him into the NFL. He certainly hasn’t helped his case with his numerous suspensions, however.

Meanwhile, Alex Collins continues to emerge for the Ravens and the team seems to be committed to him for 2018. Dixon is still perhaps the most talented running back on the roster, but once again he is injured. This is only going to continue to hold Dixon back from ever materializing into something great.

Bottom line:

It really is such a bummer to see how Dixon’s career has shaped up thus far. Thankfully, he’s still so young at just 24-years old and has all the time in the world to turn his career trajectory around. His time with the Ravens, however, may be closing faster than any of us would’ve thought.

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This isn’t to say we should abandon Dixon entirely. By all means we should be rooting for him all the way. Kenneth Dixon is no different than any other player on the Baltimore Ravens roster. We should be rooting for all of them to be successful, and Dixon is no exception.

But with that in mind, it’s no longer fair to Dixon or us as fans to keep those lofty expectations for him that we once had. It seems unlikely that he’ll ever reach them, unfortunately, but I certainly hope Dixon finds a way to turn this all around. With so much youth left in him, he absolutely could, but this analyst is ready to say it’s time to give up on anything extraordinary from Kenneth Dixon.

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