Baltimore Ravens: A big preseason could revive Kenneth Dixon’s career

Kenneth Dixon’s NFL career has undoubtedly been a frustrating one, but could a strong preseason showing get his NFL career back on track?

It’s incredibly hard not to fall back into the trap of loving the play of Kenneth Dixon… There was a point in time where I believed in him to become the next elite Baltimore Ravens running back. I obviously had to back track on this after realizing that the expectations that I only placed on him were too high.

But now, my colleague Chris Schisler believes that Kenneth Dixon could steal the show this preseason. And you know what? I agree 100%.

The thing about Dixon is that he’s always had the talent to be great. Between injuries and suspensions, he’s only hurt himself (no pun intended) in his three seasons in the league. Truth be told, Dixon could very well be on his way out of the NFL entirely if he doesn’t get his act together; something it looks like he’s been doing a good job of.

Thus far, Kenneth Dixon has kept a chip on his shoulder and trained and practiced hard this off-season to prove his doubters wrong. It helps his case that his 2018 season was a strong one, albeit a short one. In six games, Dixon averaged 5.6 YPC and scored twice on 60 carries. Considering Dixon was undoubtedly the team’s third running back at best, I’d call that a nice comeback after missing the entire 2017 season.

This gives us every reason to believe that Kenneth Dixon could finally be putting everything together. It would be an remarkable turnaround for his career, and no one would benefit more from this than the Baltimore Ravens.

Right now, the Ravens have a great problem on their hands: they have too many talented running backs. Between recently signed Mark Ingram, 2018 breakout star Gus Edwards, and rookie Justice Hill, Kenneth Dixon is certainly the odd man out. But, perhaps that doesn’t mean he can’t make the roster. Considering how much baltimore plans to run the ball in 2019, it could be wise to retain him in a limited role.

If that doesn’t fancy the front office, then they can always trade him. After all, a strong preseason would make Kenneth Dixon a great trade asset and a highly-sought after running back for team’s with guys holding out, i.e. the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys.

No matter what happens, Kenneth Dixon’s NFL future is entirely in his own hands. A strong preseason, and something I believe is incredibly attainable, will push the reset button on his lackluster start to the NFL. His time may or may not be up in Baltimore, but other teams will be watching closely to see if Dixon can earn another chance and be their top-runner.