Baltimore Ravens: Is adding a running back this offseason foolish?

The case for adding more running backs:

The Baltimore Ravens running back group is great, but could you imagine if they had another guy to make them an elite unit? There are so many options to consider who wouldn’t cost too much money. While adding a guy like Derrick Henry and Melvin Gordon is simply unrealistic, there’s one route that makes the most sense for Baltimore: the 2020 NFL Draft.

There are three running backs in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft worthy of being round one selections. There’s Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins, Georgia’s D’Andre Swift, and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor. These three are all perfect value at the back end of round one, where Baltimore just so happens to be choosing.

If the team were to take a best-player-available route it makes sense that they could target any one of these three. Heck, each would bring their own respective value to the backfield. Between Dobbin’s balance, Swift’s speed, and Taylor’s brute strength any of these guys would make the Ravens backfield even better than it already is.

Should Baltimore decide to take one of these three in the draft, they could maximize their value by trading down and potentially out of round one entirely. There’s little reason to believe that all three will be day one selections in an NFL that has devalued the position so severely. The Ravens could capitalize and get one of these three on a cheaper contract this way.

The final note I’ll make here is this: Mark Ingram can’t play forever and he just turned 30-years old. Gus Edwards has been stellar, but he’ll be a free agent after 2020. Justice Hill could blossom in year two, but he’s far from a lock to become a star. Any of the three draftable guys could be Baltimore’s future and match with Lamar Jackson to be amazing for years to come. It’s in the Ravens best interest to make sure their backfield is always loaded so long as Jackson is under center.