Former Atlanta Falcons running back Mike Davis has signed with the Baltimore Ravens, adding extra insurance to the team’s running back corps for 2022.
Davis was released by the Falcons this offseason after spending just one season in Atlanta — in 2021, he had a modest workload of 138 carries for 503 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
The seven-year journeyman has played for five different teams before joining the Ravens and was a fourth-round pick in 2015. Davis’ career is noticeably marked with inconsistency as he rushed for as many as 642 yards and as few as 27 yards in different seasons.
Nonetheless, Davis possesses the know-how and experience to assume an RB3 or RB4 role for Baltimore, and the team is happy to have him.
Ravens add experienced depth in backfield with Mike Davis.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) May 10, 2022
Baltimore’s top two backs — J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards— tore their ACLs before the start of last season and likely won’t return to the field this year until training camp. https://t.co/ptYFGkxmpP
The Ravens boost their running game with former Falcons RB Mike Davis
As one of the more run-heavy teams in the league, the Ravens continued to rely on the ground game in 2021 despite losing their top two ball carriers to season-ending injuries.
In 2022, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards will likely make their return to the field, but they may not be healthy until training camp, which means every running back on the team’s depth chart has a chance to leapfrog into a starting role.
Currently, 2022 sixth-rounder Tyler Badie and special teams stud Justice Hill seem primed to spar for that top spot with Tyson Williams lagging behind after his poor performance last year.
As the most experienced back in the unit, Davis may adopt a role similar to what Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray offered the team in 2021: solid efficiency in minimal snaps and occasional red-zone production.
Davis’ 2022 numbers are difficult to predict given how flaky he’s been in the past seven years, but he has a strong supporting cast in the Ravens’ rushing corps and should find at least moderate success.
Davis is firmly pegged as an insurance piece, but depth is the name of the game for the Ravens this season, and they can never have too many running backs.