Baltimore Ravens: J.K. Dobbins has no ground to stand on for extension

The final Baltimore Ravens minicamp practice of this past week was without a notable name. Running back J.K. Dobbins sat out and it was likely due to the fact that he would like a new contract before entering the final year of his rookie deal.

Head coach John Harbaugh said after the final practice that he expected Dobbins to practice.

"I expected J.K. to practice, but it wasn't in the cards," Harbaugh said via Jeff Zriebec of The Athletic.

Most of the surrounding media believes Dobbins sat out because of his desire to get a new contract, which would make sense. After that practice, Dobbins noted that he loves the city of Baltimore and that he would love to be a Raven for the rest of his career.

"The thing I can say is, I would love to be a Baltimore Raven for the rest of my career," Dobbins said this week.

J.K. Dobbins doesn't have much ground to stand on for an extension from the Baltimore Ravens

As good of a player as Dobbins is when he's heatlhy, the fact of the matter is, he doesn't have a whole lot of evidence to back up the idea that he deserves an extension. Missing the entire 2021 season and half of the 2022 campaign after tearing his Achilles, Dobbins has only played 23 of a possible 50 games in three seasons.

Now, the numbers that matter are great. He's averaged a healthy 5.9 yards per carry on 226 totes during the two seasons he's been able to get on the field. His rookie campaign was especially efficient, where he averaged 6.0 yards per carry and scored nine touchdowns.

But, for a guy who has missed over half of the possible games during his first three years, Dobbins doesn't have a lot to back up his request for a new contract.

Selfishly for Dobbins, it makes sense. He knows the career of an NFL running back is not long, and with injury concerns, his could be over before he knows it.

Yet, on the Ravens' end, it would make little sense to extend a running back that didn't even look fully healthy in the games he played a year ago.

The most logical outcome for this situation would be to see Dobbins play out the 2023 campaign, ball out and stay healthy, thus earning himself an even better contract than the Ravens could even think about offering him right now.