The Baltimore Ravens stacked strength on strength with the selection of running back J.K. Dobbins in the second round of the 2020 draft.
The addition of the multifaceted back to a backfield that already boasts Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill gives Baltimore seemingly too many mouths to feed -- especially when you consider the frequency with which Lamar Jackson keeps the pigskin.
Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman isn't worried about finding a way to utilize all the backfield weapons at his disposal.
"I love good problems," he said Tuesday, via the team's official Twitter feed. "I think I've learned over the years, if you got good problems, bring 'em this way. And I say that unabashedly. Talented, hardworking players that love football, bring 'em on. And the fact that we've got a lot of guys in our running back stable, if you will, just makes me excited to no end. I don't think you can have enough really good running backs, and we've certainly got a plethora of them. I'm really excited to see J.K. (Dobbins) and I love the guys we already have, Mark (Ingram), Gus (Edwards) and Justice (Hill). We'll find ways to make it work, for sure. To have that kind of backfield is a blessing.
"We definitely want to get into training camp and work through it and kind of evolve as we go, as far as how we're actually going to deploy them and who we are going to emphasize, (and) how. I think that's going to happen on the fly every day in training camp. We'll get a better feel for that, but I love problems like that. So, I mean that sincerely."
With a diverse backfield, Ingram is likely to start and take the early-down carries, with Dobbins seeing more work as the season progresses. Edwards should see snaps spelling Ingram with Hill used as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.
After overhauling the offense for Jackson last year, Roman planned to tweak it yet again to keep ahead of defenses scheming to slow their dynamic game plan. The changes this year, however, have been stymied a bit by the lack of offseason on-field work.
"We've definitely tweaked things," Roman said, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. "We haven't had the luxury of OTAs and whatnot to really test run certain things. We have to be really judicious with how we use that time in training camp. I think experimenting this year is going to be very selective."
It will be interesting to see how much of that selection includes attempting to curtail Jackson's running and mold him into a better pocket passer without hindering his dynamic ability. With the added backfield weapon this offseason, Roman has the diversity to employ whatever type of offense he can dream up -- if he can find time to install it this year.
