Still reeling from the season-ending knee injury to top running back J.K. Dobbins in the preseason finale, the Ravens have lost another member of their backfield.
According to NFL Network, reserve running back Justice Hill suffered a torn Achilles tendon during Thursday’s practice before Labor Day weekend, further depleting a position group that appeared robust just a couple weeks ago. The 2019 fourth-round pick from Oklahoma State had just returned to practice days earlier after dealing with an ankle injury sustained in the first preseason game. That absence had seemingly jeopardized his roster spot with second-year back Ty’Son Williams impressing this summer, but the Dobbins injury had preserved a job for Hill, who still figured to have a presence on special teams and a chance to contribute as a perimeter runner and receiver out of the backfield. In a diminished role last season, Hill rushed for 60 yards on 12 carries and caught five passes for 20 yards, but he ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 58 carries as a rookie in 2019.
With undrafted rookie Nate McCrary being claimed off waivers by Denver after final roster cuts, Baltimore entered the first regular-season practice week with just two healthy tailbacks in the organization: starter Gus Edwards and Williams.
General manager Eric DeCosta and the Ravens wasted little time beginning the search for Hill’s replacement by holding Monday workouts with former Pro Bowl running backs Le’Veon Bell and Devonta Freeman and ex-Philadelphia Eagle Elijah Holyfield, a 2019 undrafted free agent out of Georgia and the son of boxing legend Evander Holyfield. Freeman was waived by New Orleans at the end of August while Bell has been a free agent since finishing the 2020 season with Kansas City. Bell and Freeman are both 29 and have averaged under 3.5 yards per carry since the start of the 2019 season, a far cry from their days as star running backs for Pittsburgh and Atlanta respectively.
While the Ravens have a great deal of confidence in Edwards assuming a larger role after watching him rush for more than 700 yards and 5.0 yards per carry in each of his first three seasons, the 6-foot, 220-pound Williams is much more of an unknown after spending last season on the practice squad. In three preseason games last month, the BYU product rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries and caught eight passes for 37 yards.
