Baltimore Ravens: Kenneth Dixon injury sours offense further
The Baltimore Ravens will be without Kenneth Dixon for all of 2017 following a meniscus injury and surgery, which sours an already bleak offensive outlook.
Running back Kenneth Dixon didn’t play a particularly large role in the Baltimore Ravens offense as a rookie in 2016. The Louisiana Tech product taken in the fourth round by Baltimore ultimately played in 12 games and notched 88 carries on the year. His 4.3 yards per carry mark was solid, and led many to believe he could have a big 2017 season, despite being suspended for the first four games due to violating the NFL’s policy on PEDs.
Now Dixon won’t just miss the first four games of the season. Instead, he’s going to miss the entirety of the Ravens’ 2017 campaign.
On Tuesday, the running back underwent surgery on a torn meniscus. Going into the procedure, it was expected to be a minor repair. However, once inside the knee, that turned out to not be the case. As reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via NFL.com), the meniscus had to be fully repaired as opposed to just “trimmed”. The result is a 4-5 month recovery timetable and Dixon’s 2017 season being over when coupled with the suspension.
Given his minimal role in the offense a year ago, losing Dixon might not seem like a major deal. However, given the outlook for the Ravens offense in 2017, it’s a massive blow. There was already apprehension about the unit, and now that’s even more warranted.
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Make no mistake, the Ravens defense is going to be elite. They were a top unit once again last season, and further improved through the draft and free agency this offseason. It’s going to be tough to score on them. However, they’re also going to have a tough time scoring.
Defenders of the Baltimore offense will no doubt point to Mike Wallace’s 2016 numbers and the addition of Jeremy Maclin. However, Wallace has been notoriously inconsistent throughout his career, so banking on another 1,000-yard season isn’t something anyone should feel comfortable in doing. What’s more, Maclin is coming off arguably the worst year of his career last season with the Kansas City Chiefs. Part of that is on the Chiefs, but it might also be due to Maclin as well.
This all circles back to Dixon, though, and his newly reported absence for the 2017 season will really hinder the offense further. By my estimation, if the Ravens were to have a chance offensively this year, it would be finding balance between the run and pass and using that to go long on play-action with speedy wideouts and Joe Flacco’s big arm. Dixon figured to be integral in that.
Without Dixon, the Ravens are left with a combo of Lorenzo Taliaferro, Terrance West and Bobby Rainey (signed on Wednesday morning, per Adam Schefter) carrying the ball with Danny Woodhead likely playing mostly as a receiving option out of the backfield. Though West had marginal success last year in Baltimore, neither primary ball-carrier option inspires much confidence.
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Admittedly, I’ve been soured on the Ravens’ offensive outlook for most of the offseason — before and after the Maclin addition. Now that Dixon is out for the year, that’s even more so the case. Baltimore is going to be hard to beat in 2017 on the merits of their defense. However, it’s also shaping up to be a season where it’s difficult for them to win games due to their offense’s shortcomings.