Do you think Alex Collins is the Ravens’ running back of the future? A better question might be, do the Ravens think he is the answer?
After being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2016 draft, Collins was expected to be the guy to finally fill the Marshawn Lynch-sized hole left at Century Link Field. But being overweight (he went from 217 to 204 from ’16 to ’17), along with having a poor offensive line and an even poorer attempt at a running back committee made Collins quickly fall out of favor in Seattle. He tallied only 31 rushes for 125 yards and a touchdown in 2016.
The Ravens needed a stopgap in a backfield that consisted of Terrance West, Buck Allen and Kenneth Dixon. They hoped Dixon would become the bell cow back after a solid 2016 campaign, but he went down with a fully torn meniscus injury last summer. Collins made his debut in Week 2, with 7 rushes for 42 yards, showing explosiveness and incredible movement that hadn’t been seen from a Baltimore RB since Ray Rice.
Alex Collins had the highest rushing grade of any running back in the NFL in 2017 pic.twitter.com/eewA7viWHz
— PFF (@PFF) April 15, 2018
As the season went on, Collins Irish danced his way into our hearts as well as having his workload increased. He was incredibly efficient, even with the patchwork offensive line. It wasn’t only his speed that made a difference; his power was also impressive. His best performances came in Week 8 against Miami and Week 14 against Pittsburgh with 18 for 113 and 18 for 120, respectively. His most memorable play came in the heartbreaking loss to Cincinnati in Week 17.
This Alex Collins TD was just BEAUTIFUL. #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/z2yDdCAfel
— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2017
When the season concluded, he had amassed 973 yards and 6 touchdowns on 4.6 yards per carry. According to Pro Football Focus, Alex Collins had the highest rushing grade of any running back in the NFL, ahead of guys like Kareem Hunt and Todd Gurley. He can only get better with the returns of quality linemen Marshal Yanda and Alex Lewis, both of whom missed all of the 2017 season with serious injuries. It’ll be up to the Ravens to hand Collins the keys to the running game long-term.
He drove it nicely once, now he will try to duplicate it in 2018.
