Ravens Sign RB Mike Davis, Adding Depth After 2021 Injuries To Dobbins, Edwards And Hill; Team Cuts Ty'Son Williams
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore Ravens have signed former Atlanta Falcons running back Mike Davis, adding depth to a position where the top two starters are still recovering from season-ending ACL tears, the team confirmed. The team also let running back Ty'Son Williams go.
Davis, 29, rushed for 503 yards and three touchdowns on 138 carries and caught 44 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown last year in his only season with Atlanta.
Since debuting with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015, the 5-foot-9, 220-pound back has also played for the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.
In 79 games, 30 of them starts, Davis has rushed 550 times for 2,034 yards (3.7 yards per carry) and 14 touchdowns, adding 169 receptions for 1,062 yards and four touchdowns.
NFL writer Jordan Schultz was first to report the deal. Davis appeared to acknowledge the signing with his use of a purple smiling devil emoji on Twitter.
The Ravens on Tuesday withdrew its free agent tender on Ty'Son Williams, making him a free agent. Signed out of Brigham Young University in 2020, he stayed on the practice squad until the 2021 season, in which he started the first three games and appeared in 13.
Hampered by injuries all over the depth chart in 2021, the Ravens lost starters J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, who rushed for a combined 1,528 yards the year before, in the preseason after both suffered torn ACLs. Justice Hill went on injured reserve with a torn Achilles.
Badly needing backs, the Ravens brought in veterans Devonta Freeman, Latavius Murray and Le'Veon Bell to complement Williams.
Led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was limited to 12 games and still ran for 767 yards, the Ravens were third in the league in both rushing attempts (517) and yards (2,479), but failed to surpass the 3,000-yard mark they had reached the prior two seasons.
It's not clear if Dobbins, Edwards or Hill will be ready to start the season. Executive vice president and general manager Eric DeCosta has said he's "confident" all three will be back playing football at some point.
"J.K. specifically, obviously suffered a serious knee injury but he's a young player, a hungry player, he's got a great mindset and he's been working very, very hard," he said. "We are very, very confident he'll come back and be the type of player that he was two years ago."
In last month's NFL Draft, DeCosta used the team's sixth-round draft pick to select running back Tyler Badie out of Missouri.
