Ranking the Top 5 Baltimore Ravens Running Backs of All Time

 

The Baltimore Ravens have maintained a successful rushing attack under head coach John Harbaugh. However, the team’s run game has been predicated more on the scheme and offensive line play than any individual rusher.

As a result, the Ravens have had a revolving door of sorts at running back, with the team’s leading rusher seemingly changing by the year.

From a team construction standpoint, this is an efficient use of resources. Without the need for premier talent, the Ravens can be more judicious with the money they commit to the position and focus on building up other groups.

With that said, Baltimore signed Derrick Henry to a two-year deal in the 2024 offseason, giving the team a true workhorse back and indicating a shift in philosophy. As Henry embarks on his latest quest, these are the Ravens running backs he will be looking to catch.

1 Jamal Lewis

Lewis had the longest prime of any Ravens back

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Taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, Jamal Lewis was an immediate contributor for the Ravens and helped the franchise win its first Super Bowl, rushing for 1,364 yards and six touchdowns in the 2000 season and adding 338 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in four postseason games.

He missed the 2001 season due to a knee injury before returning to the lineup in 2002.

Lewis quickly returned to form and ran for 1,327 yards and six touchdowns, finishing fourth in Comeback Player of the Year voting. 2003 proved to be his best season. Having fully healed from his previous injury, he ran for 2,066 yards, one of the highest single-season totals of all time, and 14 touchdowns en route to winning Offensive Player of the Year and finishing fourth in MVP voting.

Although Lewis never returned to the Pro Bowl after that season, it was far from his last hurrah. He topped 1,000 rushing yards twice more for the Ravens and did so two more times as a member of the Cleveland Browns, with whom he played the final three seasons of his career.

Lewis ran for 7,801 yards and 45 touchdowns in Baltimore, making him the most statistically successful back in team history. He is also the only Raven to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards in a single season, strengthening his argument as the greatest Baltimore running back ever.

2 Ray Rice

Rice was an excellent all-around player

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Ray Rice shined as one of the league’s best multipurpose backs during the early 2010s. He posted four consecutive seasons of at least 1,600 scrimmage yards and broke 2,000 total yards in 2009 and 2011.

Rice was a hard runner with solid acceleration and showed outstanding quickness and agility. He also had soft hands and great receiving skills for a tailback, hauling in 369 passes for 3,034 yards in his career.

Rice even provided value as a blocker, picking up blitzers and double-teaming edge defenders in pass protection. As a pure talent, Rice is the most well-rounded running back in team history. However, his claim to the top spot is a shaky one.

Going strictly off on-field performance, Rice lacked the longevity of his peers. He had four seasons of above-average starting tailback play and only six years total in the NFL.

Additionally, it’s difficult to have an earnest discussion about Rice’s career and legacy without mentioning the actions that led to an early exit from football. He was suspended for a domestic case to open the 2014 season and was released by the Ravens after the footage of the incident was made public.

It is widely believed that this controversy stopped teams from pursuing Rice, and with no one interested in his services, he was forced to retire. While this off-field incident doesn’t make Rice an inherently worse football player, it does explain why some are reluctant to sing his praises.

Overall, Rice’s prime was too short to earn him the top spot, but his 6,180 rushing yards and 37 rushing touchdowns, in addition to his receiving prowess, put him high on this list.

3 Willis McGahee

McGahee made a splash with Baltimore in 2007

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Miami Hurricanes legend Willis McGahee was a bruising back with a punishing running style. He was selected in the first round of the 2003 draft by the Buffalo Bills but missed his rookie season due to a severe knee injury he sustained in his final collegiate game. The fact Buffalo still viewed him as a first-round prospect, despite his limited availability, is a testament to his talent.

McGahee ran for 1,000 yards twice and ran for 24 touchdowns with Buffalo before being traded to Baltimore ahead of the 2007 season. The Ravens made good use of their new running back, as McGahee ran for 1,207 yards in his first year with the team and earned a Pro Bowl selection. While it was a promising start, McGahee spent the remainder of his time in Baltimore battling injuries.

He was released in 2011 and played out the remainder of his career with the Denver Broncos. Even with only one impressive season, McGahee is still among the Ravens’ rushing leaders with 2,802 rushing yards and 31 rushing touchdowns.

4 Justin Forsett

Forsett had a career season with the Ravens

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After spending most of his career bouncing around the NFL, fans justifiably questioned what Justin Forsett would bring to the Ravens when he joined the team in 2014. In a pleasant surprise, Forsett would go on to start 14 games and ran for a career-high 1,266 yards and eight touchdowns.

He was also a safety valve for quarterback Joe Flacco, catching 44 passes for 263 yards. Forsett made the Pro Bowl that season and entered 2015 as Baltimore’s presumptive starter. But he missed some time due to an injury and finished the year with modest totals of 641 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in 10 games.

Forsett was released during the 2016 season and finished what turned out to be the final year of his career with the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos. He ran for 2,005 yards and 10 touchdowns with Baltimore.

5 Gus Edwards

Edwards filled in well as a backup during his career

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Gus Edwards is a unique entry in the sense that he was never meant to be a starter and never surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Yet he ranks fourth in franchise history with 3,395 rushing yards and ranks fifth in rushing touchdowns with 26.

Take quarterback Lamar Jackson out of the mix to include only running backs and Edwards moves up to third and fourth in those statistical categories, respectively.

In addition to his total stats, Edwards was a highly efficient runner, maintaining an average of 4.9 yards per carry, the highest of any player on this list. As a 238-pound back, he lacked the finesse and elusiveness of his peers but used his strength to push through defenders and gain additional yardage.

This was enough to make him a serviceable back and even led to a 13-touchdown season in 2023. Edwards is rather enigmatic in the sense that he was good when he got into games but wasn’t good enough to stop Baltimore from looking at other options.