The Ravens released a depth chart for the first week of the regular season and it shows J.K. Dobbins on the bottom looking up at the team’s other running backs.

Dobbins is listed as the fourth of the team’s four backs. Mark Ingram is the starter with Gus Edwards and Justice Hill behind him.

This isn't too much of a surprise but it's definitely worth noting. Depth charts don't always mean a lot, but the Ravens have a crowded backfield and while Dobbins has looked good in camp he's a rookie behind three other pretty good backs. He likely won't be a safe fantasy start Week 1 and he'll have to earn his touches going forward before being trusted in lineups.

Mark Ingram is 30 and while he remains the team’s lead back and the tone-setter on offense, he doesn’t have to carry the load. The Ravens can spread the ball around and make sure they have fresh legs on the field late in games. J.K. Dobbins had a strong training camp and he’ll have a role and Gus Edwards is too effective to not remain involved. Justice Hill is a wildcard. Any way you look at it, this group should pose weekly problems for defenses and put up big numbers.

But it may be a tough go for fantasy owners. Ingram seems to be the safest back for now, but the backup role looks like it will come down to Dobbins and Edwards. We've seen several reports that Hill could find a role as the team's third-down back. All four backs seem to have some fantasy value and are worth drafting depending on the round you can get them.

John Harbaugh said that Mark Ingram remains the No. 1 back and that J.K. Dobbins will probably have a “significant role” in the backfield as well.

“Confidence plus coachability plus talent, that’s a pretty good combination and he’s got all of that,” Harbaugh said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.

Ingram got 202 carries last season, Gus Edwards got the ball 133 times and Justice Hill ran 58 times, so there are a lot of carries to be had in the Baltimore offense.

That number could go up if Lamar Jackson handles less of the duties on the ground, but the team isn’t saying what’s going to happen on that front. There are a lot of options to run the ball but not all can be fantasy-worth every week. For now, it looks like Ingram is the RB1 and a lot will need to be sorted out behind him.

Running back Justice Hill is not on the field with Lamar Jackson.

Related players: Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Mark Ingram

Hill is among the Raven players with "soft tissue things" as HC John Harbaugh put it the other day. It's not believed to be serious but it's a tough competition for carries behind Ingram in a crowded backfield. It could especially benefit Dobbins, the rookie.

The Ravens didn’t play a single down last season with multiple running backs on the field, and HC John Harbaugh said multi-running back personnel groupings likely won’t be one of the offense’s innovations this year, so the pecking order of this crowded backfield will be a notable development to monitor.

Related players: Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins, Justice Hill, Gus Edwards

Ingram is expected to get the starting job but the team has four quality backs and it's going to be a situation for fantasy owners to keep an eye on. Edwards usually spelled Ingram but with Dobbins in the fold, he could take away carries from both Ingram and Edwards. The story added Hill developed into a steady receiving threat toward the end of the season.

The onus will fall on OC Greg Roman, running backs coach Matt Weiss and the rest of the offensive coaching staff to get and keep all four backs involved. It will require a delicate balance of getting everybody touches while also riding the hot hand and making sure the right back is on the field at the right time when there is a football game to be won.

“We’ll find ways to make it work, for sure,” Roman said. “To have that kind of backfield is a blessing. We definitely want to get into training camp and work through it and kind of evolve as we go. As far as how we are actually going to deploy them, who we are going to emphasize and how, I think that’s going to happen on the fly every day in training camp, and (we’ll) get a better feel for that. But I love problems like that. I mean that sincerely.”

Related players: Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Justice Hill

The story said the team could ride the hot hand week to week, but the piece also mentioned it doesn't mean Ingram will have a reduced roll. We touched on the Ravens RB situation a few weeks ago. Ingram and Edwards are expected to be free agents after this season, so the future very much could be Dobbins and Hill. But for this year, it's going to take some sorting out and it's possible all four backs have fantasy value.

The Ravens drafted J.K. Dobbins in the second round, putting Ohio State's first 2,000-yard rusher in the same backfield as Mark Ingram II, a three-time Pro Bowl player; Gus Edwards, one of two backs in the NFL to gain over 700 yards and average more than five yards per carry in each of the past two seasons; and Justice Hill, a fourth-round pick from a year ago who was the fastest running back at the 2019 combine.

The Ravens say it's a good problem to have and will figure out the touches. But for fantasy owners it's a bit of a problem. The story said expect Dobbins to back up Ingram at least to start the season. Ingram will turn 31 and Edwards is a free agent after this season, so the story also pointed out the future may just be Dobbins and Hill.

According to Jamison Hensley of ESPN, Baltimore Ravens rookie running back J.K. Dobbins is slated to open camp as the third string running back behind Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards.

Despite being drafted as an RB3 redraft leagues, it is no sure thing that J.K. Dobbins even opens the season as Mark Ingram’s top backup. Gus Edwards, while more of an early down runner, has been an effective committee back to this point of his career (his 5.29 yards per carry over the past two seasons leads the NFL). Edwards will open camp as the top backup, and could be an early season impediment to Dobbins seeing consistent touches as a member of the Ravens backfield. The long term upside is tantalizing, but aside from managing to beat out Edwards, Dobbins also needs to siphon touches from Mark Ingram to earn standalone value. Coming from the run-pass-option heavy Ohio State, he is an ideal system fit, but Dobbins would need to become just the second rookie running back in 12 years to rush for more than 600 yards for John Harbaugh. The upside is undeniable, but there is significant opportunity cost and ADP based risk baked into acquiring him in redraft leagues.