Dixon's injury delays his takeover of the Ravens' backfield

Kenneth Dixon's rise to the top of the Ravens depth chart was put on hold Saturday night.The rookie running back drafted in the fourth round pick out of Louisiana Tech suffered a torn MCL in the team's 30-9 win against the Detroit Lions, and is expected to miss four to six weeks.The Ravens will talk about their &quot;next man up&quot; mentality because they have three other running backs that are good enough to compete for playing time, but Dixon was on a path to become the team's running back of the future.He started out No. 4 on the depth chart when training camp began and was basically No. 2 behind Justin Forsett entering Saturday's game. But if you were watching closely, you could see where this was heading.This kid could play, and even though he could return by late September, this is a setback for the Ravens.&quot;He is a very mature player for his age — just a guy that always has a smile on his face,&quot; coach John Harbaugh said of the 5-foot-10, 212-pound Dixon. &quot;He always comes to work. He is very eager to learn and he is very elusive and very strong. I think he pushed the pile one time, along with some of his teammates, five to 10 yards. He is a hard-running guy. He is a guy that can create yards on his own.&quot;He also pass-protects and he catches the ball. He has a chance to be really good.&quot;Dixon was made for the Ravens' West Coast offense. They have a downhill running game and Dixon is a no-nonsense back. He doesn't juke and shimmy a lot. It's just one cut, accelerate and gone.More importantly, he runs with power, as he did on that rushing attempt against Detroit on Saturday night where he was stopped and then carried a pile of humanity for another four or five yards. Through three preseason games he leads the Ravens in rushing with 107 yards on 22 carries.&quot;When you see somebody go down in the NFL, it hurts everybody,&quot; said running back Terrance West, who was competing with Dixon for playing time as Forsett's top backup. &quot;It's a tough situation, and you feel for him, but you also have to look at it as an opportunity. Me, Justin and Buck [Allen] have to take advantage and handle the load.&quot;It sounds so simple, but it's not. The Forsett that rushed for 1,266 yards on 235 carries under then offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak hasn't been the same since he posted those career numbers in 2014. Back then, Forsett ran like Dixon. There was no indecisiveness.Last year, Forsett missed the final six games with a broken right arm. Before then, he had little acceleration and failed to break through many tackles. He has practiced well in this training camp, but has only seven carries for 11 yards in the preseason — due in large part to Harbaugh holding out starters.But Dixon had been closing the gap on Forsett. West (Northwestern, Towson), has had a strong offseason and has played well throughout training camp and in the first three preseason games, gaining 101 yards on 25 carries. He has been even more explosive than Dixon at the times, but the Ravens aren't totally confident in West yet.He had issues off the field during his two years in Cleveland and his work ethic was poor. Even though he has performed well, the Ravens aren't sure how he will handle success if it comes his way.Allen, in his second year, played well as a rookie but hasn't been as sharp this season and is behind the Ravens' other three running backs. The gap between him and a starting role has grown bigger with West and Dixon on the roster.In the Ravens' offense, Harbaugh demands an all-around running back. Dixon seemed to be the best one, but we'll have to wait to see it.&quot;It is going to be a loss for a little while, but I was grateful for the fact that this not going to be more than a few weeks,&quot; Harbaugh said.

Dixon's injury delays his takeover of the Ravens' backfield

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