Kenyan Drake Shows Potential for Ravens

Running back had mostly solid game against Jets.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Like the rest of the Ravens offense, running back Kenyan Drake was a bit slow out of the gate in the opener against the Jets.

However, Drake, who was signed less than two weeks ago after getting released by the Raiders, got more comfortable and began to make plays in the second half. 

Drake got most of the workload and he finished with 31 yards on 11 carries. He also caught a ball out of the backfield for a 15-yard gain. 

"He’s still learning the offense, in terms of the angles and the eyes, and just assignments in formation, where to line up, routes to run, protections," coach John Harbaugh said. "There’s carryover, but it’s not the same from team to team, so some of that stuff was there. 

"Then, it got better as the game went on, I thought, and he started getting a little bit more confident in the way [with] his running style. He’s a veteran back, knows how to run the ball, still young enough to have a lot of juice."

The @Ravens did not escape the Week 1 game against the Jets unscathed, losing an offensive tackle and cornerback for the season. #RavensFlock #RavensNation https://t.co/64TPLctuPs via @toddkarpovich

— Todd Karpovich (@toddkarpovich) September 12, 2022

In 2020, he ran for 955 yards from scrimmage in 15 appearances for Arizona. He signed with the Raiders in 2021 where he only started in two of his 12 appearances and had 254 yards rushing and two touchdowns. 

The Ravens are still waiting for J.K. Dobbins to be fully ready to play after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year. Dobbins should be available in the next week or two.

In the meantime, Drake, Mike Davis and Justice Hill will carry the load. 

Look for Drake to separate himself from the pack. 

"I thought Justice did a nice job too," Harbaugh said. "So, the run game got better as the game went on, and we have to keep improving that. Obviously, [the Jets] were very determined to stop the run and the RPOs. You could see on first and second down, that was their plan to try to take those away. At times, they did a really good job with that, especially in the first half.”