2019 NFL Draft Guide Player Profile: Mark Ingram

After spending his first eight seasons in the National Football League with the New Orleans Saints, Ingram signed a deal with the Baltimore Ravens to lead its crowded backfield. In 2018, Ingram rushed for 645 yards with four touchdowns, while adding 21 receptions for 170 yards and one score. With Alvin Kamara taking another step forward in the passing attack, Ingram’s 13.3 touches per game last season was his lowest mark since he was 24-years-old back in 2013 when he appeared in just 11 games. Ingram has a lot of wear-and-tear on the tires, especially from his monster usage days at NFL U, also known as the University of Alabama, but since entering the NFL, his workload has never been immense. He’s only received more than 225 carries in a season twice (2014, 2017) and has only touched the ball more than 280 times in a season once (2017). Last year, he was hardly used, and in 2019, he has the opportunity to be the lead back in a run-heavy offense.

The veteran tailback in a tough runner, and his 3.20 yards after contact per attempt last season was 14^th-best in the National Football League, per Pro Football Focus. This should continue yet again in 2019, as the Ravens value tough runners, and the mantra for this team is a hard-nose style of play. If we take a look at the Baltimore backs, they experienced a slight increase when Jackson took control of the rushing Ravens.

Sure, the results with Edwards were minimal, but Collins was productive with Jackson under center. However, Collins is out of the mix, but Kenneth Dixon remains in the mix and the team even drafted Justice Hill in the 4^th round of this year’s draft. Despite leaving New Orleans, Ingram remains in a similar situation, where he will be dealing with a few other guys in the backfield. However, Ingram should lead the Baltimore Ravens in rushing attempts this season.

Now, one thing that could be slightly worrisome for Ingram in 2019 is that everyone and their mother knows that Baltimore wants to run the football early and often. Therefore, they are going to force Lamar Jackson to beat them through the air. Taking a look at the Baltimore backs last season, only Alex Collins frequently encountered a loaded box, per Next Gen Stats.

Hm. Interesting.

All but about 15 of Edwards’ 137 carries came with Jackson as the team’s quarterback last season, so while the defenses will want Jackson to throw the ball, perhaps Ingram could deal with less loaded fronts. If that’s the case, Ingram’s tough running and vision should play well in this offense. Remember how I said earlier that the Ravens will likely be a run-first team in 2019? Check this out…

When Jackson took control of the offense, the Ravens ran the ball 64 percent of the time. The next closest was Seattle at 55 percent! That’s a huge disparity. The Ravens ran the football 64 percent of the time with Jackson under center, and the league average was 42 percent. When the Ravens had the lead under Jackson, they ran the ball just under 70 percent of the time, again, leading the league. As if this will surprise you, but the Ravens ran the football 73 percent of the time in the second half under Jackson. All of this information is courtesy of Sharp Football Stats.

With all of that in mind, despite Ingram dealing with a few other talented backs, there is more than enough to go around in this offense. Our projections break down the Baltimore backs as such in a 0.5 PPR format:

Ingram will lead this backfield in fantasy points this season, and the run-heavy nature of this football team gives him a pretty reliable floor in 2019. Operating behind a good offensive line and facing defenses that must account for Jackson’s speed, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Ingram got to 1,000 rushing yards and 8-10 touchdowns this season.

Statistical Credits:
profootballfocus.com
pro-football-reference.com
nextgenstats.nfl.com
sharpfootballstats.com