The Gus Bus is back in the Ravens’ backfield after missing the entirety of 2021 and the first games of 2022 with an ACL tear.
Now that JK Dobbins is sidelined for four to six weeks as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery, Gus Edwards seamlessly slid into a valuable role as the Ravens clear lead back with a strong performance against the Browns.
Edwards saw only 36% of snaps in a clear run-heavy gameplan which saw Lamar Jackson throw only 16 passes. Edwards made the most of his opportunities, matching Jackson tit for tat with 16 rush attempts for 66 yards, including four red-zone rush attempts leading to two trips to paydirt.
The rest of the Ravens backfield saw a combined 17 rush attempts, with Kenyan Drake commanding 11 rushes.
Relative to his opportunity, Edwards scored 5.98 more fantasy points than expected and averaged a whopping 1.09 fantasy points per opportunity.
“Gus is unique,” John Harbaugh said. “He’s a downhill guy, he covers a lot of ground. Every back has a different style and Gus’ style is very valuable to us.”
With a tilt against the Buccaneers looming, Edwards remains a solid RB2 play in this hyper-efficient ground attack but will likely be a TD-dependent play. But with an easy remaining schedule ahead, Edwards offers a steady floor with low-end RB1 upside going forward. Following the Bucs, the Ravens get the likes of the Saints, Panthers, Jaguars, Steelers (x2), Browns, and Falcons moving forward.
Gus Edwards is the RB31 (+10 vs ECR) in The Wolf’s Rest of Season Big Board and RB26 (+6 vs ECR) on the Week 8 Fantasy Rankings.
