What’s next for Ty’Son Williams? He’s now the lead back for injury-plagued Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have been beset by injuries in the lead-up to the 2021 NFL season, and now their depth at running back is particularly thin, leaving former BYU running back Ty’Son Williams as the team’s lead back.

Two more key injuries happened Thursday. ESPN reported that running back Gus Edwards and cornerback Marcus Peters are both feared to have suffered ACL tears during practice just four days before the team’s season opener at the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Ravens are having testing done on both Edwards and Peters to determine the severity of the injuries.

Edwards’ injury is the latest at running back for Baltimore after J.K. Robbins (torn ACL) and Justice Hill (torn Achilles) were lost for the season in recent days.

Williams is in his second season with Baltimore after spending his rookie season last year on the practice squad. With the rash of injuries, the Ravens signed running back Trenton Cannon to the 53-man roster and veteran Le’Veon Bell to the team’s practice squad earlier this week.

Team reporter Clifton Brown said Cannon’s role may be more on special teams, while head coach John Harbaugh said “there’s a chance” that Bell — a three-time Pro Bowler who once starred for the Pittsburgh Steelers — could be elevated to the active roster for the game against Las Vegas.

No matter how that all shakes out, it leaves Williams, who doesn’t yet have a regular-season carry in his career, with the chance to take ownership of the position, a considerable feat after he went undrafted in 2020.

Williams was one of the standout players of the preseason for Baltimore, rushing for 130 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries while adding eight catches for 37 yards. He averaged 5.41 yards per carry.

Williams won’t be asked to carry the running load by himself, though. Dual-threat quarterback star Lamar Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, led the Ravens with 1,005 rushing yards last season and added seven rushing touchdowns.

Edwards and Dobbins combined for just over 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing last season.

“It’s very exciting, very exciting,” Williams said, per the team’s website, after he made the 53-man roster just under two weeks ago. “But like I said, I just try to keep the same approach — doing the things that got me here — and I know they’ll take me far.”

“Since we signed him last year, he’s been doing a great job in practice,” Edwards said, per Ravens Wire. “Everybody gets to see how hard he runs now. He makes a lot of good decisions, and he’s going to do a lot of good things for us this year.”