Ravens are expected to sign veteran RB Kenjon Barner to compete at returner
The competition for the Baltimore Ravens starting kick and punt returner job heading into training camp was slated to be a two-horse race between six-year veteran wide receiver DeAnthony Thomas and rookie James Proche who the team selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft.
After Thomas decided to opt-out of the 2020 season due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, Head Coach John Harbaugh said that the job was Proche’s to lose in his Friday virtual press conference with members of the media.
Fast forward two days later and according to NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport, the Ravens plan to sign free-agent running back Kenjon Barner pending a physical. The eighth-year pro is expected to compete with the rookie to be the starting returner pending a physical.
The Ravens are all set at the running back position with three-time Pro Bowl veteran Mark Ingram, back-to-back 700 plus yard rusher Gus ‘The Bus’ Edwards, 2019 fourth-round pick Justice Hill and 2020 second-round pick J.K. Dobbins slated to be a four-headed monster in the backfield according to General Manager Eric DeCosta. That leaves special teams as Barner’s best chance to make the final the roster.
In his seven-year career, he has amassed 555 yards and a touchdown on punt return and 1,124 kickoff return yards. He is coming off the best year to date as a returner in 2019 where he recorded career highs in both punt (267) and kick (406) return yards and scored his first career touchdown on a 78-yard return as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
Barner entered the league a year before Thomas, his fellow former University of Oregon alum, as a sixth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers and has spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers, and New England Patriots as well.
