Are NFL running backs an endangered species?
BALTIMORE -- There are 32 running backs in the Pro-Football Hall of Fame. But the way the game is going right now, there may not be anymore.
Running backs aren't dinosaurs yet, but the guys who play that position feel like they're being driven to extinction.
J.K. Dobbins hasn't participated in a Ravens practice since last season. He's part of a growing protest among NFL running backs who have seen their position become the only one in the league with a paycheck that has decreased.
All other player salaries have increased.
Dobbins weighed in on the subject when WJZ spoke to him in June.
"Yeah, it is a tough business, and I don't know why because without a running back the offense isn't complete," Dobbins said. "At the end of the day, you have to have a running game to win the Super Bowl."
With Dobbins out, the Ravens added veteran Melvin Gordon to the roster.
Gordon has spent eight years as a running back and has been named to the Pro Bowl two times.
Gordon signed a one-year deal with the Ravens for what's essentially minimum wage for a veteran.
"The league is changing, and it sucks to say it's a passing league, but you still need a great run game let's not get away from that," Gordon said.
But even the Ravens, a team that has set "rushing" records in recent seasons with Lamar Jackson as quarterback, are promising to pump up their passing game.
The Ravens have won two Super Bowls and each of those championships included top running backs: Jamal Lewis in 2000 and Ray Rice in 2012.
These were the glory days for ball-carriers. Although they're not far in the past, they seem like they're part of a bygone era.
"You grow up your whole life and it's like the best position in football, everybody wanted to be a running back growing up similar to people saying, 'I want to be like Mike,'" Rice said. "To be in that position now and it's undervalued, coming from where I'm at, you understand both sides of the business, but at the end of the day, you want to be treated like a human being, as well."
Rice is referring to the relatively short career span for running backs. They get used up and are cast off more quickly than any other position. Running backs will always be part of the NFL offense. But as the Ravens team has been showing: the emphasis is on the passing game.