Ravens sticking 179 touchdowns in the same room at rookie minicamp

The Baltimore Ravens averaged 20.5 points per game last season — only seven teams scored fewer in 2015. Clearly, they wanted to find more players to find the end zone.

They made a few offensive upgrades through free agency, but the draft might be their biggest windfall if the past is any indication. The Ravens selected the two most prolific touchdown scorers in NCAA history. Then they stuck them in a room together. Nothing like getting the competition going early.

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Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds (91 touchdowns) and Louisiana Tech running back Kenneth Dixon (88) spent the past four years scoring touchdowns more than any other college players before them, and in April’s draft the Ravens selected the two players in the sixth and fourth rounds, respectively. At Ravens rookie minicamp, they’re now roommates.

The two actually jockeyed for position atop the TD hierarchy a few times. On Nov. 14, Reynolds broke Montee Ball’s mark of 83 touchdowns to take the all-time lead. Then Dixon surpassed Reynolds on Dec. 19 in the New Orleans Bowl, finishing his career with 88 scores. Nine days later, in Reynolds’ final college game, Reynolds passed him for good in a four-TD effort to notch the all-time mark.

When they reported for Ravens duty, they saw each other. They’d never met before but surely knew each other by watching a lot of the other on TV. Naturally, they found out they were rooming together. Of course they were. Nice little coaching maneuver by John Harbaugh and his staff to get the competitive juices flowing again.

Dixon watched Reynolds break his record live.

“Kind of late in the game they took him out and put the other quarterback in,” Dixon said. “I was like, ‘OK, we’re tied, so I can breathe a little bit.’ I went to the store and came back, and as soon as I walked in, he scored a touchdown.”

That’s when Dixon shut off the TV. He wondered whether he might have held the record for good had he not missed two games last season with an ankle injury.

“It was kind of bittersweet,” Dixon said. “I was kind of mad at the time, but exceptionally happy for [Reynolds] and his journey.”

Now they’re teammates, and they’re again starting at the bottom. Naturally, the record has come up in conversation.

“We talked about it last night, we kind of talk about it all the time,” Dixon said. “I’m not going to let him get out of here without not talking about it.”

Dixon has a ton of promise, but he’s also staring at a deep RB depth chart: incumbent starter Justin Forsett; former Ravens fourth-rounders Lorenzo Taliaferro and Buck Allen; local product and former third-rounder Terrance West (who scored 84 rushing TDs at Towson); and former No. 3 overall pick, Trent Richardson, who is trying to revive his career. Dixon has his work cut out for him to stand out right away.

So too does Reynolds, who is being asked to cross-train at two positions — slot receiver and punt returner — he’s never done. This is a former option QB who in essence ran routes and caught passes for the first time at his pro day.