Should I Pick Up Keaton Mitchell? Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Football

Baltimore Ravens rookie running back Keaton Mitchell has oscillated between hype and injury in his brief NFL career.

After showing bursts in preseason action, the undrafted rookie was placed on injured reserve before the real games began. He finally made his NFL debut in Week 6, with some fantasy analysts pointing to Mitchell as a stash candidate for deep leagues. He didn't register his first offensive touch until Week 7 and subsequently suffered another injury.

Finally, in Week 9, the hype matched the production. The Ravens' running back room is still quite crowded, so it may be difficult for the 21-year-old to carve out a consistent role.

• Quarterback fantasy football rankings
• Running back fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
• Tight end fantasy football rankings
• Kicker fantasy football rankings
• FLEX fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Superflex fantasy football rankings
• IDP fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Keaton Mitchell Week 10 Waiver Wire Outlook

Mitchell's first nine NFL carries went for a total of 138 yards and one touchdown. That's an average of 15.3 yards per carry, for those who don't want to do the math. His chunk yardage came from a combination of speed and broken tackles.

Because he is undersized (listed at 5'8" and 191 pounds), Mitchell went undrafted. But he proved in college that he could produce (2,500+ rushing yards in his sophomore and junior seasons combined) and finished with the third-fastest 40-yard dash among running backs at the NFL Combine. The two backs who placed above him, De'Von Achane and Jahmyr Gibbs, are off to fantastic starts to their NFL careers.

Should I Pickup Keaton Mitchell in Week 10?

The answer is yes, but there are a lot of questions about how the Ravens' coaching staff will use their three running backs moving forward.

Gus Edwards is seemingly entrenched as the starter, despite just notching five carries on Sunday. Justice Hill has been operating as the backup and received his first touches well before Mitchell entered the game. However, the rookie still logged his first four carries when the score was just 7-0. Those carries went 37 yards and helped set up a short touchdown for the Gus Bus.

Mitchell's final carry came at the 11:28 mark of the final frame, just two plays after John Harbaugh pulled Lamar Jackson and other starters. Justice Hill ran six times after Mitchell exited. Was that a changing of the guard or a mere coincidence? Fantasy managers will be looking for an answer to that question in Week 10.

In theory, Mitchell's speed is the perfect compliment to Edwards' bruising style of running. Mitchell is likely the biggest priority addition off of waiver wires this week but is a better bench stash until managers know for sure that he's the second option in the Baltimore backfield.

More Fantasy Football Analysis