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The Baltimore Ravens take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5 of the NFL season. Baltimore has been dealing with injuries across its offense. Rookie running back Keaton Mitchell suffered a shoulder injury in Baltimore’s second preseason game and was placed on IR. He was designated to return at the start of Week 5 and could be an interesting addition to a banged up backfield.
Rookie RB Keaton Mitchell, who has been on IR with shoulder sprain, is expected to be activated today to return to practice and start his 21-day practice window. With Dobbins out and Justice Hill dealing with nagging turf toe injury, Ravens will have another option in backfield.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) October 4, 2023
Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell: Week 5 waiver wire
Mitchell is rostered in 3.1% of ESPN leagues. This makes sense because he has been on IR, but now is the time to add him. Starting running back J.K. Dobbins is done for the year and has left Gus Edwards and Justice Hill as the incumbent running backs. Edwards has looked decent with 145 rushing yards and a touchdown in the three games since Dobbins went down. Still, he hasn’t clearly run away (pun intended) with the job.
Mitchell was an undrafted free agent by Baltimore and played his college ball at East Carolina. Before his preseason injury, he was impressive and had 6.0 yards per carry in limited work. He will likely start out as the team’s third running back but should easily overtake at least Hill in the backfield. Edwards and Mitchell could end up sharing the backfield, but this is a long-term move that has a lot of upside for someone who just needs a bench spot for a bit.