The Baltimore Ravens are more top-heavy than most preseason evaluators imagine.
Much was written about their promising offseason, as they added accomplished passers and promising draft picks to bolster their winning position, but the proven stars looked lonely in almost every meaningful position group. The pass-rush, offensive line and secondary are in desperate need of new blood moving forward, with most of the rookies looking as raw as some feared, while only DeAndre Hopkins and Chidobe Awuzie have performed as expected on the veteran front.
The Ravens’ depth has been largely overlooked amid creeping up to 6-5, but one young contributor continues to shine in limited opportunity. Young running back Keaton Mitchell has been largely handcuffed behind one of the team’s stars in Derrick Henry, and his production has created an interesting tertiary story to monitor during Henry’s up-and-down campaign.
marginal production
He, as well as Jackson, have succumbed to the Ravens’ disappointing offensive line, a group that is unable to consistently protect the pocket and create open running lines for Henry to charge. However, Mitchell is not a power back; He wins on pure speed, as he demonstrated in the Ravens’ 23-10 win over the New York Jets.
His 10 yards on two touches over the weekend barely got a mention on the Ravens’ box score, their lowest finish in a game since Week 6. Unfortunately for Mitchell, his 35-yard run was wiped out by a holding penalty, allowing him to be buried during Henry’s multiple-touchdown outing, but his brief highlight shows the skills he brings to the table. When his lane is closed through blockers, he immediately has the jet to give way again and get ahead of everyone else on his second read.
It was wiped out by a holding penalty, but Keaton Mitchell topped out at 21 mph on this 35-yard run. @NextGenStats, pic.twitter.com/sFykBSI5kH
– Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) 24 November 2025
That example of explosive speed aligns with the type of runs he has scored all fall, as he joins the star-studded group on the list of top 20 mph backs three or more times. Excluding the half-dozen Pro Bowlers he groups with, each of whom has enjoyed between 120 and 190 rushes, Mitchell has benefited from his time with the ball only 15 times so far.
Michelle’s strange struggle
His strangely low usage could be attributed to the coaching staff’s trust in Henry, but it wouldn’t make sense given his own low usage. Despite leading the NFL in usage four different times, he has had more than 21 rushing yards in a game only once in 11 games.
He is posting 4.7 yards per attempt. And while power rushers like Henry won’t routinely record the most amazing per-touchdown numbers, he is a Hall of Fame talent who has made a career out of dragging tacklers with him on his runs, and he averaged 5.9 points in the same metric in his Ravens debut a season ago. That’s only a tenth of a yard ahead of Mitchell’s work rate this year, as he’s managed to recreate some of the meteoric production from his rookie season despite lineman troubles.
Mitchell was recognized for his strong display of athleticism in Week 12, with PFF rewarding the running back with the highest rating of any of Baltimore’s offensive players in the form of a 78.8 grade. As exciting as it is to see Henry loosen up and truck down the stretch, there’s a reason many fans are waiting for Harbaugh to hand Mitchell the keys to the Ravens’ run game.
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