The NFL preseason is dangerous. It can make borderline roster players look like stars and trick fans into having unrealistic expectations about guys who might not see a ton of the field once all the starters are active in Week 1. With that being said... Ravens running back Keaton Mitchell looked really good in his first game action of 2025 after coming back from ACL surgery. It didn't take him long for his impact to be felt; on the Ravens very first drive of the preseason, Mitchell ran for 52 yards on four carries, including two 20-plus yard bursts, and finished the drive off with a 22-yard touchdown, breaking a tackle along the way.
Keaton Mitchell accounted for 77 yards on that TD drive:
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) August 7, 2025
25-yard kickoff return
5-yard run
2-yard run
23-yard run
22-yard runpic.twitter.com/yRUWQjBL2Y
Keaton Mitchell could be the lightning to Derrick Henry's thunder
Mitchell might be different from other preseason heroes because we've seen him be productive — more than productive, in fact, we've seen him be very good. The public moves on from players quickly in the NFL, but Mitchell in 2023 looked like a future star for about three games. He averaged over 8 yards per carry in 2023, on very small sample size to be fair, but he was an immediate producer for a team that needed it badly.
On the Ravens first depth chart of the season, Mitchell was listed as the No. 3 running back behind Henry and Justice Hill. While Hill has been a fine backup with the Ravens, I really don't see him keeping that spot over Mitchell when the season starts, especially if Mitchell keeps running like this in the preseason.
The biggest question about Mitchell was health; he answered that quickly on Thursday, and raised another question in the process: is he a sleeper candidate for a 2025 breakout?
The Ravens have weapons. Plenty of them. Mitchell's services aren't necessarily needed on this team; Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry gives the team as much threat on the ground as a team needs. But if he can bring another dimension when the seemingly ageless Henry needs a breather, that's not something John Harbaugh will complain about.