John Harbaugh has confirmed that Keaton Mitchell won’t be ready when the season starts. But the second-year back, knock on wood, should be back at some point during the season.
"It's not a ‘come-back-during-training-camp or first game’ type of thing," Harbaugh told the media. "I think we all know that. It's sometime during the season. It's not like right around the corner. We shouldn't be biting our fingernails, [wondering] is he going to get back.”
When Mitchell got hurt late in the league, he was about the most explosive running back in the league, consistently ripping off long gainers. He averaged 8.4 yards per attempt as a rookie (almost a yard more, remarkably, than DeVon Achane in Miami).
But Mitchell shredded his knee pretty throughout in a late-season game at Jacksonville. The injury was severe enough that NBC’s national crew opted against showing the replay. It was never realistic to hope for Mitchell to be ready for Week 1.
Whether Mitchell can get back to being anything remotely close to what he was last year remains to be seen. In general, I don’t see him as being worth a roster spot for 2024 (there are just too many other players out there with the potential to maybe develop into something).
But that brief flash last year was really something. Since the merger in 1970, only 24 running backs with at least 20 carries in a season have averaged over 7 yards per attempt. Of those guys, nine at some point in their career put together a season with top-30 numbers (using PPR scoring).
RUNNING BACKS AVERAGING 7 YARDS PER CARRY | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Best Rk |
2008 | • Felix Jones, Dall. | 30 | 266 | 8.9 | 3 | 23 |
2007 | De Dorsey, Cin. | 21 | 183 | 8.7 | 0 | 95 |
2023 | Keaton Mitchell, Balt. | 47 | 396 | 8.4 | 2 | 59 |
2021 | Travis Homer, Sea. | 21 | 177 | 8.4 | 1 | 69 |
1995 | Jerry Ellison, T.B. | 26 | 218 | 8.4 | 5 | 61 |
1993 | Lorenzo Neal, N.O. | 21 | 175 | 8.3 | 1 | 69 |
1986 | Thomas Sanders, Chi. | 27 | 224 | 8.3 | 5 | 72 |
2017 | Corey Grant, Jac. | 30 | 248 | 8.3 | 2 | 83 |
2007 | • Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG | 23 | 190 | 8.3 | 1 | 10 |
2013 | Toby Gerhart, Min. | 36 | 283 | 7.9 | 2 | 39 |
2018 | Brian Hill, Atl. | 20 | 157 | 7.9 | 0 | 50 |
2023 | • DeVon Achane, Mia. | 103 | 800 | 7.8 | 8 | 25 |
2018 | • Raheem Mostert, S.F. | 34 | 261 | 7.7 | 1 | 5 |
2002 | Michael Wiley, Dall. | 22 | 168 | 7.6 | 1 | 66 |
1986 | • Tony Nathan, Mia. | 27 | 203 | 7.5 | 0 | 15 |
1991 | • Darrin Nelson, Min. | 28 | 210 | 7.5 | 2 | 12 |
2001 | • LaMont Jordan, NYJ | 39 | 292 | 7.5 | 1 | 6 |
2000 | Brian Mitchell, Phil. | 25 | 187 | 7.5 | 2 | 45 |
2005 | Rock Cartwright, Was. | 27 | 199 | 7.4 | 2 | 43 |
2001 | Michael Wiley, Dall. | 34 | 247 | 7.3 | 0 | 66 |
2008 | • Jerome Harrison, Cle. | 34 | 246 | 7.2 | 1 | 22 |
2012 | Cedric Peerman, Cin. | 36 | 258 | 7.2 | 1 | 72 |
2011 | • Mewelde Moore, Pitt. | 22 | 157 | 7.1 | 0 | 26 |
2000 | Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Pitt. | 21 | 149 | 7.1 | 1 | 45 |
—Ian Allan