Fantasy Football Week 10 Early Waiver Wire: Keaton Mitchell flashes signs of elusive, must-add upside

At running back more than any other position in Fantasy Football, opportunity ios the first thing we’re looking for. Obviously, you have to be on the field to even have a chance to score Fantasy points, and at running back, just standing behind or next to the quarterback means you’re going to get handed the ball a decent amount. 

When we’re looking for running backs on the waiver wire, it’s usually because an injury has suddenly created an opportunity for a backup to stand next to the quarterback and get handed the ball. But that’s not the only time a player pops up as a potentially exciting Fantasy option on the wire.

Sometimes, a player just gets an opportunity to show what they can do and just plays so well that they force their way onto the field even without an injury. And these might be the most exciting opportunities for Fantasy, because that’s where you can really find upside. Think De’Von Achane’s pre-injury breakout for the Dolphins, where he was just so dynamic and explosive that Miami had no choice but to put him on the field. Obviously, Achane’s injury changed his trajectory a bit, but he still has a chance to be a legitimate difference maker for Fantasy when he gets back, and if anything happens to Raheem Mostert, he might end up a league-winner down the stretch.

I’m not saying Ravens rookie running back Keaton Mitchell has that kind of potential. Achane was a third-round pick while Mitchell was an undrafted free agent before signing with the Ravens, so that alone makes it less likely Mitchell will work out. But, if you’re looking for a waiver-wire add ahead of Week 10, Mitchell might just be the highest-upside target for a lot of the same reasons Achane ended up being such a valuable waiver-wire add.

Mitchell isn’t quite the athlete Achane is, but he’s no slouch – he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at the combine and has the speed and acceleration to turn what might be 15-yard gains for some backs into 40-plus gains. And we saw that in his first extended run in Week 9, as he turned nine carries into 138 yards, including a touchdown run of 40 yards and another 60-yarder where he didn’t score. And, while the game did end up as a blowout, Mitchell was getting involved early on, with four carries in the second half – all of which went for at least 8 yards. 

Mitchell was ripping off big chunks of yards throughout the game, and this feels like one of those situations where you probably can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. That doesn’t mean the Ravens are just going to bench Gus Edwards or Justice Hill, but I’d be surprised if we get to next week and Mitchell goes back to getting zero carries. He looked too good in an offense that hasn’t really been getting big plays from its running backs regularly, and while that hasn’t held the offense back, clearly, Mitchell might just bring an element that makes them even harder to slow down.

Mitchell will likely be tough to trust for Fantasy even if he does have a role moving forward, because it could end up being a three-way split in this backfield. But he might also be the kind of player you can start any week in a pinch because he has that home-run hitting speed that could get him into the end zone any time. 

But the real upside comes from the potential of one of those backs ahead of Mitchell getting hurt and opening a path to 15-plus touches every week. With the kind of big-play potential Mitchell showed Sunday, in an offense like Baltimore’s that is going to create a ton of scoring opportunities, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there were a stretch coming up where Mitchell was viewed as a potential No. 1 Fantasy RB. 

That’s what we’re chasing, and it doesn’t come across the wire very often, especially not in the form of a player rostered in just 7% of leagues. I’d rather use a roster spot on him than some low-upside guys like Miles Sanders, AJ Dillon, or Jamaal Williams who are a lot more widely rostered than Mitchell is. 

Here’s who else we’ll be looking to add ahead of Week 9: 

Week 10 Early Waiver Targets (Add/Drop)

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