Keaton Mitchell

It was heartening to see Mitchell get a two-year, $9.25 million deal from the Chargers in free agency this offseason, because it was a serious worry that he would never play again when he suffered that season-ending knee injury at the end of his 2023 rookie season. It was particularly cruel for such a thing to happen to an undrafted rookie who had quickly made the league look foolish for passing on him out of East Carolina. At his best, Mitchell is something like a slightly slower De'Von Achane with lesser pass-catching skills -- Mitchell isn't bad as a receiver, he just isn't a standout. But it was still a very Achane-like thing to do when Mitchell ran for 396 yards and two touchdowns on the first 47 carries of his NFL career (8.4 YPC). Although it took almost two years to fully recover from that 2023 injury -- his 2024 season was all but lost to it -- Mitchell mostly looked like himself again in 2025, running for 341 yards on 59 carries (5.8 YPC). The concern is that then-offensive coordinator Todd Monken seemed resistant to giving Mitchell playing time over Justice Hill, presumably out of discontent over Mitchell's pass blocking. It's possible that Mitchell will never become a trusted passing-down back, instead remaining an off-the-bench rushing specialist, albeit a highly explosive one. With the Chargers, we can expect Mitchell to return kicks and play some kind of role off the bench. If starter Omarion Hampton were to miss time, Mitchell and Kimani Vidal likely would form a timeshare. Read Past Outlooks