{"id":55546,"date":"2025-06-13T04:57:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T04:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55546"},"modified":"2025-06-13T04:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T04:57:43","slug":"keaton-mitchell-aims-to-copy-hall-of-famer-in-new-ravens-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55546","title":{"rendered":"Keaton Mitchell Aims to Copy Hall of Famer in New Ravens Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1789752878-e1749761074506.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1789752878-e1749761074506.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1789752878-e1749761074506.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1789752878-e1749761074506.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Keaton Mitchell\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"640\" data-dom-ready-time=\"793\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Keaton Mitchell is ready to emulate a Hall of Famer in a new role for the Baltimore Ravens.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He\u2019s no longer worried about the state of his knee, and he knows the speed is still there, but\u00a0Keaton Mitchell\u00a0wants to use his best quality in a new role for the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n<p>The running back aims to do it by emulating an NFL great who turned a niche skill into a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Specifically, Mitchell wants to be another Devin Hester in the return game.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters during OTAs, including\u00a0AJ Gersh of Fox45 Baltimore, Mitchell spelled out his desire \u201cto be the one to return the kickoff returns and being able to be like a Devin Hester, like a don\u2019t kick it to that type of guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_1_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-1 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\">\n<p>It\u2019s a bold ambition, but the NFL changing the rules to bring touchbacks out to the 35-yard line makes more kick returns likely. Mitchell believes \u201cteams will put it in play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If they do, Mitchell will be the Ravens\u2019 best weapon thanks to game-breaking speed he underlined by clocking \u201c22.4 mph earlier in OTAs,\u201d\u00a0according to Gersh.<\/p>\n<p>Carving out a role for Mitchell on special teams is a smart way for the Ravens to engineer extra big plays. It\u2019s also an easy way to get a\u00a0potential breakout talent onto the field more often.<\/p>\n<h2>Keaton Mitchell Ready for More With Ravens<\/h2>\n<p>Putting Mitchell back to return kicks can have a transformative effect on the Ravens in football\u2019s third phase. He\u2019s a legitimate field-stretcher with the ability to outrun a team in any given moment.<\/p>\n<p>A good example of Mitchell\u2019s\u00a0sudden-strike capability\u00a0is this catch and run of a screen pass against the\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0from last season, highlighted by\u00a0SleeperNFL\u2019s Chris Cooper.<\/p>\n<p>Running behind a convoy of blockers in the screen game has natural crossovers with returning kicks. Both are obvious ways to clear lanes for a turbocharged Mitchell to exploit.<\/p>\n<p>So is his experience in the backfield. As the 23-year-old former undrafted free agent put it, \u201cthe concepts are similar to outside-zone schemes as a RB,\u201d\u00a0per The Baltimore Banner\u2019s Jonas Shaffer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"431669f0432a3502fa476ffb6e252dc6\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<article class=\"tweet-container_article\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container_header \">\n<p>Putting this experience to good use will depend on Mitchell\u2019s health. Fortunately, it\u2019s trending in the right direction.<\/p>\n<h2>Healthy Keaton Mitchell Won\u2019t Be Forgotten in Loaded Backfield<\/h2>\n<p>The presence of two-time NFL rushing champion\u00a0Derrick Henry\u00a0means every other member of the backfield will be feeding off scraps. That\u2019s going to be tough for Mitchell, who\u00a0proved before his injury\u00a0he can lead this running game.<\/p>\n<p>Replicating his\u00a0early-career promise\u00a0will be easier when Mitchell isn\u2019t thinking about how well his surgically-repaired knee will hold up. Getting over that psychological hurdle proved challenging for Mitchell last season, but he told the media \u201cI\u2019m out there like normal, not worried about what my knee doing. Just being confident in my knee and my rehab,\u201d\u00a0per ESPN\u2019s Jamison Hensley.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell will need to be at 100 percent, both physically and mentally, to siphon off some carries in a rotation led by Henry and\u00a0Justice Hill. The latter remains the go-to utility back on third downs for the Ravens, but Mitchell won\u2019t be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s somebody whose game-changing speed needs to be fed as often as possible, so special teams duty makes sense. Especially when Mitchell is more likely to win the field position battle and find the end zone more often than fellow back\u00a0Rasheen Ali.<\/p>\n<p>Replicating the four Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro honors earned by Hester will be tough, but Mitchell is a special talent the Ravens should unleash in multiple ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Keaton Mitchell is ready to emulate a Hall of Famer in a new role for the Baltimore Ravens. He\u2019s no longer worried about the state of&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Keaton Mitchell Aims to Copy Hall of Famer in New Ravens Role - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55546\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keaton Mitchell Aims to Copy Hall of Famer in New Ravens Role - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Keaton Mitchell is ready to emulate a Hall of Famer in a new role for the Baltimore Ravens. 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