Who Should I Start? Keaton Mitchell or Dylan Sampson

Tuesday, December 16, 1:02 PM

Baltimore Ravens running back Keaton Mitchell is emerging as an explosive backfield complement to lead back Derrick Henry as the Ravens push for a playoff spot in 2025. Mitchell played a season-high 39% of the offensive snaps in Sunday's shutout victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and had a season-high eight carries for 66 yards (8.3 yards per carry). He was unable to haul in his only target in the passing game. Rasheen Ali found the end zone on a 16-yard reception, but the 23-year-old Mitchell had only three fewer carries than Henry on the day, and he now has 173 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in the last three contests. Injuries have slowed Mitchell down early in his NFL career, but the third-year back has always been explosive (7.1 yards per carry in 23 games) and is definitely worth a waiver-wire pickup going into a Week 16 date against the Patriots on Sunday night. Mitchell is rostered in only 3% of Yahoo leagues at the moment.

Friday, December 19, 1:21 PM

Cleveland Browns rookie running back Dylan Sampson (calf, hand) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the visiting Buffalo Bills in Week 16, according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. Sampson was unable to practice all week and will miss his second straight game due to a pair of injuries. It's unclear if the 21-year-old will be ready to play in Week 17 against the division-rival Pittsburgh Steelers. With Sampson out again, expect Trayveon Williams and Raheim Sanders to battle for backfield scraps behind rookie starter Quinshon Judkins. Sampson has really only been valuable in fantasy for the Week 1 regular season opener when Judkins was out. In the 17-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Sampson had a season-high 12 carries for 29 yards and caught all eight of his targets for 64 yards. Since then, he's had only two games with more than three rushing attempts.