Who Should I Start? Keaton Mitchell or Jonathon Brooks

Tuesday, April 1, 11:00 PM

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said it was miraculous that running back Keaton Mitchell (knee) even returned to the field last year from a knee injury that cut short his rookie year in 2023. "I'm almost certain he's going to be on a whole other level coming back this spring," Harbaugh said. The 23-year-old missed the first nine games of the 2024 season and ended up seeing action in only five games, carrying the ball 15 times for 30 yards and catching his only target for 28 yards. Mitchell's path to fantasy relevance in his third year in 2025 will be difficult as long as both Derrick Henry and Justice Hill are healthy, but the upside is evident after a rookie season that saw him average 8.4 yards per carry on 47 rushing attempts before his knee injury. It remains to be seen if he'll be as explosive coming off his serious knee injury, but he could be a nice buy-low target in dynasty/keeper leagues.

Thursday, May 8, 1:14 PM

The Carolina Panthers placed running back Jonathon Brooks (knee) on the Physically Unable to Perform list on Thursday, meaning he will not play at all in the 2025 season, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Brooks tore his right ACL in Week 14 of his rookie season in 2024, his second ACL tear in as many years. The 21-year-old didn't make his NFL debut until Week 12 last year and played in just three games before unfortunately suffering another ACL tear. In his three games with Carolina, the second-rounder (46th overall) out of Texas had nine carries for 22 yards and caught all three of his targets for 23 yards. It's been a tough last couple of years for Brooks, who probably will never be the same runner he was before tearing his right ACL twice. The Panthers will move forward with Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle and rookie Trevor Etienne as their RBs in 2025.