Keaton Mitchell or Rico Dowdle: who should I start in Week 3?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Keaton Mitchell: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 161st overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Rico Dowdle: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 165th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 96.

What the sportsbooks price

The books have Keaton Mitchell at 3.4 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 15 books. That is 90 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The books have Rico Dowdle at 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 book. That is 30 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Keaton Mitchell's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 2

Through Week 2, Keaton Mitchell has been on the field for 28 percent of LAC snaps, taken 17 percent of the carries, drawn 2 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 16 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 7 two minute targets.

His 1 target have averaged 3.0 air yards.

In Week 1 against ARI he carried 4 times for 9 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against LV he carried 5 times for 24 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 15 yards and did not score.

Through Week 2, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 42 percent of PIT snaps, taken 37 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 18 third down targets and seen 0 of its 9 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have averaged 0.9 air yards.

In Week 1 against ATL he carried 8 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he carried 7 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Keaton Mitchell played 13 games and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing RB67.

He carried 59 times for 341 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 9 of 12 targets for 63 more yards.

That came to 4.5 carries a game at 5.8 yards a carry and 0.7 catches a game.

He was on the field for 17 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Rico Dowdle was available for 4 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Rico Dowdle scored 12.7 PPR points a game and Keaton Mitchell 4.3, 8.5 a game between them.

Keaton Mitchell finished RB67 that year and Rico Dowdle RB18.

Rico Dowdle had 177 more carries than Keaton Mitchell, 236 to 59.

Rico Dowdle had 30 more catches than Keaton Mitchell, 39 to 9.

This season Rico Dowdle holds the bigger snap share, 42 percent against 28 percent.

This season Rico Dowdle holds the bigger share of the carries, 37 percent against 17 percent.

Byes and availability

Keaton Mitchell is off in Week 7 and Rico Dowdle in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rico Dowdle is listed as out on the injury report.