Keaton Mitchell — Week 4: Fifteen Touches, Most of His Season

30 to 13, Seahawks, 31 seconds left in the third quarter, third and nine at the Chargers' 16. Justin Herbert threw short left to Keaton Mitchell behind the line, and Mitchell ran out of bounds at the 30 after 14 yards and the first down. +2.2 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. Early in the fourth quarter, on the same drive, he ran for eight, then 20 around right end, pushed out at the Seattle 34, and Omarion Hampton finished the drive with a touchdown.

The line: 10 carries, 39 yards, one first down, four of the 10 successful, −0.5 expected points on the carries; six targets, five catches, 24 yards, two first downs, +3.7 on the targets. His other first-down catch was eight yards on second and seven in the first quarter. A two-yard catch on third and four in the third quarter also moved the chains, on a face-mask penalty on Seattle. Every one of his targets was thrown six yards or less past the line. He also returned the opening kickoff 28 yards. Three carries before halftime, seven after.

The split: 10 of the Chargers' 27 designed runs went to Mitchell, nine to Hampton and five to Kimani Vidal. His six targets were second on the team behind Oronde Gadsden's eight.

Back in June the preview called Mitchell a watchlist, with eight touches a game named as the line between gadget and weapon. Week 1 was four, Week 2 six, Week 3 11, and Sunday 15, more touches than Hampton for the first time this season. Four games: 27 carries for a hundred 24 yards and nine catches for 34. That is two straight games over the line.

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_Data via nflverse._