by J.T. Toth
Photo courtesy of Burnt Orange Nation.
At Draft 412, the NFL draft talk never ends. We will keep you ready for the next set of gridiron stars—from today and all the way until draft night 2024. We will bring you mock drafts, player profiles, individual team needs, and everything else you may need related to the 2024 NFL Draft.
Today’s Spotlight - Texas, Wide Receiver, Adonai Mitchell
Name- Adonai Mitchell
Pos- Wide Receiver
Team- Texas
HT/WT- 6’4” 196 lbs.
Born- 10/8/2002
Home – Missouri City, TX
Mitchell started his high school career at Ridge Point High School in Missouri City, Texas and earned All-District 20-6A second team honors. He finished up at Cane Ridge High School in Antioch, Tennessee near Nashville and was a consensus top10 prospect from the state of Tennessee. He committed to Georgia over several other offers and enrolled at Georgia in January of 2021.
In two seasons at Georgia, Mitchell played in 21 games with 15 starts. He registered 38 catches for 560 yards and 7 touchdowns in helping Georgia win back-to-back National Championships. During the 2022 season, he missed 9 games due to an ankle injury but came back to haul in touchdown passes in both of Georgia’s playoff games, including the National Championship.
At the end of last season, Mitchell shockingly entered the transfer portal and decided to come back home and play in the state of Texas for the Texas Longhorns.
Mitchell has exploded out of the gate for the Longhorns, in 6 games he has hauled in 25 receptions for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns. Mitchell is a big reason for the resurgence of the Texas offense that has been firing on all cylinders and is off to a 5-1 start.
Mitchell is a smooth runner who has the competitiveness and mentality of an alpha dog. He times his jumps and breaks well, and is proficient in catching passes at their highest point. With his 6’4” frame, he makes most combat catches and is difficult to stop when he boxes defenders out.
He excels with running after the catch, using his size to break tackles and add yards to every reception. He has a wide catch radius, making him that much harder to defend one-on-one. He performs well outside the numbers and runs clean routes to help quarterbacks when they need to lead him to the sideline. He is aware of where he is at all times and does a great job of getting his feet in bounds. He plays well against press coverage and has enough of a burst to leave the press defender chasing him.
However, Mitchell is quick but will not put back end pressure on a defense like a D.K. Metcalf. He has strong hands but at times, especially when facing the quarterback on zone passes, he lets the ball get too close to his body instead of using his hands and catching it in front of him. He is better at over the shoulder catches than he is at curls or crossing patterns. His aggressiveness is great, but he can get careless with how he carries the ball in trying to pick up extra yards. Though he has been successful at the collegiate level with getting off the line of scrimmage, he’s only 196 lbs. and may be asked by pro teams to add some muscle in the weight room.
Mitchell is a poor man’s Drake London. The former Trojan and current Atlanta Falcon is a matchup nightmare because of his size, and Mitchell compares well to London as both use their height, not speed, to win battles. Both receivers have high motors and compete on every play, but Mitchell won’t get selected as high as London.
Strengths
Length/Catch radius
Yards after catch
Hands
High point–50/50 balls
Weaknesses
Weight/build
Zone catches/facing QB
Speed
Blocking- Work in progress
Final Analysis
Adonai Mitchell is rising up many draft boards and with his size and ability is in that 2nd tier of receivers who will hear their names called early on day 2.
Draft 412 Draft Projection - Round 2 or Round 3