Adonai Mitchell scouting report: Exploring the Texas WR's strengths and weaknesses

A top-500 overall recruit in 2021 for Georgia, Adonai Mitchell caught 29 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns as a true freshman. In year two, he appeared in only six games due to a high-ankle sprain, catching just nine balls, but those went for 134 yards and three TDs.

In a full 14 games with Texas this past season, he turned 55 receptions into 845 yards and 11 TDs, earning second-team All-Big 12 accolades and being named the conference’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

Details: 6-foot-2, 200 pounds; WR JR.

Breaking down Adonai Mitchell's scouting report

Adonai Mitchell: Allstate Sugar Bowl - Texas v Washington

Releases & route-running:

• Lightning-quick feet off the line and threatens vertically right off the snap, with his pads over his knees, to back up his 4.35 in the 40
• Very elusive to evade defenders trying to impede his progress during the route development
• In particular, he has a real knack for turning his body and reducing the near-shoulder in order to not lose speed on vertical routes
• Has a great understanding for how to widen his stem to create space and choosing the appropriate angles to take downfield depending on how the safeties rotate and operate generally
• Deceptive route-runner, who will lean, change up his pace and footwork in order to make guys turn the wrong way, turning the process into an art form
• The way he can add a little shake to freeze defenders and run away from them is pretty rare, which you’ll see on some double-moves, but it’s the subtle details as he reacts to how defenders turn, that make them look silly
• Runs a sweet out route, where he threatens the post with an inside stem and then sticks his foot in the ground to beat them to the sideline
• He’s a nightmare matchup on slants at the goal-line, with the guy he walk onto the toes and get corners off balance before sticking his foot in the ground
• You love the flexibility and spatial awareness to win in those condensed areas and be an effective red-zone weapon

Ball-tracking, positioning & catching:

• Consistently is friendly to his quarterback when breaking towards the middle of the field
• Frames the ball well, making a mental picture of it, and is able to run through the catch without ever leaving it behind himself
• Actively works back down towards the quarterback after backing up defenders with the vertical push
• Tracks the deep ball exceptionally well, letting it drop in over the shoulder and only reaching out at the last moment
• Shows tremendous concentration to haul in passes with a defender on his hip and raking at his arms
• Has some impressive snatches on passes behind him or where he has to stretch over his head, such as on digs or glances
• Only dropped one of 65 catchable passes over the last two years, despite some sub-par ball placement from Quinn Ewers at Texas in particular

Run after catch & blocking:

• Violently sticks his foot in the ground and gets with the vertical once he secures the catch
• Had a monster performance vs. Alabama in their 2023 upset win at Tuscaloosa, where he beat star cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry off the line, out of the break and at the catch point
• Does a great job of eating up the cushion of off-corners and get his hands latched into their chest
• You like the way he sells the vertical release and then uses the momentum of defenders against them by pushing at the shoulder-pad and keep riding them
• Slides inside and maintains a wide base as he walls off safeties when asked to crack back on perimeter-oriented run calls
• Was motioned inside to insert the C-gap against safeties a few times

Weaknesses:

• While some of it has to do with the way he alters speed, Mitchell has been accused of not always playing up to what he clocks at, while being a little out of control running routes at times with a false step or two
• His receiving grade vs. zone (49th-percentile) was significantly worse than vs. single coverage (98th-percentile)
• Not much of a dynamic YAC threat, who will just make multiple people miss in consecutive fashion
• Needs to do a better job of securing blocks against defenders lined up inside of him (particularly out of the slot) and not allowing them to get past him on screens and plays out to the perimeter
• Obviously has an extensive medical history and has only caught 5+ passes in four career games

Adonai Mitchell's 2024 NFL Draft projection

While there’s certainly a bit of gap between the “big three” among receivers and the rest of the class, Adonai Mitchell is my favorite guy to watch of the bunch.

His ability to paint a picture with his route-running and understand how to truly manipulate defenders with the way he sets them up but also reacts to their technique on the fly is second to none this year.

You can look at Adonai Mitchell not always showcasing quite a same urgency, I personally see a guy who is already like a pro in the way he can force DBs to not play as fast they could and manages games in a certain way.

Adonai Mitchell doesn’t give you a whole lot of dynamism in the open field maybe – even if his YAC numbers are lower based on the average depth of target he saw – but in terms of creating openings for the ball, the ability to gain positioning and make challenging catches look easy.

I just believe Adonai Mitchell's game translates so well to the next level. Assuming full health and adding how tremendously well he tested at the combine, I think he’s a plug-and-play starter worthy of going around pick 20.

Grade: First round