Colts draft WR Adonai Mitchell after dealing second round pick to Panthers

Indianapolis’ war room certainly had Mitchell within the top-10 receivers on its draft board once Colts head coach Shane Steichen and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter attended Mitchell’s pro day in Austin. 

DETROIT – ‘AR to AD for six’.

The Indianapolis Colts drafted Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell with the No. 52 overall pick after trading with the Carolina Panthers to move down six slots in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Early projections had Mitchell as a first-round pick and the 21-year-old is an absolute steal when considering Indianapolis received a pair of fifth round picks in the deal, including the No. 142 and No. 155 overall pick. 12 of the first 15 draft picks during the second round were made via trade.

Mitchell was the fifth Longhorn to be drafted and the 11th receiver taken off the board. It is the first time in Texas program history in which five players were picked in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. Indianapolis’ war room certainly had Mitchell within the top-10 receivers on its draft board once Colts head coach Shane Steichen and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter attended Mitchell’s pro day in Austin.

The 2023 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year was the key addition Texas signed through the transfer portal. He emerged with a breakout campaign, racking up 55 receptions for 845 receiving yards and led the conference with 11 receiving touchdowns. In two key games against Alabama and BYU, two of Mitchell’s three receptions were caught in the end zone. According to Pro Football Focus, 81.6% of his snaps were outside the numbers, 82% of his catches gained first downs and only one drop has been registered to him in 103 targets since 2022.

Mitchell began his college career at Georgia and won back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022. As a true freshman playing in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Mitchell hauled in a 40-yard TD in the fourth quarter to give Georgia a 19-18 lead it wouldn’t relinquish against Alabama.

Mitchell admitted to reporters on Friday’s zoom call he was “just kind of pissed” while faced with the reality that his draft stock had plummeted since the combine. He chooses to vary his pace when running routes to maintain control and energy for an entire drive. When he decides to kick it into third gear, he is among the only Colts players who can match the speed of second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. Mitchell ran a blazing 4.34 40-yard dash two months ago at the NFL Scouting Combine. In the broad jump, his 11’4” leap is the sixth-furthest jump for a receiver in the history of the combine.

Texas’ blazin’ burner was a red zone magnet and led the program to its first College Football Playoff berth. At 6-foot-2, 205-pounds, Mitchell has raw athleticism and scored a 9.99 out of 10 Relative Athletic Score, which is among the five best scores ever recorded in the draft era (1987-present). Colts receivers coach Reggie Wayne aims to develop the rookie to split reps with Alec Pierce during training camp and give Richardson another electric gadget.