The Jets recently acquired wide receiver Adonai Mitchell via trade and he has already played in four games for the team. Today we break Mitchell down in detail.
The 23-year old Mitchell is listed at 6’2″
and 205 pounds and was a second round pick out of Texas in 2024. He has started nine games in his career so far, recording 43 catches for 618 yards and a touchdown.
Background
Mitchell was a three-star high school recruit, who headed to Georgia in 2021 and showed some immediate potential as he led all receivers with seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown in the annual spring game. He would go on to start 12 of 15 games as a freshman, racking up 29 catches for 426 yards and four scores.
His sophomore season was wrecked by an injury that limited him to six appearances and three starts. He ended up with nine receptions for 134 yards and three touchdowns. At the end of the year, he transferred to Texas.
As a junior, Mitchell put together a strong season to earn all-Big 12 second team honors. He started 13 of 14 games and racked up 55 catches, 845 yards and 11 touchdowns. That included three 100-yard games.
The Colts drafted Mitchell with the 52nd overall pick last April and he got some opportunities early as he started four of the first seven games. However, he was ineffective and didn’t play as much once Josh Downs returned from injury. He ended the season with 23 receptions for 312 yards.
Ahead of this year, Mitchell’s role was uncertain. Then, in what should have been his breakout moment, Mitchell broke away for what looked like a 73-yard touchdown against the Rams, which would have been the first of his career. However, he fumbled the ball away as he was crossing the goal line.
The Rams ultimately won by seven points and Mitchell, who ended up with what was at the time a career-high 96 yards on three catches, never really got a chance to build on that performance. When the Colts acquired Sauce Gardner from the Jets at the trade deadline, Mitchell was included in the deal.
After a rocky start with the Jets, Mitchell broke out in his third game against Atlanta, in which he ended with eight catches for 102 yards and scored his first NFL touchdown on a 52-yard pass from Tyrod Taylor. He only had one catch on Sunday against Miami though.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Mitchell brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Mitchell has good height and a nice catch radius but his frame is a little lightweight and he could probably benefit from adding some strength and mass.
He is a spectacular athlete with speed, burst and explosiveness. At the combine, he ran a 4.34 in the 40-yard dash and posted a 39-inch vertical and 136-inch broad jump.
He did not do any agility testing or the bench press at the combine or his pro day.
Usage
Mitchell has primarily played on the outside during his college and pro career, although when he was a rookie, he mostly played in the slot during preseason and does line up there from time to time. Really, though, he looks like a player who will be groomed to be an X receiver at the pro level.
In high school, Mitchell started off his career as a quarterback. This can be a weapon on gadget plays as he completed a 24-yard pass with the Colts and threw a successful two-point conversion at Georgia.
Deep threat
Mitchell established himself as a viable deep threat in college. He is someone who can get behind the defense on long passes, while also working the seams and being effective on jump balls and back shoulder throws.
He does a good job of tracking and locating the ball well while the ball is in the air.
Hands
Jets fans could be forgiven for thinking that Mitchell’s hands are a major issue after he failed to hold onto three catchable passes in his first game with the team. However, his previous history hopefully suggests this hasn’t been the primary concern for him.
While he dropped six passes on just 52 targets as a freshman, Mitchell seemed to have fixed that as he had just one drop on 103 targets over the next two seasons along with some highlight reel plays.
With the Colts, he dropped four passes in 80 targets in preseason and regular season action. However, on account of him getting a lot of low percentage targets his catch rate has been low at times. He only caught 10 of 27 targets at the start of his rookie season and then had just three catches on 13 targets in his first two games with the Jets.
Where he does drop passes, this can be due to technique as he can be a body-catcher at times. However, it’s usually due to a lack of focus.
Since he’s so athletic and has a good catch radius, Mitchell is effective at adjusting to throws with the ball in the air and can go up to get it, keep his feet inbounds near the sideline and go low to scoop up diving catches.
Routes
Mitchell has intriguing skills as a route runner, and these are reflected in separation metrics, some of which have him ranked in the top 10 in the NFL.
His releases are clean and he’s a technician who has good balance and can make sharp changes of direction to create short-area separation.
His understanding of leverage is sound and he uses his feet and head fakes well to disguise his breaks effectively.
In one-on-one match-ups he can embarrass defenders with his ability to lose them in space.
He’s had some success on similar moves at the pro level too, making him a viable option on third downs and other gotta-have-it situations.
While this is all encouraging, Mitchell himself has admitted that he can be guilty of trying to do too much at times. If he’s over-complicating things by being too intricate in terms of setting up his route break, then this can lead to the timing being thrown off, giving the appearance of not being on the same page as the quarterback. At least he is aware of this issue and addressing it, though.
Red zone
Mitchell only has one NFL touchdown, which was a 52-yarder, so he hasn’t produced in the red zone yet at the NFL level. However, he did score a red zone touchdown in preseason action.
At the college level, he had seven touchdowns in his first two seasons and then 11 in his one year at Texas. He displays the ability to get open in close quarters near the goal line but is also an option to throw up a jump ball to on a fade.
After the catch
Mitchell is fast and does a good job of getting upfield once he has the ball in his hands. However, his numbers in terms of breaking tackles are underwhelming.
He gained 38 yards on five screen passes in college but has only generated 20 yards on four screen passes at the NFL level, one of which was in preseason.
Mitchell had one fumble in college but has three in two years at the NFL level, including the one at the goal line in the Rams game.
Blocking
Mitchell is not renowned as a good blocker and his performance grades on analysis sites such as Pro Football Focus have tended to be below average with scouts questioning his strength, technique and consistency in terms of effort.
He has had one holding penalty in regular season action and also had another in preseason.
Physicality
As noted, Mitchell could probably benefit from adding some strength. There are times where he can be slowed up by the jam in press coverage, re-routed as he goes down the field or out-muscled at the catch-point.
Some Colts fans also felt there were occasions where he would shy away from contact and be unwilling to make a contested catch in traffic.
Much like other aspects of his game, he will displays flashes of physicality but doesn’t do this consistently enough.
Special Teams
Mitchell has hardly any experience of playing on special teams at the NFL or collegiate level. He has played four snaps on special teams in the NFL, three of which were as a punt gunner. In college, he played six snaps in his whole career, with three of those rushing punts.
Instincts and Intelligence
When considering Mitchell’s instincts, the first thing to bring up is the goal line fumble earlier this year. On that occasion, it wasn’t a situation like the Malachi Corley fumble where he deliberately dropped the ball before actually crossing the line. Instead, the ball slipped out of Mitchell’s hand just as he was about to cross the line and start celebrating. He immediately realized, but couldn’t rescue the situation before the ball rolled out of bounds.
There have, however, been situations where he appeared to run the wrong route. He also had a play in preseason where he lined up offside, negating a 38-yard pass play.
Attitude
Mitchell has had some character concerns, which have led to suggestions that he can be uncoachable, abrasive and lacking in focus at times.
Apparently, this is all connected to the fact that he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a teenager and has struggled to manage the condition. It’s when his blood sugar levels are not right that he has typically struggled with his focus and become frustrated.
The other side of this is that coaches and teammates talk about Mitchell as someone who is dedicated to his craft and determined to be as good as he possibly can. His college teammate, Atlanta’s pro bowl running back Bijan Robinson, said that he will catch about 500 balls every day after practice. Reports from the Jets’ coaching staff have suggested he’s been one of the first to arrive and last to leave since he was traded to New York, too.
Ultimately, this paints a picture of someone who perhaps has some maturity issues and hasn’t managed the condition all that well. However, if this means the Jets need to micro-manage the situation, then they should clearly just make every effort to do that because it has obviously held him back.
Injuries
So far, Mitchell has been injury-free at the NFL level. However, he was affected by a high ankle sprain during his sophomore year, which caused him to miss several games and lingered for the entire season.
Scheme Fit
Mitchell has already settled into an outside receiver role with the Jets and when Garrett Wilson returns, he would seem to complement Wilson well. Mitchell would primarily be the X receiver and Wilson could be the Z.
It seems unlikely that the Jets will already view Mitchell as a surefire starter for 2026, so they will probably bring in some competition for him. However, if he has a strong last month, perhaps that will shift their priorities at that position.
With the Colts, he was a teammate of current Jets Khalil Herbert, Jelani Woods and Sam Womack. He was also a teammate of Keilan Robinson at Texas and Arian Smith at Georgia. He never played with Jermaine Johnson at Georgia, but Johnson transferred out after Mitchell committed so there was some overlap there.
Conclusions
Mitchell was understandably a polarizing player among the Colts’ fanbase. He displayed tantalizing glimpses of his potential with the Colts, but ultimately was a frustrating player who underperformed and was consistently inconsistent.
Jets fans have seen this version of Mitchell too, in his early appearances with the team which had some less-patient fans writing him off already. However, his breakout game against the Falcons is the best example so far in his career of him realizing some of that potential and turning it into real production.
The challenge for Mitchell now will be to prove that this game was not a one-off. However, the change of scenery has been good for him and at least he now has something tangible to build on.
Colts receivers coach Reggie Wayne has been consistent in sharing his confidence in Mitchell’s ability and his chances of developing into a key contributor with the Colts. Wayne was disappointed to see Mitchell leave without really getting a chance to prove him right, but the Jets will be hopeful that Mitchell can take everything Wayne taught him and establish himself here instead.
The upside is tantalizing and when Mitchell looks good, he looks really special. We may need to be patient with him as the Jets seek to unlock his full potential over the next year or two, though.
