With the Indianapolis Colts on their bye week, let’s take a look back at how their 2024 rookie class is performing, up next is second-round pick AD Mitchell.
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PFF grade: 59.2
Rank among rookie WRs: 10th/16
Rank among all WRs: 94th
Stats to know: On the season, Mitchell has caught 20-of-42 targets (47.6%) for 254 yards at 12.7 yards per catch. Most of his snaps have come on the boundary but he has played about 28% of his snaps from the slot as well, mostly when Josh Downs has been out of the lineup. Dropped passes have been an issue at times. His drop rate of 13% is the 13th-highest among receivers.
Breakdown: Mitchell’s talent is evident. With his combination of athleticism and route-running abilities, he’s a very difficult matchup, who is able to create separation and win at all levels of the field. We often see this on throws in his direction where he has space to make plays.
However, like many first year players, Mitchell is battling the learning curve that comes with making the jump to the NFL level, which has resulted in inconsistent play. In addition to the drops, he and Anthony Richardson frequently weren’t on the same page early on this season.
With that said, we have certainly seen growth from Mitchell as the year has progressed. Without Michael Pittman against Buffalo, Mitchell caught all six of his passes for 71 yards. From Weeks 9-12, he caught 9-of-10 passes for 136 yards–although he had a crucial dropped pass recently against New England.
The up and down play from Mitchell has resulted in inconsistent playing time, which includes him oftentimes getting out-snapped by Ashton Dulin and playing around 12ish snaps per game.
It’s a bit of double-edged sword for the Colts–if they play Mitchell, they have to be ready for some inconsistencies. But if they don’t play Mitchell regularly, then the team is elongating his rookie learning curve. Like any young player he needs reps. I certainly don’t expect Mitchell to be out-snapping Pittman, Downs or Alec Pierce, but for a passing game that could use more juice, I’d like to see him get more than 12 snaps per game over the remainder of the regular season.
What WR coach Reggie Wayne said about Mitchell: “He just needs more snaps,” Wayne said in November. “It’s no different than when I was a rookie. I just needed more snaps, I needed more opportunities to go in there and do it and that’ll come, that’ll come with time.”
More from Wayne on Mitchell:
“His style’s a little unorthodox,” Wayne said via Colts.com “He’s quick, he can run. He understands leverage…AD should have been top five receiver taken (in the draft). So that’s just with his ability, his speed, his understanding of the game.”
“I think the one thing people miss on him is just his smarts,” Wayne added. “Understanding coverages and things of that nature. So being able to do all those things, they kind of give you a little edge.”
