Devy Digest: Adonai Mitchell

The Devy Digest, covering Texas Longhorns wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.

• Adonai Mitchell
• Position: Wide Receiver
• Texas Longhorns
  
• 6’4” 196 lbs
  
• Age: 21
  
• Draft Eligible: 2024
• Devy Digest WR 2024 Draft Rank: 10

Who is Adonai Mitchell?

Adonai Mitchell was a 4⭐️ in the composites. He attended Cane Ridge High in Tennessee and was part of the 2021 class, initially committed to Georgia. As a True Freshman, Mitchell made an impact right away. He received playing time in nine regular season games and both playoff games. The importance of this must be stated as Georgia won’t just trot out a True Freshman without reason. They are trying to win a National Championship every year and will not risk a young player on the field that can be a detriment.

Mitchell would begin his trademark playmaking ability by catching touchdowns in each of his first two playoff games as a True Freshman. As a Sophomore, Mitchell missed time due to injury; but in three key games (the opener against Oregon and both playoff games) Mitchell would catch a touchdown.

After helping Georgia win a National Championship against TCU, Adonai Mitchell would enter the portal and wind up at Texas. Mitchell stated he wanted to be closer to home and bring a National Championship to Texas. This past season Mitchell led a formidable duo out wide with Xavier Worthy. Mitchell would once again come up huge in the playoffs, as he scored another touchdown. He also played the entire season and showed unique traits and sets of skills that will translate to the next level. Mitchell would conclude his collegiate career scoring a touchdown in every playoff game.

Strengths

Adonai Mitchell is a twitchy athlete for someone his size. He possesses traits for the next level, including good route running for his size and someone that understands leverage and spacing. Mitchell is cerebral as a football player. He understands how to play his corner and bait them,  setting up traps for them to bite throughout the game.

Mitchell also has good footwork for his size and brings functional play strength. He’s a very springy athlete and will use that athleticism to win. He can overcome his other deficiencies because of this. Mitchell has a knack for making big plays when the team needs him. It’s a true “Alpha” trait that is innate in this player. He has long strides that just eats up ground and can attack his corner to get him off balance.

Mitchell has a nice blend of traits we like to see at the next level. While he’s not a superior high-end athlete like some others in his class, the combination of his footwork, understanding of how to play his corner, and his innate ability to come up with a big play are traits that are tantalizing.

Areas of Improvement & Concern

While Adonai Mitchell is a good route runner, he won’t be a route running savant. Not many 6-foot-4 receivers can be labeled that in the first place. However, it’s something to note within his profile.

At times, Mitchell will misjudge where the ball is, but can overcome that with his athleticism. We saw that in full effect against Washington on his late touchdown catch, where Mitchell misjudged or mistimed the play but was athletic enough to hang in the air for the ball to finally get to him. He will need to improve that aspect as he will not be able to get away with that in the NFL.

Mitchell could be more creative with the ball in his hands after the catch. That aspect has never been a strong suit for him, even dating back to his Georgia days.

Beyond the Numbers

Mitchell lined up in the slot at about 18% of the time in his final season in college and no more than 17 times in any game. It’s an interesting uptick as prior seasons were sub-10%. Mitchell earned about 40% of his targets on intermediate routes and garnered a full, diverse route tree. In his final season, Mitchell, had a career 1.68 yards per route ran and an ADOT of 15.6 yards. Mitchell has been a sure-handed catcher the past two seasons, only credited with one drop.

Devy & C2C Value

In Devy drafts, Adonai Mitchell was likely a second round – to a possible third round – pick. Mitchell is a very intriguing prospect, as it’s likely he’s a Day 2 pick in the NFL draft. The wide receiver landscape is starting to change, as we have stalwarts starting to age out. I can see why a manager would like to hang on, but if you can package Mitchell and an asset already on your NFL roster and secure a tier 1 or 2 established WR, I would consider that move.

In C2C leagues, if you want to reset the timing, you can move off him easily for a college supplemental pick and possibly a fringe asset such as Brandon Inniss. If you are unable to move him, you shouldn’t have fears. This is a deep WR class and Mitchell brings some unique traits that I can see a team falling in love with. Mitchell has shown a knack for making plays on the big stage and is athletic enough that he will be given chances at the next level. While the top five wide receivers of this class are essentially locked in, 6-10 can be argued and placed anywhere in that range. Mitchell at 10 doesn’t mean he isn’t going to be a great prospect, it’s just preference.

NFL Outlook

Adonai Mitchell should test decently well – if he goes through the testing process. He might not have a blazing 40-time, but with his size, it isn’t expected. It’ll be interesting to see how many of these receivers test and how many just get measured and weigh-in to wait for their pro day.

Mitchell isn’t scheme dependent and can work in any offense. While he lined up in the slot at Texas, I view him as a more traditional ‘X’ Receiver. Could a team use him as a big slot on a key third down to get a mismatch? Yes, they could. Mitchell is twitchy enough to operate in the slot for critical situations where the team needs a conversion but he hasn’t shown the affinity to create after the catch in his three collegiate years. Day 2 draft capital is well within the range of outcomes.