The Texas Longhorns have made life difficult for the Kansas State Wildcats in Week 10, and Texas WR Adonai “AD” Mitchell has been a big part of that. How high might Mitchell rise up the 2024 NFL Draft board if he keeps playing like this?
Adonai Mitchell Dominating Kansas State’s Secondary
At the half, Texas leads ranked opponent Kansas State by double digits. And that lead can almost entirely be attributed to Mitchell.
Mitchell has four catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, which came as a result of his incredibly smooth route running and control, along with his space-generating vertical speed at 6’4″, 195 pounds.
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On another big play, Mitchell again used his speed to separate from the defense and hauled in a pass that was a bit long with extraordinary focus and coordination.
In what’s somewhat a continuation of Mitchell’s entire 2023 season, the volume hasn’t been stellar, but he’s maximizing every single opportunity he receives as a pass catcher, generating big plays for Steve Sarkisian’s offense.
Can Mitchell Be a First-Round Pick in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Heading into the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, Xavier Worthy was believed to be the only Texas WR in the first-round discussion. Now, things have changed.
Mitchell is having a career season. After never having eclipsed 426 yards at Georgia, Mitchell entered today’s game with 427 yards and seven touchdowns on 29 catches. He’s now averaging over 15 yards per catch and is scoring a touchdown on over 25% of his catches.
Worthy might have the 4.3 speed that few in the 2024 NFL Draft class can match, and his route-running flexibility is impressive. But Mitchell quietly has similar long-strider speed on the vertical plane and is an equally impressive route runner with stronger hands.
Even in a small sample, Mitchell has boasted a full route tree, which he maximizes with smooth throttle control, hip sink, stopping ability, nuance, spatial awareness, and targeted physicality. He’s quietly one of the best separators in the 2024 NFL Draft and has a 6’4″ frame and hands of steel.
On top of his athletic foundation and separation skills, Mitchell also boasts tone-setting blocking ability — something he’ll be able to further win over coaches with.
Mitchell broke into the latest iteration of our top 10 WRs list here at PFN, and he’s only rising up the 2024 NFL Draft board. There’s an argument to make that he’s a superior prospect to Worthy and that he could feasibly command Round 1 capital in April.
