Indianapolis Colts rookie receiver AD Mitchell was one of five players selected by the 33rd Football Team’s Tyler Brooke to be a potential breakout candidate in his second NFL season.
Brooke writes that Mitchell is “just a small adjustment away” from being much more productive this upcoming season.
“Wide receivers can struggle to acclimate to the differences in play speed and arm talent at the NFL level, and that’s something that really hurt Adonai Mitchell’s productivity as a rookie,” said Brooke.
It was a very rocky rookie season for Mitchell, to say the least. Overall, he caught just 45% of his 51 targets at 13.6 yards per catch with no touchdowns.
He would struggle to finish plays and there were numerous instances when Mitchell and the quarterback just weren’t on the same page.
When the receiver room was healthy, Mitchell was often seeing somewhere between 10-15 snaps per game, and at times, was behind Ashton Dulin in playing time.
Going into Year 2, consistency is the biggest thing that Mitchell needs to find.
“Like any young player, there’s going to be a maturation process with him,” GM Chris Ballard said via the team site. “And he has some definitely, really strong moments, but we need more consistent moments from him.”
However, with all that said, what’s evident about Mitchell is his ability to create separation and get open. With his combination of route running and athleticism, he’s a very difficult matchup who can win at all levels of the field.
We started to see some progress from Mitchell as the year progressed. With Michael Pittman out against the Bills in Week 10, Mitchell caught all six targets in that game for 71 yards. He also hauled in 3-of-4 passes in Weeks 16 and 17 for 58 yards.
The added challenge for Mitchell when it comes to earning playing time is that he is at a crowded position. The Colts’ offense doesn’t utilize four receiver sets often, and cemented at that position group are Pittman and Josh Downs, along with the added emergence of Alec Pierce, who had a breakout season.