• Small school, big-time talent: Mitchell coming out of Toledo is notable in today’s current college football landscape. In a post-transfer portal world, there are fewer top prospects from small schools than only a few years ago. Mitchell may be the only first-round pick from a non-Power Five school this year.
• Senior Bowl performance: The Senior Bowl was particularly important for Mitchell because he played almost strictly off coverage at Toledo, and so he needed to show the NFL some tape of how he fares up at the line in man coverage situations. He didn’t necessarily need to be lights out on those reps, but at least showing he has the skills to make that transition at the next level was significant.
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One of the most intriguing prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft is Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell.
A virtual lock for the first round, Mitchell is the top corner on many draft boards and could be the first corner selected in the draft.
Mitchell coming out of Toledo is notable in today’s current college football landscape. In a post-transfer portal world, there are fewer top prospects from small schools than only a few years ago. Mitchell may be the only first-round pick from a non-Power Five school this year.
In previous drafts, Jared Verse (Albany) or Braden Fiske (Western Michigan) would be top prospects coming from small schools, but each was able to transfer to a college football powerhouse after impressing against lower competition to prove that they could do it against better opponents.
Mitchell chose to remain at Toledo instead.
That’s not to say that he is completely untested against better opponents. He went to the Senior Bowl, where the week of practices serves as an effective audition for NFL personnel in an all-star setting.
The Senior Bowl was particularly important for Mitchell because he played almost strictly off coverage at Toledo, and so he needed to show the NFL some tape of how he fares up at the line in man coverage situations. He didn’t necessarily need to be lights out on those reps, but at least showing he has the skills to make that transition at the next level was significant.
Proving he has those traits was a necessary box to tick for Mitchell because, at 6-foot and 195 pounds, he has the size to play in any scheme. A 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the combine and good explosive numbers in the jumps show he has the athletic profile to do it as well. All that was missing was anything in the way of tape evidence.
In the role he was given at Toledo, Mitchell has been spectacular for two straight seasons. He had back-to-back 91.5-plus PFF grades at a position where consistency is difficult to achieve. He was targeted 132 times over those two seasons and allowed just 54 catches (40.9%).
His coverage grade remained elite regardless of whether he was playing man or zone coverage, all the more impressive because the man coverage he was tasked with typically came from an off-alignment, rather than in a position to press at the line of scrimmage.
Mitchell has been battle-tested in a way some other prospects haven’t — with 2,298 snaps of college play under his belt. He was also extremely productive when it came to getting his hands on the football. Though over 1,000 snaps in coverage resulted in only six career interceptions, he has 32 pass breakups to his name, meaning he intercepted or broke up 28.8% of the passes thrown into his coverage over his college career.
The only real question mark for Mitchell is the level of competition he faced. Without transferring to a bigger school, his tape against top-tier receivers is limited. In 2023, his schedule featured the likes of Texas Southern, Buffalo and Bowling Green.
The year before, he faced Ohio State and gave up a catch every time he was thrown at (four for four that went for 68 yards and a touchdown).
That Ohio State offense was a monster, as C.J. Stroud was throwing to Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. One of the catches (the touchdown) also necessitated an absurd circus catch from Harrison to score, but this is also the standard in the NFL, and at the very minimum, it was a game in which Mitchell did not excel.
Overall, there is a ton to like about Mitchell’s game. What concerns evaluators may have about his level of competition is offset to a degree by his performance at the Senior Bowl as well as the fact that his role and assignments at the next level are going to put him in a better position to succeed. Playing strictly off-coverage against NFL offenses is a recipe for being blowtorched on a regular basis. That Mitchell was as good as he was in college despite that alignment is a testament to how good he can be in a defense that varies its look and coverages more.
It’s becoming increasingly unusual to see a small school prospect with multiple years of top tape on his resume, but Mitchell bucks the trend and should be one of the top defenders selected in this draft. He has all of the tools needed to be a top-tier corner in today’s game, and the fact he didn’t abandon his college program to prove that he could do it on a bigger stage shouldn’t be held against him.
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