Anytime a potential future Hall of Fame wideout speaks on a young and upcoming wide receiver, you have to listen.
According to former Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens great Steve Smith Sr., new Indianapolis Colts rookie AD Mitchell is a Top 5 wideout in this year’s draft class—at least when he conducted his pre-draft film breakdown a few months ago:
“AD Mitchell, No. 5. I’d just like to say, as I do a deep dive in catching, watching his film, more and more, he’s moving up my categories,” Smith Sr. said on his ‘Steve Smith Sr. film breakdown.’ “I’d put AD Mitchell, I’ll put him in the top 5 of this wide receivers class.”
“His grading, worst game is Alabama. I disagree, there’s some things in the Alabama game that stood out to me that I will show you why I believe he’s in that Top 5 category for the wide receivers coming out because of his stature, what he can do. Oh yeah, and he won a National Championship because he played two years at the University of Georgia.”
“Where, oh where, does he do his work? In the slot, 114 snaps, 13% in the slot, so guess what folks? 761 (snaps) of his work, pretty much 80-90% of his work is done out wide, so that’s why he’s an X receiver. 35 games played, 93 receptions. 1,407 (receiving yards), depending on where you get your information . . . and 18 touchdowns.”
“This is pretty impressive, 7 drops all of his career. 1 drop in 2023. 0 drops in 2022. 45 first downs in 2023, and a total of 75 first downs.”
“So you know what I love to call that, that’s a little bit of a chain mover. Chain mover! Good feet. Understands exactly what he is, and what he is not, and he’s an all-around wide receiver.”
“… Mitchell is a dynamic football player. Good releases. Love his routes. The more deep dive I do, the more I love seeing what he can bring to the table at X wide receiver. Excellent route runner. Outside threat for sure. His speed is impressive, and the more and more I watch his film, the more and more I believe he’s moving up.”
“And so I made the mistake of saying, in a pre-statement before the deep dive, and so I can tell you right now, AD Mitchell, he’s my Top 5 wide receiver in this NFL Draft. Take it to the bank. . . . I think he’s more defined than some of these other guys that teams are pushing up there.”
Like current Colts wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne, Smith Sr. should know a thing or two about wide receivers too. After all, he was a former 3x NFL All-Pro, 5x NFL Pro Bowler, and NFL Comeback Player of the Year during his prolific 16-year playing career.
It’s not the first time that Smith Sr. has praised a young Colts wideout either, as last year, Smith Sr. was a big fan of Colts 2nd-year slot Josh Downs, who had a productive rookie campaign, despite largely playing with a backup quarterback.
While he slid to the Colts at the 52nd overall pick in the second round due to alleged ‘maturity concerns,’ there’s a lot to like with AD—which Smith also apparently sees.
At 6’2,” 205 pounds, Mitchell has some size, speed (4.34 forty time), and as Smith Sr. mentioned, solid collegiate production.
Additionally, as a rookie prospect, Mitchell is well regarded for his pristine drop rate, body control making contested catches, and rare ability to separate at the top of his routes. If it all truly clicks, we could be talking about another future Hall of Fame comparison, Davante Adams, as Mitchell’s highest pro ceiling.
#Colts HC Shane Steichen on what excites him about receiver AD Mitchell:
“I think he’s got a rare ability to separate at the top of routes. He’s got an arsenal of releases versus press man, you can see it show up on tape… To get him where we got him, I couldn’t be more fired up… pic.twitter.com/MYBcPCWd4v
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) April 28, 2024
It should be absolutely ‘pure popcorn fun at the movies’ next year watching Mitchell test out 2nd-year quarterback Anthony Richardson’s big-time arm strength downfield—as the pairing should help generate more explosive plays for the Colts passing attack, which has been sorely lacking in recent years.
Even though wideouts typically take a little bit of time to develop, it wouldn’t be surprising if Mitchell immediately pushes incumbent wideout Alec Pierce for first-team reps in what should be a healthy competition in Colts training camp. At the very least, he should be used situationally downfield in certain passing packages—even as a rookie.
Welcome to Indianapolis, AD Mitchell, you already have a big fan in Smith Sr., as well as among the Horseshoe Faithful!
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