Hearing Adonai Mitchell’s name called Thursday night during the 2024 NFL Draft felt like destiny. The Texas wide receiver was the No. 21 player on our big board and was highly regarded as a Tier 2 receiver behind Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabors and Roma Odunze.
However, he was not selected until the 51st pick by the Indianapolis Colts.
It was a head-scratching move for the home fans, but one that several teams around the league fully expected. “I liked the film, but the interview was terrible,” an NFC scout said of Mitchell on Friday night. Another AFC East front office employee said only that it was a “characteristic concern” but declined to elaborate further.
In the pre-draft report, Mr Mitchell, who has type 1 diabetes, said: Couldn’t manage his condition well and that may have been a source of friction.
“When his blood sugar drops, he becomes rude and disrespectful and doesn’t pay attention to meetings. That’s why we get really, really shitty character reports from Georgia and Texas. But his condition… When it’s normal and he’s back to normal by lunchtime, he’s at practice full of energy, he’s a best-practice player, he loves soccer.”
He also said Mitchell’s lack of control over his blood sugar levels was likely a sign of immaturity. It’s unclear if this affected the pre-draft process, but Ian Rapoport noted on NFL Network that he heard from multiple teams that Mitchell seemed disinterested during meetings.
It’s clear that many teams had concerns about meeting with Mitchell. Of the seven WR-needy teams that selected within Mitchell’s range, all chose to go in different directions.
- Jacksonville Jaguars (23): Brian Thomas Jr.
- Kansas City Chiefs (28): Xavier Worthy
- San Francisco 49ers (31): Ricky Pearsall
- Carolina Panthers (32): Xavier Leggett
- Buffalo Bills (33): Keon Coleman
- Los Angeles Chargers (34): Ladd McConkey
- New England Patriots (37): Jaylin Polk
As for AD Mitchell, his football talent is undeniable. Next, consider how serious these character concerns and claims of immaturity are. If they could fix those, the Colts could have earned the right to draft him.
