Gang Green Nation
About a month ago, the Jets stunned the NFL world by dealing homegrown, former All-Pro corner Sauce Gardner to the Colts. The move drew near-universal praise from national media, largely because New York managed to land two first-round picks for a defensive player, something that’s almost unheard of throughout NFL history.
In national coverage, nearly all of the focus went toward how Gardner would fit in Indianapolis and what the Jets planned to do with their newly acquired draft capital. But there was another component of that trade, one that wasn’t even highlighted or included when the deal first broke.
Now, roughly four weeks later, that overlooked piece has become one of the primary reasons Jets fans still tune in despite a disastrous start to the season.
Let’s take a closer look at Adonai (AD) Mitchell: his background, his emerging role in New York, and how he could shape the Jets’ future.
Mitchell’s HS / College Background:
AD Mitchell was born and raised in Missouri City, Texas. He began his high school career playing quarterback, largely because he was the most dynamic athlete on the field. As he started to show high-end potential as a wide receiver, he still struggled to draw major recruiting attention. As a result, Mitchell moved to Antioch, Tennessee, a suburb about 12 miles outside downtown Nashville, where he focused full-time on developing as a receiver. Rated as a 3-star prospect coming out of high school, he eventually committed to the University of Georgia, spending his first two college seasons there before transferring to Texas.
Mitchell made an immediate impact at Georgia, posting 29 receptions on 52 targets for 248 yards as a freshman, an especially strong showing and an unusually efficient start for a former 3-star prospect, highlighted by a 1.66 yards per route run. His sophomore year was derailed by injury, which contributed to his decision to transfer to Texas.
It was at Texas where Mitchell truly broke out and established himself as a legitimate NFL prospect. In his junior season, he recorded 55 receptions for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns, quickly becoming one of the most dangerous vertical threats in the nation.
Much like his role at Georgia, Mitchell operated primarily as an X receiver, thriving as a downfield target with a 16.0 average depth of target and a strong 1.72 yards per route run. Perhaps most impressively, he dropped only one pass all year, finishing with an elite 1.8% drop rate — the fourth-lowest among receivers with at least 80 targets.
Mitchell chose to forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL Draft. Initially projected as a middle of the second-round prospect, he quickly climbed consensus draft boards thanks to an outstanding combine performance and elite athletic testing. Below is Mitchell’s RAS (Relative Athletic Score), a metric that aggregates a player’s combine and pro-day athletic results into a single 0–10 score, comparing them to historical results at the same position. While not a perfect measure, RAS consistently highlights top-tier athletes. Mitchell...
