The Indianapolis Colts have seen enough of Adonai Mitchell's free fall at the NFL Draft. With the No. 52 pick, Indy selected the Texas wide receiver, injecting him into what is quickly turning into a dynamic collection of talent on offense headlined by rising second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Throughout the pre-draft process, the Texas wide receiver was generating some first-round buzz, particularly with mocks having him come off the board in the back half of the opening round. With over a dozen picks made on Day 2, however, Mitchell was still to be had. That included three teams electing to take other wideouts instead of Mitchell. The Buffalo Bills used the top pick on Day 2 (No. 33 overall) to bring in Florida State receiver Keon Coleman, while the Los Angeles Chargers added Georgia's Ladd McConkey at No. 34 and the Patriots selected Washington's Ja'Lynn Polk at No. 37.
So what happened? Following his selection, NFL Media reported that Mitchell's pre-draft experience was a bit turbulent. He reportedly didn't interview well and teams were unable to get a good feel for him, which contributed to his stock falling. However, Colts general manager Chris Ballard emphatically pushed back on that notion.
"That's such [bullshit]," said Ballard. "I mean, it [f-----g] is. It's [bullshit]. Like, put your name on it. We tear these young men down. These are 21, 22-year-old men and if people out there can tell me they're perfect in their lives it's crap. It's crap. This is a good kid and for those reports to come out, I said it last year, it's [bullshit]."
Mitchell began his college career at Georgia as a three-star recruit. He was with the Bulldogs for two national championship runs before transferring to Texas before the start of the 2023 season. With the Longhorns, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound pass catcher put together a stellar season, catching 55 passes for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns. That helped him earn second-team Big 12 honors and was named Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
Indy drafted its franchise quarterback last year in Richardson and made sure that he'd keep his top pass-catching option, Michael Pittman Jr., around by inking him to a three-year extension earlier this offseason. Despite having Pittman and promising second-year receiver Josh Downs, adding more weapons into the offense for their young quarterback did make sense coming into Day 2, especially with them being in an increasingly more competitive AFC South.
