Notre Dame Transfer Target Kris Mitchell Has Intriguing Skills

Notre Dame is working the transfer portal to supplement its 2024 roster, and the staff had a couple of players on campus this weekend for visits. One of those players was Florida International wide receiver Kris Mitchell. 

Mitchell is a graduate, which is why he was already able to get on campus for a visit to the Irish. It's clear that Notre Dame has legitimate interest in Mitchell, and with this visit it's clear the feeling is mutual.

I did a deep dive into Mitchell as a prospect, so let's take a look together, shall we.

Height/Weight: 6-1, 175
Hometown/High School: Jacksonville, Fla./Mandarin

Eligibility Remaining: 1 season

Mitchell was a part of FIU's 2019 class, which means he will be a sixth-year player in 2024.

CAREER STATS

Mitchell has been part of the FIU rotation for a few seasons, but he broke out as a senior. Here is a look at his production for the Panthers.

2023: 64 catches, 1,118 yards, 17.5 YPC, 6 TD
2022: 23 catches, 348 yards, 15.1 YPC, 4 TD
2021: 9 catches, 158 yards, 17.6 YPC, 1 TD
2020: 4 catches, 39 yards, 9.8 YPC, 0 TD

Career Totals: 100 catches, 1,663 yards, 16.6 YPC, 11 TD

Mitchell was an outside receiver in the FIU offense. While Notre Dame plays mostly field/boundary with its receivers, FIU plays left/right. Mitchell was primarily on the left this past season, and the only times I saw him to the right side was in a twins look with only a tight end backside.

68.8% of catches went for first downs, which is an impressive number. For context, Notre Dame had just one wide receiver that had over a 50% first down rate, and that was Jordan Faison at 52.6%. The next best rates were Jaden Greathouse and Jayden Thomas at 48.0%. The two Z receivers - Rico Flores and Tobias Merriweather - were at 38.8% and 38.5%.

SIZE/BLOCKING

Mitchell is on the thin side, but he has good length for a player that is around 6-0 to 6-1 (he's listed at 6-1). His frame reminds me a lot of former Notre Dame receiver Kevin Stepherson. Although he is thin, his age and time in a college strength program has allowed him to develop decent functional strength, which helps him off the line and handle himself downfield as a route runner.

He'll never be a dominant blocker, but the aforementioned functional strengths combines with a good compete level to allow Mitchell to be a solid blocker. He can handle himself at the point of attack, but he also mixes up a vertical release where he shows a deep pass release, gets the defensive back to run with him, and then engages down the field.

ATHLETIC SKILLS

Mitchell is a smooth athlete with explosiveness as a vertical player. This is another area where he reminds me a great deal of Stepherson. I'm not sure what his 40-time is, but Mitchell shows an impressive burst off the line and he gets to top speed quickly. His second gear out of vertical routes allows him to get over top of the defense on posts and over routes. He also shows the ability to close out on outside verticals.

Mitchell isn't incredibly sudden, but he shows good foot quickness, which aids him as a route runner. He's not a dynamic make-you-miss player, but he shows enough wiggle down the field to be effective, and he can use his speed and vision to make plays in the screen game. His easy movement ability allows him to show impressive efficiency when working speed cuts.

I like his overall body control as both a pass catcher and route runner.

Mitchell has impressive stamina for a player his size. He played over 700 snaps at FIU (according to Pro Football Focus), but he was a good second half player in games, and November was without question his best month of the season.

ROUTE RUNNING

Mitchell didn't have an expansive route package at FIU, but he ran everything he would need in the Irish offense. He runs a lot of vertical routes, both outside Go/Stop routes, he runs a good number of posts and he'll run deep middle and over concepts.

Overall he is much sharper and faster as a route runner than the players who lined up at Z for Notre Dame during the 2023 season. Notre Dame's receivers showed little urgency off the line, they lacked efficiency out of breaks and their acceleration on outs and ins left much to be desired. These are all strengths for Mitchell.

Mitchell has impressively developed his craft during his career. This past season he showed an impressive feel for the game; from mixing up his speed on routes, a good feel for openings against the zone and he attacked leverage well and with good speed on vertical releases.

He shows good efficiency on stop/comeback routes, but there is room for improvement. Mitchell tends to lean back and use his feet as the primary method to get into and out of his top ends. He needs to learn to drop his hips more, which would allow him to be even more explosive out of those brakes. 

Overall I'm impressed with how much he's grown as a route runner during his career. His athleticism is impressive, but he's turned into a savvy route runner as well. Should Mitchell decide to come to Notre Dame he would immediately be in contention as the team's best route runner, and he's certainly the best route runner of the potential Z options.

BALL SKILLS

What surprised me the most when I watched Mitchell's film was his pass catching ability. The first thing you'll see on film is how often he does one of my favorite traits in a pass catcher. He doesn't just use his hands to catch the ball, but he attacks the ball in the air with his hands. He'll shoot his hands to the football and he doesn't let it get into his body.

Mitchell also uses his strong hands and top-notch body control to be much more effective making contested catches than you'd expect a 175-180 pound player to be. He shows excellent focus in traffic, even over the middle of the field. When the ball is in the air that is what he is focused on, not the defense collapsing on him. 

Mitchell seems to have a much catch radius than you'd expect from a player whose barely over 6-0. His body control and speed certainly helps, but he also seems to have really good arm length for a player his size.

He has very reliable hands, and PFF credited him with just 3 drops on 100 targets this season. Two of those drops were on tough throws away from his body. 

NOTRE DAME FIT

Should Mitchell pick Notre Dame he would fit perfectly into the Z receiver position, which is the field outside position. You can see that alignment below.