James Mitchell Growing at Tight End Position

Detroit Lions tight end James Mitchell is nearly two years removed from tearing his ACL in college. 

Steve Heiden, Detroit's new tight ends coach, expressed to reporters the team has expectations the talented tight end will continue to grow at the position during his sophomore campaign in the NFL. 

"We talked about two years outside of the ACL and kind of wanting him to kind of grow in the position. And I think we've seen that," said Heiden. "Here's what I love about James. We come out here every day and I have things for him to focus on and work on -- and they show up when we get into practice."

After the Lions traded T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings, Ben Johnson's offense deployed their tight ends more, including utilizing two and three tight end packages. 

While the touchdown numbers were impressive, the unit only secured a total of 33 receptions in that same span, as the wideouts were heavily targeted in Johnson's offense. 

With added talent in the tight ends room, along with Mitchell's development, the unit as a whole could see far greater targets and receptions in 2023. 

"He works his tail off to try to give me what what I want to see out of him on a day-to-day basis. And he's getting better," Heiden explained. "Kid's got a bunch of talent, man, and I'm excited to see him get the pads on and let's get physical with some guys."

Mitchell finished his rookie campaign with 11 receptions for 113 yards and one receiving touchdown.