The Indianapolis Colts selected University of Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the second round of the NFL Draft late last month, making him the 11th wide out selected.
Apparently, Mitchell’s draft positioning played a major influence on his choice of jersey number. He has chosen the No. 10 to signify that there were 10 receivers taken before him.
“I originally picked another number, but then I was just up late thinking about it,” Mitchell said, via James Boyd of The Athletic. “I couldn’t get it off my mind.”
Mitchell was selected with the 52nd overall pick, which some felt was too low.
Many feel that the 21-year-old is going to be one of the biggest steals in this draft class, and it seems that Mitchell may subscribe to that opinion.
But as far as the 10 receivers who flew off the board before him? Mitchell isn’t even going to bother to remember their names.
“No. Nobody got a name. Nobody got a face,” he said.
Mitchell is coming off of a 2023 campaign in which he hauled in 55 receptions for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns as Texas’ No. 2 wide out behind Xavier Worthy, who went to the Kansas City Chiefs with the 28th pick.
The Missouri City, Tx. native will join a Colts receiving corps that already includes Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs and Alec Pierce, but head coach Shane Steichen is already liking what he is seeing from the incoming rookie.
“Explosive,” Steichen said. “You can see the size. You can see the speed. (He has) great hands.”
Mitchell ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine and stands 6-foot-2 while wearing around 205 pounds.
He began his collegiate career at Georgia, totaling 38 catches for 560 yards and seven scores in two seasons there before transferring to Texas last year.
Indianapolis went 9-8 and just missed the playoffs in 2023, losing to the Houston Texans in a winner-take-all game for the AFC South division title in the season finale.
The Colts did that without quarterback Anthony Richardson, who played just four games during his rookie campaign due to a concussion and then a shoulder injury which ended up knocking him out for the season.
With the addition of Mitchell plus what already exists on Indy’s roster, Richardson will certainly have no shortage of weapons to throw to in what is hopefully his first full season in 2024.
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