The 2024 Elder Bowl Day 2 standout was Quinyon Mitchell, who earned his way into the CB1 conversation.
On Wednesday, while Reese’s Senior Bowl practices are going on, more than 100 NFL Draft prospects are in the middle of an important job interview.
Lance Zierlein and Eric Edholm talk about the best players from Day 2 and give news and notes from the day’s events.
Eric Edholm wrote concerning Mitchell within this space on Tuesday, but I am also inclined to say what I think about him. Mitchell gets up early.
Scouts were interested in him before the week because of his size and game film, but it’s different when they see him in person.
Mitchell uses a lot of trap coverage moves when the press is on. This is when he declares early leverage and causes the receiver to let go outside.
From there, he demonstrated that he has the speed and control of his body to stay with receivers and the strength to block the catch area.
In a game against Brenden Rice of USC, Mitchell started from behind and ran a post route to the end zone, where he jumped and caught the pass. This year, he might be in the running for CB1.
Even though the 2024 NFL draft doesn’t start for another three months, the Los Angeles Rams are watching prospects for months to see which players they might want to pick with the 19th overall pick.
This week is an important one for getting ready for the draft because the Senior Bowl is being held in Mobile, Alabama. Scouts, coaches, and general managers will be able to see some of the best prospects within the class.
In the next few months, Toledo cornerback Quinton Mitchell is a name to keep an eye on. He was thought to be a possible first-round pick coming into the week, and the way he’s done in practice so far only supports that.
Mitchell has been great in both individual and team drills. He has made some great coverage plays that have gotten him great reviews from everyone there.
In the past, the Rams have picked up at least one or two players from the Senior Bowl. That’s likely to happen again this year as well.
If the defender tried to win every one-on-one, he would have to give up. But he’s been good at coverage and has been pretty rough at the line when compared to a 6-foot, 200-pound cornerback.
Roman Wilson is a good wide receiver prospect that Mitchell has been up against, which is a great test of the Toledo product. A lot of people think he will go in for the initial round because he has done so well.
He might be available at No. 19 overall, which would give the Rams a great choice in the first round if they don’t trade down and decide to take him with their first pick. They need a cornerback, and Mitchell looks like he has the skills to be picked on the first day of the draft.
In the NFL, it doesn’t take much to make people panic, does it? When your whole week revolves around one day or one game, it’s simple to lose sight of the bigger picture or put too much stock in a single bad performance. And often, a win the next week brought back order, sanity, and reason.
The Bengals, on the other hand, lost a home game to Denver with an amazing last-second touchdown catch-and-run by receiver Brandon Stokely. They then had to go to Lambeau Field, which was a scary thought.
It’s very important to be tough in this league, where a losing streak of two games can quickly turn into “a season within crisis.” You have to praise these three clubs for being able to bounce back.
I was most surprised by the Texans. They had plenty of chances to give up, but quarterback Matt Schaub or receiver Andre Johnson led a brave comeback. Even though the rush defense couldn’t be seen, this was an enormous victory for a team that wants to finally make the playoffs.
After the Bears beat the Steelers, Cutler is the talk of the town. Now, the team has to go on the road to play the hurt Seahawks, who might or may not have quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
The Bengals got back on track with a win thanks to receiver Chad Ochocinco’s touchdown and the subsequent Lambeau Leap.
And if the Bengals can get even close to the pass rush they had against Green Bay (we’ll talk more about the problems with the Packers’ offensive line later), the Steelers could be in danger at Paul Brown Stadium.