Quinyon Mitchell would improve the cornerbacks’ room for the Lions.
If you weren’t persuaded already, the 49ers’ victory over the Lions in the NFC Championship Game ought to have sealed the deal. It ought to have demonstrated Detroit’s obvious need for backup assistance.
Additionally, Lions general manager Brad Holmes may decide to fill the void by selecting the team’s first-round pick (No. 29 overall) in the April NFL Draft.
Quinyon Mitchell, a cornerback from Toledo, would be an almost ideal selection if Holmes chooses to go that route on the first night of the draft.
Mitchell has been a well-liked option for Detroit with the 29th overall pick in recent mock drafts, and with good reason.
The most urgent need for the Lions in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 season is at cornerback. This past season, rival wideouts burnt Cam Sutton, Kindle Vildor, and Will Harris, among others. This happened in Detroit’s NFC championship game loss to San Francisco.
As a result, it is now abundantly evident that the Lions must make significant improvements to their cornerbacks’ room this offseason. And a terrific place to start in order to do that would be by drafting Mitchell.
In his final two seasons with the Rockets, Mitchell developed into one of the best corners in the country. The 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back had at least 19 passes defensed in each of the previous two seasons. In his final two college seasons, he also collected a total of six interceptions.
In back-to-back seasons, he also astonishingly allowed a passer rating of just 34.8 and 51.1. And in recognition of his achievements, Pro Football Focus gave him good grades in both seasons and he was selected to the AP All-America third team in 2022 and the second team in 2023.
He played 883 defensive snaps in 2022, including 481 snaps in coverage, and PFF gave him an overall grade of 92.5.
In contrast, he played 781 defensive snaps in his senior season at Toledo, including 437 in coverage, and had a PFF overall rating of 91.5. He also performed exceptionally well in zone coverage and man coverage, receiving grades of 85.9 and 88.7 in each type of coverage system.
Regarding Mitchell, Joe Londergan of G5 Football Daily wrote, “Watchers can see that Mitchell has excellent cornerback instincts on tape.” He can create the impression that his man is available outside of the numbers, but in reality, he’s only positioning himself to take the shortcut. It performed remarkably well against most of the offences Toledo faced over the previous few seasons.
His play style gets considerably more physical as opposition offences enter the red zone, challenging receivers for jump balls and even more so when they attempt to push the ball into the end zone’s corners. That is also aided by his stature and arm length. Although that physicality is by no means a bad thing, professional officials may be more aware of it than Mitchell was in college.
Mitchell, who is participating in the Reese’s Senior Bowl on Saturday, has the opportunity to keep climbing draft boards for clubs by putting up strong performances in these kind of pre-draft exhibitions.
But if he’s still available on April 25 at No. 29 overall, Detroit would be very likely to select him.
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