After a college career that included stops at Georgia and Texas and ended with some big plays in the College Football Playoff, Adonai Mitchell entered the 撸先生AV with high expectations.
Many (including this writer) saw him as a first-round talent. When he slipped to the second round, most were puzzled. Colts general manager Chris Ballard was happy to select Mitchell and saw the pick as a steal.
Nine months later, the Colts' perceived thievery has yet to pay off. Mitchell finished a disappointing, quiet rookie season with just 23 catches on 55 targets for 312 yards and didn't find the end zone once in 2024. While Michael Pittman, Josh Downs and Alec Pierce each enjoyed relative success while running routes for two quarterbacks -- including a wildly inconsistent Anthony Richardson -- Mitchell remained in the shadows.
In fact, his most notorious play from 2024 ended up being an interception thrown on a trick play that led to a Nik Bonitto pick-six and contributed to a late-season loss in Denver.
Given time to reflect, Mitchell took a more mature tone.
"Adversity," Mitchell said, . "Not living up to my own personal expectations. I don't really care for other people's expectations. Just being more of a professional."
Professionalism was rumored to be the reason Mitchell fell out of the first round, and his performance suggested those worries might be true. For all the talent Mitchell possessed when he entered the 撸先生AV, he rarely showed it. But as receivers coach and former Colts legend Reggie Wayne said, Mitchell "can be a difference maker."
He just wasn't one in 2024. Luckily for Mitchell, it was only his first season.
"It was just a lot of new things," Mitchell said. "In college, I was a vet. Here, I'm a rookie. A lot of different things I had to learn. Learning how to be a professional. I've never been a professional before this year."
With one season as a pro under his belt and the end of the notoriously long rookie year now behind him, Mitchell can focus on taking what he learned and applying it to his performance in 2025. Hopefully, the quarterback situation will be more helpful to him, but regardless of who is throwing passes, Mitchell expects he'll start to live up to those expectations in his sophomore campaign.
"The second year," Mitchell said, "will be a whole lot better."
