"Adonai Mitchell's Redemption: From Rookie Struggles to Season 2 Breakout"

Adonai Mitchell talks about the rookie season feeling like a freight train, and how he feels calmer in year two

Adonai Mitchell did not come out of college as a back-to-back, 1,200+ yard, 20 touchdown receiver, like many others do in the modern game.

Mitchell played a minor role in the 2021 season and was sidelined for most of the 2022 season with an ankle injury. He did return in time for the Georgia Bulldogs’ playoff run, scoring a touchdown in the college football playoff against Penn State, and another in the National Championship game against TCU.

After helping them win the national title, Mitchell entered the transfer portal, and landed with the Texas Longhorns.

It was in that 2023 season that NFL scouts saw flashes of what he was capable of, with 704 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games. He once again showed up in the postseason, scoring touchdowns in the conference championship game against Oklahoma State, and another in the playoff loss to the Washington Huskies.

In the league, fans were expecting to see Mitchell break out as an X receiver, pushing for reps in the starting Colts offense.

Instead, he struggled, only recording 23 catches on the season, for a total of 312 yards and no touchdowns.

He did have a good game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, catching six passes on six targets, totaling 71 yards on the day.

Still, despite showing he could perform at the NFL level, Mitchell had several games without a catch, and played very limited snaps in the late weeks of the season.

In 2025, he believes things will be different, having spent so much time working on his mental reps and his overall approach to life as an NFL athlete.

While sitting down to talk about his career on ‘The Colts Show’, Mitchell opened up about the struggle:

“The first time we went around (rookie season), everything was like a freight train. It felt like I never stopped, even when I got a chance to go to sleep, it felt like I just hit the ground running every day. I never really got time to just be calm.”

Adonai said he just feels a lot more comfortable going into season two, and that he feels he needs to do a lot less thinking now that he’s had a year with the playbook.

He’s also taking everything far more seriously, including what he eats, when he eats, and the way he prepares.

When asked who helped him the most, Mitchell said:

“Reg (Reggie Wayne), easy. We have talks probably two times a week. I’ll either come to him frustrated or he’ll see that I’m frustrated, and he’ll just put his hand on my shoulder and talk me through it, like ‘man you’re going through what I was going through my first couple of years.'”

The legendary Colts receiver, who is now the team’s wide receiver coach, had a similarly slow start to Mitchell in the NFL.

Wayne caught 27 passes for 345 yards and no touchdowns in his first year, numbers that are eerily similar to the second year player he’s now helping settle into life in the league.

Reggie Wayne is a firm believer in Adonai Mitchell, and has loved helping him develop in the league

Last season, Reggie Wayne talked about Mitchell’s consistency as the biggest factor in his development.

When asked what he thinks about Mitchell athletically, he replied:

“I think that’s one thing that he has that you can’t teach. His style is kind of unorthodox, the way he’s able to move his body on the field is not like the rest of the guys. He does it in a way where he can control it and get DBs out of position. That’s one thing I don’t touch, I let him keep that.”

Reggie Wayne said the fact that Mitchell fell to the Colts in the second round felt like a steal, and that the one thing he doesn’t lack as a young player is confidence.

The Colts will be hoping to get their second-year receiver more involved this season, hoping that he can start to pressure the likes of Alec Pierce for first-team reps.