Adversity. That’s the word AD Mitchell uses to describe his rookie season.
“Not living up to my own personal expectations,” is how Mitchell sums up Year 1 in the NFL.
Mitchell isn’t too expansive on what those expectations were or where he specifically needs to grow, but he’s not shying away from the acknowledgement that growth is needed.
“Just being more of a professional,” he adds.
If you are weighing Mitchell’s rookie season purely off of numbers, it was not a good start to his NFL career. Mitchell caught 23 of his 55 targets. That is a 41.8 percent catch percentage. Of the NFL’s 158 wideouts with at least 10 targets last season, Mitchell ranked 149th in catch percentage.
To put that into Colts perspective, wideouts had the following catch percentages: Josh Downs-67.3%, Michael Pittman Jr.-62.2%, Alec Pierce-53.6%.
Chris Ballard isn’t one that is fretting too much though on the start for Mitchell.
“Just young,” is how the Colts GM begins in describing Year 1 for the second-round pick.
“Like any young player, there’s going to be a maturation process with him. And he definitely had some really strong moments, but we need more consistent moments from him.”
Honestly, some of Mitchell’s strongest moments was his ability to create separation at a high level. Oftentimes, that can be a hinderance for a young wideout. That wasn’t the case for Mitchell, which plays into why some are eager to see how his career develops from here.
Where Mitchell’s issues arose though was in finishing such plays, proving to be wildly inconsistent in being on the same page with whoever was throwing the ball to him.
The 2025 year will bring Mitchell having the same wide receivers coach for consecutive seasons for the first time since high school.
“I took a lot of great lessons to learn,” Mitchell says of position coach and Colts all-time great Reggie Wayne.
Whether it was Wayne in-season, or Ballard after the season, the Colts have remained bullish on what they have in their young wideout.
“This position is all about confidence,” Mitchell says. “Ain’t nobody taking that away from me no time soon.
“(2025 will) be a lot different from this year.”