With under a week to go until the NFL Scouting Combine, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah hosted his annual media conference call to discuss all things related to the 2024 NFL Draft. Jeremiah was asked about the Pittsburgh Steelers at pick 20 and offered high praise for Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell.
“If you wanna say, what’s a home run pick?” Jeremiah said. “If you could write it in right now, turn it in and somehow guarantee it would happen, putting Quinyon Mitchell from Toledo on the opposite side of who you took last year with Joey Porter Jr. I think that would be a heck of a young secondary with Minkah [Fitzpatrick] at the top of the Christmas tree there. That would be a fun defense to watch.”
Mitchell was a Senior Bowl standout who did a ton for his draft stock down in Mobile. He was the top corner there throughout the week of practice. Just check out the Senior Bowl notes from when Jonathan Heitritter and I covered the event. He measured in at 6003, 195 pounds, with 31 1/8-inch arms. While that isn’t quite the length that the Steelers showed they covet in last year’s draft with Porter and Cory Trice Jr., it wouldn’t be a bad idea to diversify the skill sets within the secondary.
In four seasons at Toldeo, Mitchell logged 123 total tackles (93 solo), 7.5 tackles for loss, one sack, 45 passes defensed, six interceptions, one forced fumble, and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. He was named a second-team All-American by four of the five major lists in 2023. Playing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the level of competition wasn’t as high, but he put a lot of those worries to rest at the Senior Bowl while playing against the best of the best.
The Steelers have a history of drafting MAC players, including Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Diontae Johnson, and Chukwuma Okorafor, among others. Mitchell would have just missed being teammates with Johnson at Toledo by a couple years.
If Mitchell was paired with Porter, he would be teaming up with someone he is very familiar with. Heitritter asked him about Porter in an interview at the Senior Bowl.
“Oh yeah, I used to watch his highlights all the time when he was coming out last year,” Mitchell said. “That’s a guy who’s really patient at the line and is long and physical and can get his hands on receivers to throw them off their route.”
Drafting Mitchell could solidify the secondary for years to come and turn it from a weakness of the defense to a strength in a hurry.
Heitritter gave him a first-round grade. Check out our comprehensive scouting report on him here:
