Quinyon Mitchell Is Already 1 Of The Best Corners In The NFL
We knew the Eagles struck gold when Quinyon Mitchell fell to them on draft night. It did not seem likely the Senior Bowl standout would be there for them, but the board that night could not have broken better for the Eagles. Offensive players kept getting picked, and the top defenders kept falling. By the time the Eagles were up at pick 22, they had their choice of corner, and they wisely took Mitchell.
Everyone thought it was an HR pick. But what we did not know, is how good it would be year 1. It is reasonable to give an adjustment period to any rookie, especially a rookie corner. Few come into the NFL and immediately live up to being a 1st round draft pick. But Mitchell is not only doing that, he is already establishing himself as 1 of the best corners in the league.
Quinyon Mitchell Is Shutting Down Elite WRs
Look no further than the Thursday Night game vs the Commanders if you need proof of that. Terry McLaurin looked like a top 5 WR. His 711 yards put him 3rd in the league, and his 6 TDs put him 4th. Well on Thursday night he had just 1 catch for 10 yards, and it did not come against Mitchell.
Mitchell held him to 0 targets in his 20 snaps lined up against McLaurin. Not 0 catches, 0 targets. Daniels couldn’t even try to get the ball to McLaurin. He obviously wanted to. McLaurin is the rookie’s number 1 option. But Mitchell’s coverage was just too sticky, and he hung around right in the hip of McLaurin all night long.
Dave Zangaro from NBC Sports Philly joined The Best Show Ever the next day and talked to Ricky and Tyrone about 1 particular play where Mitchell’s coverage on McLaurin stuck out.
“The one play that really stood out to me was to go and find the Brandon Graham stack because Jayden Daniels wanted so badly to throw that football to Terry McLaurin and he just couldn’t. Quinyon Mitchell just stayed in his hip the entire way through a double move. He’s unbelievable right now. He’s is putting these good receivers in torture chambers for entire football games.”
But this was nothing new for Mitchell. He has been battling elite WRs all year long, and doing the same thing. He has not allowed more than 25 yards in a game since the week 5 bye. He gave up just 1 catch for 5 yards to Cee Dee Lamb, 2 catches for 16 yards to Ja’Marr Chase, 1 catch for 10 yards to Amari Cooper, 2 catches for 19 yards to Mike Evans, and 1 catch for 5 yards to Drake London.
Per Next Gen Stats, he is allowing .5 yards per coverage snap, the 2nd best number among qualified corners in the league.
Is He The Defensive Rookie Of The Year?
So you would think he would be in the DROY conversation. Thursday night did help his case. He went from +1600 to win it, to +300, the 2nd best odds as of writing this piece. But Jared Verse of the Rams is still the favorite at -250.
Mitchell’s problem is going to be that all of these awards are stat-based, and he just doesn’t have the stats. 0 interceptions in 10 games. But that is not because Mitchell is lacking in some skill, teams are just paying him the ultimate respect you can pay to a corner, they aren’t targeting him.
He has been targeted a grand total of 18 times since the bye week. Again, that is while often being lined up against very good WRs. He drew McLaurin for most of the night, and they just didn’t look his way.
It is impossible to get an interception if they don’t throw it your way. That is why Darrelle Revis, despite being one of the best Corners of his generation, does not have big interception numbers. There comes a point where you are so good, that you don’t get interceptions.
Mitchell is at that point as a rookie. He is too good for his own good. It might keep him from earning the hardware, while Verse is able to rack up sacks, 4.5 so far.
That is nothing against Verse. He is having a great rookie season. There are things he does that do not show up in the stat sheet either. But he plays a position where if you play great, the stats come. Mitchell is playing one where the better you are, the fewer stats you have.
DROY or not, he is a star. Even in year 1, he is looking like 1 of the best corners in the league. Eagles fans have waited decades to have another young elite corner. Now they have 2.
We didn’t even talk about Cooper DeJean, who has arguably made his own case to be in the DROY conversation. Dejean has been starting in the slot the last 6 games, and gave up only 161 yards in that time. His highlight came when he tracked down Ja’Marr Chase behind the LOS to get a stop on 4th down. But even with as great as DeJean has been, Mitchell stands out.
Where once there was Revis Island, there is now Quinyonomo Bay. Put whoever you want on his side of the field, they are not even seeing the ball. He has some of the best WRs in the league out there doing cardio. Now the rest of the league finally got to take notice of him playing on the National Stage.
Listen To Or Watch ‘The Best Show Ever?’ Live On The 97.5 The Fanatic And On NBC Sports Philly From 2 To 6 p.m. every Weekday
