It hasn't taken long to realize that the Philadelphia Eagles made the right choice when they selected Toledo product Quinyon Mitchell with the No. 22 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
That's because he's had an outstanding offseason so far and has made the leap to the next level look natural, according to ESPN's Tim McManus who gave an offseason update on the rookie:
Mitchell has been working primarily with the second team at outside cornerback and occasionally ran with the first team in dime packages. He was sticky in coverage throughout the spring and very much looked like he belonged despite making the leap from the Mid-American Conference. During a rare rep against A.J. Brown, the normally quiet Mitchell surprised Brown by telling him the route he ran was "trash." "It was funny to hear from him," Brown said. "And I told him, 'All right, I like to see that. I want to see you step up' because he's not going to be playing against me, he's going to be playing against other guys, and I want to see him hold his own. So I said 'All right, you took the first step, now you're going to have to back that up. You're going to have to walk that walk.'" -- Tim McManus
Mitchell became the first Round 1 cornerback from the Mid-Atlantic Conference player selected in the draft since the Tennessee Titans picked wide receiver Corey Davis at No. 5 overall out of Western Michigan in 2017.
He was also the first cornerback the Eagles had drafted in the first round since 2002.
Ahead of the draft, Mitchell had caught the attention of many national scouts at the Reese's Senior Bowl and then raised his stock even higher at the NFL Combine after he ran a 4.33 40-yard dash.
In three seasons at Toledo, Mitchell racked up 123 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one sack, 45 passes defended, and six interceptions. It's worth mentioning that 37 of his pass breakups came in his final two years with the Rockets.
Mitchell has only been with the Eagles for just a few months but has received endless praise from head coach Nick Sirianni and teammates AJ Brown and Darius Slay.
We'll see if he can keep up the good work when the Eagles report to NovaCare Complex for training camp on July 23.
