Steelers to Host All-Big 12 Receiver for Pre-Draft Visit: Report

Getty The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to host a pre-draft visit with Adonai Mitchell

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ search for a wide receiver continues.

The team left themselves without a WR2 when they traded Diontae Johnson.

Since then, they have looked into a few veteran options at the position and have also been bringing in some interesting prospects for pre-draft visits.

Now they are adding another receiver from this year’s NFL Draft class to their list of visits.

According to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, the Steelers are going to host a pre-draft visit with former Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.

Issues With Mitchell’s Prospect Profile

Mitchell’s profile for this year’s NFL Draft is a bit of a mixed bag.

His college career got off to a solid start. He made 29 catches for 426 yards as a freshman for a Georgia Bulldogs team that won the national title. Mitchell did so despite facing target competition from pass catchers like Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, and Jermaine Burton.

Year two didn’t go quite as well. An injury limited Mitchell to just six games as a sophomore and he only made 9 catches for 134 yards in those games,

He transferred to Texas in 2023 and was able to put together the best season of his career.

As a junior, Mitchell made 55 catches for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns.

While it was the best season of his college career, it wasn’t enough to fix his prospect profile.

His breakout age was in the 38th percentile according to Player Profiler. Mitchell’s college target share put him in the 49th percentile.

The NFL’s Next Gen Stats only have his production ranked 17th in his class.

However, his athletic testing should help him out. Mitchell ran the 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds at the NFL Combine, which was the third fastest time by a receiver in this draft class.

He also had the best broad jump at the position with a jump of 11’4″.

That athleticism combined with his size at 6’2″ could be enough to get a team to overlook the things his profile is missing from his college career.

Big Gap on Steelers’ Depth Chart

The Steelers definitely don’t have anything to worry about at their top receiver spot for the 2024 season.

George Pickens established himself as a true WR1 in the league last season when he posted 1140 receiving yards while catching passes from the disappointing QB trio of Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph.

However, there is a pretty huge gap between him and the rest of the receivers currently on the depth chart.

The team’s options behind Pickens consist of Calvin Austin and free agent signings Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, and Cordarrelle Patterson. None of those four players reached 250 receiving yards in 2023.

Even Allen Robinson had 280 yards last year for the Steelers as their WR3 and they cut him this offseason.

The team absolutely needs to find a WR2 before the start of the season as none of the receivers on their roster have proven they can take on the role.

While Mitchell isn’t a perfect prospect for that WR2 spot, the Steelers didn’t let concerns about Pickens prevent them from drafting him.

Pickens’ best college season only saw him make 49 catches for 727 yards. He also dealt with a major injury for much of his college career.

Overlooking the issues with his profile and taking a chance on Pickens in round two has seemed to work out well for the Steelers. Maybe they’ll try it again with Mitchell in this year’s NFL Draft.