August 19, 2024
Quinyon Mitchell came into camp and got thrown straight into the fire.
From the jump, the rookie corner was getting the toughest coverage assignments right away between A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and on top of that, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has had him cycling through reps between the outside and the nickel – each of which requires a different approach.
It's a lot for any player, much less a rookie. Fangio knows it, too.
But Mitchell keeps answering the call.
"He's been great since the day we got him," Fangio said on Sunday. "He works really hard, focused in meetings, not just on the practice field. We have put a lot on his plate, [but] he hasn't backed down from it at all. He's going to be a good player in this league."
Signs of that are already showing.
The 2024 first-rounder has had some gaffes early on, for sure – he is still a rookie, after all – but he has come a long way already in the few weeks since training camp began.
In just over the past week alone, Mitchell has stuck to Smith like glue in 1-on-1 and full 11-on-11 reps, blanketing one of the best route runners in the entire league and managing to get his hand in the way to create several notable pass breakups.
Mitchell also did all this after jumping a route for a near-interception immediately into his preseason debut against Baltimore.
Everything but the INT by Quinyon Mitchell on this one. pic.twitter.com/LkwaBL3JY6
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) August 9, 2024
With every snap, every rep, he's been adapting, with the two star receivers he's been competing against helping to make sure he gets better.
"It's been good work," Mitchell said after camp practice on Sunday of his reps against Smith. "Him and AJ, they've been getting me ready and getting me prepared every day. Just going against him, it's just been really exciting. They're the best two in the game."
"This is all about competition," Mitchell continued later. "Along the way, [Smith has] just been giving me tips and stuff like that. Last week he gave me a tip, and then I did better on it this week. So he's been getting me right and just getting me up to speed on the game."
As for the shifts between the outside and the nickel, Mitchell said on Sunday that coaches pointed him toward Avonte Maddox, the veteran defensive back who has cycled between safety, nickel, and corner throughout his career on how to manage and adjust to the differences at each spot.
Furthermore, Mitchell said his technique from play to play is likely what has improved the most since he arrived at camp in late July.
The 22nd overall pick out of Toledo has flashed tons of talent, and promise, so far in camp down at the NovaCare Complex, but where exactly he will be on the defensive depth chart come Week 1 is still up in the air.
There's an opening at the CB2 spot opposite of established veteran Darius Slay, but Isaiah Rodgers and Kelee Ringo, who are each a bit more experienced, are in the running for the job also and have been building their own cases.
The nickel corner reps might be another means of getting Mitchell onto the field immediately, but he'll have to top Maddox and fellow rookie DB Cooper DeJean, who just returned from injury, to take that role, while keeping in mind that the ideal scenario is to eventually push him back outside – be it later into this season or the next.
With the way his camp has been going though, actual NFL snaps should be coming Mitchell's way sooner rather than later regardless.
The Eagles drafted him as their top cornerback of the future, and he's already been showing signs that he'll be that.
But if Mitchell proves ready to step up right now, then hey, they'll definitely take that, too.
MORE: Eagles 2024 training camp battle tracker
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