The Colts were able to draft wide receiver Adonai Mitchell with the 52nd overall pick on Friday night, which was later than Mitchell would have liked to come off the board after a productive season at Texas.
One of the reasons why 10 receivers may have been taken before Mitchell was the release of negative reports about Mitchell’s preparation and attitude that were attributed to anonymous scouts as part of the annual pre-draft flood of information. After Colts General Manager Chris Ballard ended Mitchell’s wait to enter the NFL, he delivered an impassioned rebuke of those reports.
“I read some of the bullshit that was said,” Ballard said, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “Excuse my language. Our typical league — unnamed sources, bad interviews. That’s such bullshit, I mean, it fucking is. It’s bullshit. Put your name on it. I’m tired of it. We tear these young men down. These are 21-, 22-year old young men. And can people out there tell me they’re perfect in their lives? It’s crazy. It’s crap. This is a good kid. And for those reports to come out, it’s bullshit.”
Ballard conceded that “a little adversity, a little humbleness” might be a good thing for Mitchell and other young players because of how much they get built up through NIL and other things at the collegiate level, but expressed confidence that Mitchell would respond well to those things as a pro.
Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell was projected to go earlier than he did. As 10 receivers were drafted before him, the speculation began on social media about why Mitchell’s stock was falling.
The Colts finally ended his slide with the 52nd overall pick.
“Right now the only thing I’m feeling is I’m just kinda pissed,’’ Mitchell said in a conference call with beat reporters Friday, via Mike Chappell of Fox 59. “I don’t really know what other way to call it.’’
He sat, watched and waited Thursday as Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison, LSU receiver Malik Nabers, Washington receiver Rome Odunze, LSU receiver Brian Thomas Jr., Texas receiver Xavier Worthy, Florida receiver Ricky Pearsall and South Carolina receiver Xavier Legette were drafted in the first round. Worthy was Mitchell’s college teammate and expected to go after Mitchell.
On Friday, Florida State receiver Keon Coleman, Georgia receiver Ladd McConkey and Washington receiver Ja’Lynn Polk heard their names before Mitchell did.
“At the end of the day, people were chosen before me,” Mitchell said. “That’s just the reality of it and my job now is to make them pay and bring the best version of me every day to the Indianapolis Colts.’’
Mitchell, who had 55 receptions for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, enters a receivers room that includes Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and Ashton Dulin and that is coached by Reggie Wayne. He will get his chance to prove he’s better than the 10 receivers drafted before him.
“Just is what it is. We all start with a clean slate at the end of the day,” Mitchell said. “When everything gets rolling, we’re gonna see.’’
The Colts took the first defensive player in this year’s draft on Thursday night and they addressed the other side of the ball in the second round.
Indianapolis took wide receiver Adonai Mitchell with the 52nd overall pick. They traded back from No. 46 with the Panthers and picked up the 142nd and 155th picks in return for moving back six spots.
Mitchell’s Texas teammate Xavier Worthy was selected by the Chiefs in the first round, so he’s the second Longhorn wideout off the board this year.
Mitchell played two years at Georgia before transferring to Texas last year. He had 55 catches for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns in his lone season in Austin.
The Panthers have been wheeling and dealing to start Day 2 of the draft.
After trading out of the No. 39 overall pick, Carolina acquired the No. 46 overall pick from Indianapolis to select running back Jonathon Brooks out of Texas.
Brooks, 20, was behind Bijan Robinson for two seasons before taking over as the lead back for Texas in 2023. He rushed for 1,139 yards with 10 touchdowns in 11 games but tore his ACL.
He said during the scouting combine that he should be ready for the start of training camp.
In all, Brooks rushed for 1,479 yards with 16 touchdowns. He caught 28 passes for 335 yards with two TDs.
Brooks is the first running back to be selected in the 2024 draft.
Carolina received No. 46 from Indianapolis in exchange for No. 52, No. 142 in the fifth round, and No. 155 in the fifth round.
The wait for a defensive player to be selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft has come to an end.
Former UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu was taken by the Colts with the 15th overall pick in Detroit on Thursday night. The run of 14 straight offensive players to open a draft is the longest in NFL history.
Latu played two years at Washington before transferring to UCLA and breaking out in 2022. He had 10.5 sacks that year and jumped up to 13 sacks in 2023.
That jump came after Latu thought his football career might be over due to a neck injury that kept him out in 2021, but he was eventually cleared to return and now he’ll be part of the pass rush in Indianapolis.
Bill Belichick plans to watch Monday Night Football with two of his former rivals this season.
Belichick plans a recurring role on the ManningCast, ESPN’s alternate commentary broadcast with Peyton and Eli Manning, according to TheAthletic.com. Belichick won’t be on every week, but he will be a recurring guest. In the past, the ManningCast had only featured one-off guests, not regular contributors.
Although Belichick still wants to be a head coach, he will spend 2024 working in media. That starts on Thursday night, when Belichick will work the NFL draft alongside Pat McAfee.
There’s plenty of history between Belichick and the Mannings: Eli Manning beat Belichick in two Super Bowls, while Peyton Manning was Belichick’s primary AFC rival during the Patriots’ dynasty. Now they’ll be teaming up on what should be some insightful commentary this season.
If Jim Irsay has his way, Marvin Harrison Jr. won’t be wearing his college number in 2024.
The Colts have retired No. 18 for Peyton Manning, and owner Jim Irsay would like to draft receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
In a recent interview with Mike Chappell of Fox 59, Irsay admitted that the Colts have “great” interest in the son of Hall of Fame Colts receiver Marvin Harrison. Irsay also acknowledged that it will probably be “too difficult” to make the move from No. 15 to No. 4 with the Cardinals.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out,’’ Irsay added. “We’re open-minded.”
It would be an amazing move, if the Colts make it. But it would be very expensive to get all the way to No. 4.
Maybe they’ll get lucky. Maybe the Cardinals will trade down with a team that wants the best remaining quarterback. Maybe Colts Ring of Honor member Jim Harbaugh will then do one of his various former teams a favor by letting the Colts draft the son of his former teammate in Indy.
When the NFL reinstated several players from their gambling suspensions last week, Philadelphia defensive back Isaiah Rodgers was not among the group.
But now, he is officially eligible to play in the 2024 season.
The league announced on Tuesday that effective immediately, Rodgers has been reinstated and is eligible to participate in all team activities.
Rodgers was suspended for violating the gambling policy while with Indianapolis. The Colts cut Rodgers after he was suspended, but the Eagles signed him last August.
A sixth-round pick in 2020, Rodgers has appeared in 45 games with 10 starts. He’s recorded 10 passes defensed, three interceptions, a forced fumble, and four fumble recoveries.
He also has returned 61 kicks, averaging 27.0 yards per return. With the new kickoff rule, Rodgers could have even more value for Philadelphia in 2024.
Colts owner Jim Irsay hasn’t been seen much publicly since December when police and paramedics responded to a 911 call to Irsay’s Carmel residence. He was found unresponsive and treated with Narcan, and a police report listed the incident as an “overdose” and “overdose/poisoning” with the note that officers were uncertain what medications or other substances Irsay may have ingested.
The Colts issued a statement saying Irsay was being treated for a severe respiratory illness.
On Monday, Irsay denied his condition was an overdose.
“It wasn’t an overdose,’’ Irsay told Mike Chappell of Fox 59. “I don’t know why when you have your name in the paper in the past, people throw that out there quickly. I don’t pay attention to it all that much, but I don’t think it’s fair.’’
Irsay said he was “treating a leg injury” that developed into a serious hematoma.
He recently underwent surgery to address a back/leg issue that required a lengthy hospital stay. He said he has been home “for quite a while” recovering.
But he will not be in the team’s draft room this week because of limited mobility.
“I could go to the draft room,’’ Irsay said. “It’s just that in sitting and talking with the doctors and [General Manager] Chris [Ballard] and [coach] Shane [Steichen], it doesn’t serve a real purpose for me.
“There’s so much technology nowadays. There’s a virtual reality where I can literally be in the draft room, and Chris is behind me and Shane is in front of me. I could be in there. . . . I plan on calling the No. 1 guy.’’
Matt Ryan said last August that he was staying in shape in case a team in need of quarterback help gave him a call, but that call never came and Ryan spent the year calling games for CBS rather than playing in them.
Ryan’s reasoning for saying he was open to playing was likely because the $12 million he was owed by the Colts for the 2023 season would disappear if he retired. That contract is now up and there’s no reason for Ryan to continue casting himself as an active player, so he’s no longer going to do so.
The Falcons released a video on Monday that features Ryan officially retiring as a player. Ryan spent the first 14 years of his career in Atlanta and was named the MVP for the 2016 season. Ryan led the Falcons to the Super Bowl that year, but they lost to the Patriots in overtime after giving up a 28-3 lead.
Atlanta traded Ryan to the Colts for a third-round pick before the 2022 season. He struggled in 12 starts before being benched for the final weeks of the season and the Colts released him in 2023.
Ryan also won offensive player of the year in 2016 and he was named a first-team All-Pro. He was also the offensive rookie of the year after being drafted with the third pick in the 2008 draft.
Ryan is Atlanta’s franchise leader in every meaningful passing category. He ranks seventh in NFL history in passing yards, ninth in passing touchdowns, and fifth in completions.