James Mitchell Could CHANGE POSITIONS and Become the X-FACTOR For the Detroit Lions Offense!

James Mitchell Could CHANGE POSITIONS and Become the X-FACTOR For the Detroit Lions Offense!

what if I were to tell you that the Detroit Lions had a third-year playmaker going into his third year of NFL play and throughout his first two seasons as a tight end in the NFL has never dropped a pass not only that but this tight end has never had a targeted pass at him that did not result in a catch in a gain of positive yardage you would assume that that player is one of the best young players at his position or that that player did not exist at all however that it’ss James Mitchell 2 a and despite his statistical anomaly of never having a Target not be caught James Mitchell has seen very reduced time for the Detroit Lions offense and very rarely if ever gets talked about by the fans or the media covering Detroit however I think with his blend of skills with his versatility his verticality in the passing attack and his strong hands that James Mitchell could be a true receiving threat for the Detroit Lions offense this season and could finally take that next step year three under Ben Johnson now James Mitchell coming out of college was a really really strong tight end Prospect he played four years in the ACC as a Virginia Tech Hoke and although the volume wasn’t necessarily there for a top tight end Prospect the efficiency numbers and just his raw yards per reception were not going to be denied his sophomore year did not see him have a ton of receptions about just two per game however in those 13 games that he played as a sophomore James Mitchell had 21 receptions for 361 yards and two touchdowns through the air averaging 17.4 yards per catch as well as having four touchdowns on the ground as a rusher he was a versatile piece in the Virginia Tech offense and in his first real taste of gameplay James Mitchell showed that he could be an explosive and a dynamic weapon for a power five team and although again the volume wasn’t there the big plays and the efficiency was certainly something that caught a lot of eyes he followed that up with a junior season where he played 10 games had 26 receptions for 435 yards and four touchdowns as well as another rushing touchdown on the ground finishing his junior year with 16.7 yards per reception with a little bit higher volume and better touchdown production through the air now unfortunately going into his senior year James Mitchell tore his ACL just two games into the NFL season meaning he didn’t really get a chance to finish off his collegiate career very strong he finished his collegiate career with less than th000 receiving yards less than 10 receiving touchdowns but due to his size his speed his verticality and his versatility there were a lot of NFL GMS that felt like even though his rookie year might be a little bit of a flop that James Mitchell could turn into a really strong receiving threat and could be a tight end that could play an impact in NFL offense now as James Mitchell was injured through the pre-draft process he did not have an ARS score he went through the measurements and actually did do the bench press where he put up 18 reps on a Tor ACL but James Mitchell went through he measured in measured at 6’4 250 pounds for a tight end which again the weight was probably just a little bit high and he probably wasn’t in the best football shape because he tore his ACL and he wasn’t really healthy enough to train for the combine or anything like that so he didn’t do any athletic testing did not have an RA score but watching the film and then measuring in at 64250 did do James Mitchell quite a few favors and he was a player that was on quite a few draft boards going into the the NFL draft now James Mitchell ended up being the fifth round selection of the Detroit Lions in 2022 a fifth round flyer that they felt was a player that probably wasn’t going to play right away which was kind of the theme of 2022 but a player that could eventually develop into a good passing attack could eventually develop into a strong pass catcher and a guy that could stretch the field vertically for the Detroit Lions at the tight end position now James Mitchell did have a slow start to his NFL career but as a rookie did play in 16 games for the Detroit Lions and did make an impact in fact as a rookie James Mitchell was targeted 11 times had 11 receptions for 113 yards as well as a touchdown while averaging 10.3 yards per catch now this is not a large sample size for James Mitchell and it’s not a large sample size to say oh it was a super successful rookie season but being a fifth round tight end rookie iie at a position that typically takes a couple of years to develop there were some very encouraging signs and there was a lot of things that made people believe that hey maybe James Mitchell could be the vertical threat going forward and could develop into a top to top tier Target for Jared goof in 2024 now the Detroit Lions went on to draft Sam leaport in the 2023 draft in the second round and of course we all know how that turned out and James Mitchell kind of took a backseat from his receiving role in 2022 in the preseason James Mitchell was targeted seven times having six receptions for 75 yards having a really strong preseason showing that he could be that security blanket showing the strong hands and showing a lot of yard after catchability and then he went into the 2023 season where he did play 15 games for the Detroit Lions was targeted just twice but had two receptions for 28 yards and 14 yards per reception meaning through his two years of NFL career James Mitchell has 13 targets for 13 receptions and over and close to 150 yards receiving and if you include the preseason James Mitchel has been targeted well over 20 times having just one catch not go his way and it wasn’t even a catchable ball that did not hit him in the hands James Mitchell has been as reliable as they come when he has been targeted and when you look at these statistics and you say okay this is a guy who literally has never dropped the ball in the NFL and has only had catches go his way when targeted you would think that okay maybe that guy deserves a little bit more time pair that with the fact that he’s six foot4 runs in the low four FS if not high four fours is super athletic a very fluid receiver and can create some vertical separation you would think that James Mitchell would be a tight end that the lines would want to lean on and want to get involved a little bit more throughout the offense however that just doesn’t seem to be the case as throughout last season Sam leapa of course took the most snaps at tight end with 981 Brock Wright despite the injuries took the second most snaps with 423 with James Mitchell bringing up third place with just 157 snaps across the 15 games that he played with Anthony frisker officially taking two snaps in the regular season now Sam leaport isn’t all pro Brock Wright is a great tight end too and I think James Mitchell is a super versatile and very athletic field stretching tight end three but realistically Ben Johnson despite how much he likes the 12 Personnel sets with one running back and two tight ends he really doesn’t ever have a 13 Personnel very rarely do the Detroit Lions have three tight ends on the field and with Sam laapa being an allp pro receiver with Brock Wright being a better all-around tight ended blocker that leaves a very specialized role for James Mitchell kind of within the void of hey you know if we need a second really good pure your receiving tight end that could be you but considering Brock Wright is not as far from a liability as a receiver there just really isn’t a whole lot of opportunity for James Mitchell to be put on the field and put in situations to succeed not only that but taking a look at the rest of the Detroit Lions offense you have Jameson Williams khif Raymond David Montgomery jir Gibbs as well as Sam leaport Brock Wright and last year Josh Reynolds on top of your allpro Amed Ross St Brown at best James Mitchell is the ninth best receiving option for a team that is already one of the best passing attacks in the NFL and this year bringing in Donovan peoples Jones that role is probably not going to change so why do I think that James Mitchell could have a successful year with the Detroit Lions and why do I think that he could potentially be a player that the Lions lean on in 2024 well James Mitchell as we talked about has the tools to suc he’s a great receiver has Yak ability has strong hands but again isn’t really the guy that’s going to get those targets he is kind of in that Antoine green range where he is going to be a backup he is going to be a depth piece and probably isn’t going to see very many Targets in 2024 unless the Detroit Lions play him at fullback now that might seem a little bit out of nowhere that might seem like a suggestion that you know doesn’t have a lot of Merit to it but considering the fact that James Mitchell did play fullback for the Detroit Lions a year ago shows that he was earning his spot on the field one way or another and that the Detroit Lions did want to put James Mitchell on the field in some form of capacity being 6’4 250 pounds James Mitchell has the size in the strength to be a at least decent run blocker and get in the way to open up holes for the running attack of David Montgomery inir Gibbs and of course if he’s sent out of the back field he would be a phenomenal if not one of the best receiving fullbacks in the NFL now I know that the fullback is a dying position I know that realistically there’s maybe two or three true fullbacks left in the NFL so being a top five fullback really isn’t that difficult however taking a look at James Mitchell a year ago that’s where the Detroit Lions played him and I could potentially see James Mitchell in a very similar role to what the San Francisco 49ers do with Kyle yusek right a player that can line up in the backfield that’s big and heavy and a guy that can run block pretty well but also a really fluid receiver out of the back field that would typically get matched up versus lesser linebackers that would typically get matched up versus you know not necessarily having a great matchup for him and being a mismatch pretty much all over the field and James Mitchell could be that mismatch right 6’4 is going to outsize a lot of cornerbacks right 250 is going to be too heavy for a lot of cornerbacks his size is going to it at his size his speed is going to be too much for a lot of linebackers to cover and again his size is too big for a lot of safeties so considering he would be potentially the fullback within the Detroit Lions offense he would get a lot of free releases off the line wouldn’t get any attention paid to him at all but just like Kyle yek could be a useful receiving option could be a useful run blocker can really just play that role and I know that they also put Malcolm Rodriguez there as a former linebacker but I think James Mitchell makes a lot more sense I think James Mitchell of course is bigger than Malcolm Rodriguez which allow him to run block a little bit better but also is a much more fluid wide receiver than Malcolm Rodriguez is at the fullback position so going through the last kind of couple weeks of the season the Lions did implement this a little bit we saw him at fullback versus the Cowboys we saw him at fullback versus the Minnesota Vikings both times around as well as a couple of other games when he was healthy and unfortunately throughout the playoffs they kind of lost that role as James Mitchell went down with a season ending injury but when he comes back I wouldn’t be surprised if they made a full-time conversion to tight end SL tight end three right so fullback tight end three meaning he could be a guy that lines up at tight end but also could get more work at that position and potentially be a matchup Nightmare and a versatile tool for the Ben Johnson offense but all of that being said that is all I for you guys today just wanted to bring light to still a very young very talented good receiving threat for the Detroit Lions and in an offense with so much Firepower and so much explosiveness James Mitchell typically gets swept under the rug and for a player that has quite literally never had a Target not be a catch I think that is something that needs to be talked about so with all of that being said that is Li for you guys today let me know down in the comments below your opinions about James Mitchell potentially as a tight end potentially moving to fullback or what his role could be in 2024 that we didn’t talk about I’d be very curious you guys have to say if you have yet to subscribe to the Channel please go down below and do so we are shooting for 4,100 subscribers by the end of July by the start of Detroit Lions training camp and you could help us get there sooner rather than later but with all that being said thank you all so much for watching and until next time and as always go lions

WriterWrong Breaks down the Detroit Lions &

WriterWrongMerch
https://www.youtube.com/@writerwrong6168/store

Join this channel to get access to the perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_H_4DCnoahCWfkVPhQ_rw/join

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/awriter3303/?hl=en
Twitter

Tweets by AnthonyWriter5
#lions #detroitlions #detroitlionsnfl #dancampbell #somethingspecial #onepride
#NFL