Quinyon Mitchell scouting report: Exploring the Toledo CB's strengths and weaknesses

A three-star recruit in 2020, Quinyon Mitchell played six games as a backup true freshman. He started all 27 contests over the following two years, intercepting five passes and setting the Rockets’ single-season record with 20 pass breakups in 2022, after putting up eight PBUs the prior year.

This past season, he did have 18 PBUs but only one pick yet was recognized as second-team All-American, along with repeating as first-team All-MAC.

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Quinyon Mitchell scouting report

Man-coverage:

• Keeps his shoulders square for a large portion of man-coverage reps and doesn’t get antsy as receivers try to fool him off the line
• Showcases advanced understanding of which routes to expect based on formation and splits, slightly altering his technique accordingly
• Does a great job of reading the hips of the guy across from him and identifying any change in tempo, etc. with the light feet to react accordingly
• Ran a 4.33 in the 40 and pumped out a corner-best 20 reps on the bench press at the combine, to back up his ability to hang with speedsters down the field as well as the commitment to the weight room
• Showcases impressive closing burst if receivers do have a step on him, to still affect the catch-point (or push guys out of bounds for incompletions on out routes)
• Because Mitchell had so much confidence in his preparation to cut off breaks, when he did gamble wrongly, he smoothly is able to utilize speed turns over the opposite shoulder and not get lost
• Allowed a passer rating of just 34.8 and 51.1 when targeted these past two seasons respectively, limiting quarterbacks to 54-of-132 (40.9%) for 560 yards and three touchdowns compared to six picks
• Put together one of the cleanest Senior Bowl weeks I’ve ever seen from a corner, where he got a chance to disrupt receivers off the line, and even when his technique wasn’t great, he was able to stick to the hip pocket of receivers throughout reps, with tremendous de- and re-acceleration

Zone-coverage:

• Lining up on the wide side of the field, Quinyon needed to be a smart player for the Rockets, deciphering route patterns with a lot of zone coverage
• Maintains discipline with his landmarks, not allowing bat routes to put him in bad positions
• Looks very comfortable capping over routes and having his eyes inside to fall off and make plays on nearby targets
• Finds a great balance between keying the quarterback’s drop and the receiver decelerating, to click-and-close on routes
• Decodes stacks and bunches extremely well and can rapidly close the gap to the target he’s ultimately responsible for matching
• Excels at wrapping around and swiping at the ball, even when it’s placed to the opposite side of where he’s closing from, where his length is certainly helpful
• Understands really well when he’s in control of routes and then displays premiere ball skills as he attacks the ball in the air
• Put up the best overall PFF grade (92.5) and coverage grade (92.7) among FBS cornerbacks in 2022 – then finished behind only UCLA edge defender Laiatu Latu and Texas D-tackle T’Vondre Sweat with his 91.5 overall PFF grade last season

Run defense & tackling:

• Packs a pretty good punch to greet blocking receivers with and can bench-press them off to stay ready to come off as the ball approaches
• Does not ever seem to give up his contain responsibilities
• Erases that space to the furthest outside blocker in condensed formations on run plays
• Displays great range to help push ball carriers out of bounds at the opposite sideline on explosive plays away from him
• Very patient with coming to balance and staying ready to set tackles on longer-developing plays or where he’s playing deep and works upfield – Only missed three of 48 attempts last season (6.3%)
• Wasn’t used that way a whole lot, but when Toledo did blitz him off the corner, his ability to curve his path and the speed to chase down plays from behind is a plus

Weaknesses:

• While you like the patience in off-man or match coverage, Mitchell tends to be late to flip and sees receivers get a step on him a few times, while rounding off at the break-point rather than being abrupt with his change of direction
• Only spent 20 snaps in press coverages last season and his strike timing can be a little off due to that limited experience
• Could do a better job of attaching to targets as the pattern has developed and there’s no imminent threat coming to his zone, rather than thinking he still has help inside
• Doesn’t attack downhill with a whole lot of attitude in the run/screen game

In a corner class with a lot of names from big schools known for their talents at the position, this kid out of Toledo reigns supreme. Due to playing a lot of off-zone coverage as the field-side corner for his team, Mitchell primarily got to show out his high football IQ to decipher patterns and make plays on the ball.

However, when he was asked to cover some of the top receivers in the country at the Senior Bowl, his man-to-man skills shone.

Grade: Top-15