Which undrafted free agents could make an impact in the 2023 NFL season?

#4. Mitchell Tinsley, WR, Washington Commanders (Penn State)

Penn State wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley

We saw 33 wide receivers selected in this year’s NFL Draft. So that would signal to some people that all the talent must be exhausted. Yet, I’m telling you – this was such a deep class, that there’s a couple of quality players who didn’t end up hearing their names called.

One of those is Mitchell Tinsley, who started his career at junior college before joining Western Kentucky, where he put up 87 catches for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns during Bailey Zappe’s all-time recording-setting 2021 season.

He transferred to Penn State for his final season of eligibility, to show he can be a productive player in a Power-Five conference. Due to inconsistent quarterback play by Sean Clifford and an even less capable passer having to jump in as a backup, Tinsley was limited to 51 catches for 577 yards and five TDs.

This guy has good size at 6’1”, right around 200 pounds. For a longer build, he features impressive burst out of his breaks, can easily roll off the inside foot on speed-outs and is capable of using elongated steps outside his frame to affect defenders with his body-language.

He really excels at attacking the blind-spot of his man with the way he sells the vertical release before snapping off routes or opens up the middle of the field for himself. He really snatches the ball out of the air and has some impressive high-point grabs in-between defenders on tape, where he aggressively rips the ball into his frame.

After securing the catch, he quickly pulls the ball into his body, instantly turns upfield and packs a quick turn, after hauling in curls and hitches, to get positive yardage. Plus, then he has some nice wiggle after the catch and packs an effective stiff-arm to keep defenders away from his lower half.

The reason he didn’t get selected throughout all seven rounds is that he doesn’t have any athletic trump-card to hang his hat on. There’s some wasted movement trying to release from press-coverage (because he doesn’t have that sudden explosion to get to the edges of the defender’s frame and allows light-footed guys to slide in front of him) and he lacks the top gear to regularly detach on vertical routes against NFL speed (ran a 4.6 flat at the combine). With that being said, he can be a very productive pass-catcher in the short-to-intermediate range.

Looking at that Commanders depth chart, with Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and Dyami Brown, you have three guys most dangerous going down the field. Curtis Samuel is a guy they use on shallow crossers, a variety of designated touches and even straight-up handing the ball to him. However, other than Scary Terry and an okay group of tight-ends, they don’t have much in terms of guys who make their mark between the numbers and win through contact over the middle of the field.

I think Tinsley can play the Z for them, but Eric Bienemy having Juju Smith-Schuster in Kansas City last year, he may want that bigger slot profile this UDFA presents as an element to their offense.