The numbers said Quinyon Mitchell was the best cornerback in the country. The skeptics said he played at Toledo. Then he went to Mobile, Ala. last month and tore up the Senior Bowl.
"It was a good experience," Mitchell said this week at the NFL combine. "Had a lot of fun, made connections and relationships with some guys there. Feel like I just went down there, competed and dominated."
In the process, Mitchell said he proved "that I can hang with the big dawgs."
"Going into that week there was a lot of, ‘He can’t play against good competition,' and stuff like that. So just going out there and showcasing and dominating everybody," said Mitchell.
Now he's in Indianapolis tearing up the combine. Mitchell, who said he "didn't come here to be mediocre, I came here to break records," clocked a 4.33 in the 40-yard dash on Friday, the second-fastest time at this year's combine (running backs and wide receivers have yet to test). He's making a strong case for himself as the No. 1 cornerback in the draft and a likely top-15 pick.
Mitchell was the highest-graded corner in college football this season, per Pro Football Focus. He was targeted 67 times and allowed just 27 catches and a passer rating of 51.1. He had 14 pass breakups, second most in the country, helping Toledo crack the Top 25 rankings for the first time in eight years.
Mitchell was also the highest-graded corner in college football last season, one spot ahead of Illinois' Devon Witherspoon who went fifth overall to the Seahawks. On 70 targets, he allowed 27 catches and a rating of 34.8. He was fourth in the country with 13 pass breakups. He also had five interceptions, including four picks and two pick-sixes in one game against Northern Illinois.
"My ball skills, intercepting the ball, breaking the ball up, playing through the hands, not panicking downfield, I’d say that’s my top trait," Mitchell said. "The ball’s gonna get you paid. At the Senior Bowl I learned every ball that’s thrown in the air is worth $2.5 million, so just trying to get that money."
Could he get it in Detroit? Mitchell said he had a formal interview with the Lions on Wednesday, "just going over their coverages and watching their tape." He figures to be long gone by the time they make their first pick at 29th overall, but maybe Brad Holmes will be compelled to go get him. The Lions have a glaring need for a No. 1 corner, though it will take an exceedingly special one for Holmes to move up.
"They’re hard to find," Holmes said this week. "They’re not growing on trees. That’s arguably, along with receivers, the most voluminous position in the draft, but that doesn’t mean they’re all going to be good, especially as high as you might have to pick them. If you get wooed by the physical qualities too much but they don’t have the intanigble qualities, you can get yourself in trouble.
"I don’t want to call myself a snob of outside corners, but I have a lot of appreciation for that position. I was a cornerback cross-checker for like a decade back with the Rams and I love corner play, I just love it. I could watch DB individuals all day, every every. I think it’s poetry in motion. I love DB play, but yeah, we just want to get the right fit."
A Florida native, Mitchell was an unheralded three-star recruit in 2020. He said he "had some grade issues coming out of high school, and Toledo really just stuck with me through the process. ... Everybody went away, Toledo stayed loyal, so I stayed loyal to them."
And when Power Five programs like Illinois, Arizona State and Florida tried to woo Mitchell to transfer after his breakout season in 2022, he said he "didn’t indulge in it (because) those relationships at Toledo are so strong."
"That’s come up in every meeting (with NFL teams): Why did you stay at Toledo? So I just tried to give them that same answer," he said.
Mitchell seems destined for big things in the NFL. He's likely to be the first Toledo product drafted in the first round since defensive end Dan Williams went 11th overall to the Broncos in 1993, and just the second ever. He takes pride in coming out of the Mid-American Conference, which as a whole isn't known for producing high draft picks.
"I represent the MAC with my whole heart," he said.
And who's the greatest player to ever come out of the MAC? Quinyon Mitchell smiled and said, "Probably Quinyon Mitchell."