Second round: Bobcat goes from unknown to first-day pick
A safety makes Oakland 2-for-2 filling holes
NEW YORK — Two months ago, Ohio safety Mike Mitchell wasn’t on anyone’s radar screen. Then came the Bobcats’ Pro Day workout in March.
And Mitchell made up for an NFL Combine snub by running a sub-4.4 40-yard dash.
Suddenly, everyone was talking about the defensive back — who wasn’t even ranked in many major NFL Draft guides.
If that wasn’t enough, today, Oakland made the small-school heavy hitter a surprise second-round pick.
The Raiders, who held the 40th overall pick, traded it to New England for one of the Patriots’ later second-round picks, 47th overall, and the Patriots’ fourth- and sixth-round picks (124th and 199th overall). They used that second-round pick to take Mitchell.
Mitchell first got Raiders fans’ attention when the team brought him in for an interview.
“There stood Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown, telling Mitchell what an instant difference he’d make in the Raiders’ secondary during last week’s predraft visit,” according to David White of SFGate.com. “Making matters all the more overwhelming, Raiders secondary coach Lionel Washington — a former NFL player himself — was reading from the exact same script.
The Raiders must be counting on Mitchell to elevate his game quickly. They have only three safeties on the roster: Disappointing former first-rounder Michael Huff, second-year man Tyvon Branch and former undrafted free agent Hiram Eugene.
Mitchell is considered a strong safety, but thinks of himself as something of a combo free and strong safety.
“I can do both things. I can do both very well,” he told White in an interview. “At strong safety, I can be a very imposing force against the run and in the pass game. At free, I can be a guy who covers well and gets interceptions. I have a lot of God-given gifts than can really help, especially an organization that needs a safety.”
Mitchell, who stands a shade over 6-foot and weighs 220 pounds, registered 212 tackles and seven interceptions in four years for the Bobcats.
“I feel like God has blessed me with pretty good physical ability,” Mitchell told SunTimes.com’s Brad Biggs. “The thing that is intriguing to most people is I’m 6-0.5 and 220 pounds. They look at my body and I’m a lean guy, I’m strong, I’m fast, I run a 4.43 40 so I’ve got some pretty athletic tools to go along with size.”
And the small-school star may have become one of the first players to truly take benefit from the Internet age, as his “greatest hits” reel on YouTube quickly made the rounds.
“My highlight tape is out now, my agent has done an amazing job, and I think people are starting to see,” he told Biggs.
Even with his growing reputation, Mitchell was thought to have worked his way into the middle rounds.
But the Raiders are never afraid to take a player they want, regardless of what round that player is projected at. Sometimes (Langston Walker, Round 2, 2003) it doesn’t work out for them. Other times (Nnamdi Asomugha, Round 1, 2003) it works out very well, indeed.
Football.com also touted Mitchell’s football intelligence, quoting Ohio defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow as saying, “He watched more tape than really anybody I ever had, to prepare for a game.”
Ohio head coach Frank Solich didn’t hesitate to praise Mitchell to Football.com: “As the years went on, he just continued to mature as a player and as an individual. … I enjoyed being around him. We can always count on him in terms of being a physical player, and that’s always where you want to start. … Mike was exceptional at that.”
The only possible concern: Biggs pointed out Mitchell was banged up his senior year, with a late-season knee injury.
The Raiders will have three picks on the draft’s second day: Third round, fourth round and seventh round. Oakland is undoubtedly still looking for help at both offensive and defensive tackle. Check back with S&B Report and Raiderfans.net tomorrow for all our coverage of the 2009 NFL Draft.
