Quinyon Mitchell was one of the best cornerbacks in college football last season, but the Toledo product cemented himself as a likely first-round pick with a strong week of practice at the Senior Bowl college all-star game.
Matching up daily with prospects from bigger schools, Mitchell told reporters Thursday at the NFL combine that's where he proved "I can hit with the big dogs."
"Going into that week, there was a lot of, 'He can't play (against) good competition,' and stuff like that," Mitchell said. "So just going out there and showcasing and dominating everybody."
A three-year starter for the Rockets, Mitchell earned second-team All-America honors last season when he led the Mid-American Conference and finished second nationally with 18 pass breakups.
He had six career interceptions for the Rockets, with four of them coming in a 2022 win over Northern Illinois, when he scored twice on interception returns.
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"I don't feel that's my best game, but I do feel it gave me some national attention," Mitchell said Thursday. "The week before, they played Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt run a lot of Cover 4, our same defense. So just going into that week we was like we're going to throw in some Cover 2 in there and the ball just came right to me."
A Florida prep product, Mitchell ended up at Toledo after several major conference schools stopped recruiting him because of grades.
He said he needed a "plus one" class to qualify academically, and he played limited snaps as a backup in the Covid year of 2020 after enrolling late for classes.
A full-time starter in 2021, Mitchell blossomed in his third season with the program in 2022, when he held opponents to a 34.8 passer rating, according to USA TODAY . He turned down transfer opportunities to stay at Toledo for his senior season and allowed just 27 receptions and no touchdowns last year.
"Just try to stay loyal to those who are loyal to me," he said.
Now, Mitchell projects to be one of the first cornerbacks taken in April's draft, and could interest the Detroit Lions if he makes to Pick No. 29 . Mitchell, who said ex-Lions cornerback Darius Slay is one of four NFL players he tries to model his game after, along with Patrick Surtain Jr., Trent McDuffie and Trevon Diggs , had a formal combine interview with the Lions on Wednesday, where he said he talked coverages and watched tape.
Mitchell, primarily as an outside cornerback at Toledo, took some reps as a slot corner in Senior Bowl practices. He called himself the best player in Mid-American Conference history Thursday and said he hopes to open eyes with his combine workout Friday.
"I didn't come here to be mediocre," he said. "I came here to break records and stuff like that."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him @davebirkett .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell could be CB1 in NFL draft 2024
