On a steamy Sunday afternoon in Tampa, Fla., Saquon Barkley asked Quinyon Mitchell to turn up the heat even more.
An NFL Films camera caught Barkley approaching Mitchell, who was tasked with shadowing Tampa Bay Buccaneers phenom rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, as the cornerback sat on the bench. Barkley had a challenge for the 2024 defensive rookie of the year runner-up, who is traveling with top receivers for the first time this season:
I want them in hell. They going to try you all day. I want them in hell.
Mitchell – ever the “silent assassin,” as Cooper DeJean calls him – didn’t respond as Barkley walked away. He let his play do the talking instead. Quarterback Baker Mayfield did try the 24-year-old Mitchell all day to no avail. According to Next Gen Stats, Mitchell conceded just two receptions for six yards on six targets across 22 matchups against Egbuka. He was also targeted three times unsuccessfully while covering Chris Godwin, the veteran Pro Bowl receiver.
The 6-foot, 193-pound cornerback could only stay quiet for so long. Mitchell didn’t back down from Mayfield when the quarterback approached him with some trash talk late in the first quarter. Mitchell didn’t cower when Tristan Wirfs, the Bucs’ 6-5, 320-pound left tackle, stepped in to defend Mayfield from the cornerback’s physical and verbal retaliation.
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“He’s not afraid of anything,” DeJean said. “He’s fearless out on the football field.”
That fearlessness is at the foundation of Mitchell’s continued rise as the Eagles’ No. 1 cornerback responsible for locking down opposing teams’ top receivers, regardless of where they line up. It’s still very much a new assignment for Mitchell. As a rookie last year, Mitchell, the 2024 No. 22 overall pick out of Toledo, exclusively played the right side of the field while Darius Slay held down the left.
The early returns are promising, considering the bevy of talent that Mitchell has faced so far. Egbuka, Godwin, the Los Angeles Rams’ Davante Adams, and the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens would be daunting tests in a four-game stretch for a seasoned cornerback, let alone a second-year player.
Through four games, Mitchell has allowed a 44.4% catch rate (No. 5 in the league among 74 cornerbacks with at least 99 coverage snaps) and has a 52.5 passer rating against (No. 11), per Pro Football Focus. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called Mitchell’s latest showing against the Bucs “his best game since he’s been here.”
But Mitchell, the Week 4 NFC defensive player of the week, acknowledged that he hasn’t reached his ceiling as he grows into this new role.
“Whatever they ask me to do, if it’s to match up on the best guy, I’m willing to do that,” Mitchell said. “So just trying to get better and just try to bring my guys along.”
‘He makes it look easy’
Not all of the great cornerbacks in NFL history shadowed top receivers. Three-time All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowl corner Richard Sherman, for example, played in the Seattle Seahawks’ vaunted Cover 3 scheme in which he was responsible for a deep zone.
Still, Christian Parker, the Eagles’ defensive backs coach, said he considers the traveling responsibility a “badge of honor,” even if it’s slightly “overstated” given the scheme-specific nature of it.
Mitchell didn’t earn that distinction overnight, though. The Williston, Fla., native has turned up the heat with his play in Year 2 because over the summer, the defensive coaching staff turned up the heat on him.
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Parker said training camp is the perfect time to put his players out of their comfort zones. Some days, Mitchell would travel with A.J. Brown, regardless of where the three-time Pro Bowl receiver aligned. Other days, he would exclusively stay on the boundary side, also known as the short side of the field that typically doesn’t get as much safety help.
“He played one side all last year,” DeJean said. “Once you play one side of the field, you kind of get the same movements every single game, practice. So it’s hard going back and forth. One time you’re open this way, one time you’re open the other way. That’s hard to do as well. But he makes it look easy.”
Left side vs. right, field vs. boundary, shadowing or not, the objective was the same – Parker wanted to amp up the pressure on Mitchell in a practice setting so when the regular season began, his potential undertaking of various alignments and assignments would feel like second nature.
“Confidence in something comes from demonstrated ability and demonstrating that during training camp or OTAs or whatever makes you prepared to do it for a game,” Parker said.
Getting Mitchell comfortable on both sides – both left-right and field-boundary – would give Fangio the option to move him around in the new-look secondary. Following Slay’s release, Mitchell became the clear-cut CB1, with Adoree’ Jackson and Kelee Ringo each making appearances in the CB2 gig to start the season.
Not every game plan requires Mitchell to travel. It all depends on how opposing teams deploy their top receivers, according to Parker. Typically, if top receivers are more stagnant in their approach – rather than prone to going in motion before the snap – then they are candidates for Mitchell to shadow.
That responsibility isn’t bestowed upon just anyone. It’s a role that requires immense preparation, Parker said, and an ability to reset quickly between plays.
“You’re not just staying on one side or it’s not just field-boundary or left-right,” Parker said. “You might be to the field to the right, you might be in the boundary to the left, you might be to the boundary to the right the next play. So being able to let each play live a life of their own, have your eyes and your footwork and your leverage and all the things in terms of calls and all those adjustments, you have to be very multiple in terms of how those things look.”
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Beyond his inherent, physical talent alone, Mitchell showed he was ready for this bigger role through his increased understanding of the defense. Parker could tell that Mitchell was advancing in Fangio’s scheme based on the types of “graduate-level” questions he asked in the meeting room. The young cornerback was noticing different details on film, from presnap splits to formations, and engaging Parker in conversations about them.
But part of Mitchell’s growth is his ability to filter out information, too. Not every detail within the entire picture of the offense pertains to Mitchell’s responsibilities. Parker said Mitchell has grown the most in Year 2 in his ability to ignore certain details – a lineman’s stance indicating run or pass, for example – that might lie to him and throw him off of his role within the playcall.
Mastering the pertinent information has helped Mitchell eliminate plays before they happen. Throughout the week of preparation, he studies his assignment, zeroing in on the variety of routes they run based on their alignment and the leverage of the cornerback. The Eagles’ scout team receivers emulate those players and their releases throughout the week to give the defense an accurate look.
By the time game day rolls around, Mitchell can narrow down the routes an opposing receiver might run based on their alignment and their stem (a receiver’s initial path at the start of their route), allowing him to play fast and trust his technique.
“You could prepare all you want, but if you don’t have the confidence to go do it, do something about it, then it doesn’t really matter,” Parker said. “You see guys second-guess themselves all the time and Q’s playing with a really clear mind right now.”
‘A little bit of confidence and some ‘[expletive] it’
According to Jackson, the nine-year NFL veteran, there are two traits a cornerback must possess to execute a high-profile assignment like traveling with a top receiver.
“You’ve got to have a little bit of confidence and some ‘[expletive] it,’” Jackson said.
Confidence, Jackson said, is rooted in preparation. The “‘[expletive] it’” attitude involves throwing caution to the wind.
“I know [receivers] get paid to make plays as well,” Jackson explained. “But you’ve just got to go out there and do what you do all week.”
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Mitchell isn’t lacking in confidence or “‘[expletive] it,’” but that’s nothing new to the cornerback. Even when he was just a “skinny kid” at Williston High School, according to his high school coach Justin Wentworth, he didn’t back down from a challenge. He could run with anyone as an undersized freshman.
He brought that fearlessness to every duty required of him. When Williston’s starting running back transferred to another school ahead of Mitchell’s senior year, he didn’t hesitate to take on that responsibility. If opposing defenses gave him any room, Mitchell was taking the ball to the house, Wentworth said. His high school coach saw him display that mentality at Toledo, too, whether he was covering top receivers or blitzing for a strip sack against Notre Dame in his second season.
Those newfound challenges and the pressure that comes with them brought the best out of Mitchell, according to Wentworth.
“He was always a kid that wanted to be in the mix,” Wentworth said. “He was never, ‘Oh, the big kids are playing.’ He wanted to be right there with them. He’s been competitive like that since the day I’ve known him.”
Mitchell is right there with the big kids in the NFL, too. He’s shadowed the likes of Pickens, Adams, Egbuka, and Kansas City Chiefs receiver Hollywood Brown for at least portions of the last four games.
He’s earned their respect, even if their compliments are slightly backhanded. In the hours before the Rams game, Adams called Mitchell a “great young player,” but he added that “I’m hoping I can show him a few things that he’s never seen, never had to deal with before today.”
His comments didn’t age well. On his 22 routes with Mitchell in coverage, Adams posted just two receptions for 12 yards on five targets.
Mitchell’s performances are drawing more sincere admirers, too, including Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II. The 2024 defensive player of the year listed Mitchell among his top five active cornerbacks on a recent podcast hosted by LeSean McCoy and Emmanuel Acho.
The people who know Mitchell best – his teammates – aren’t exclusively keeping tabs on his high level of play. They’re also taking note of his energy between the whistles. Monday through Saturday, Jackson insisted that Quinyon’s “Q” nickname actually stands for “quiet.” But on Sundays, most recently against the Bucs, his celebrations after strapping down top receivers serve as outward expressions of his confidence.
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“I mean, it’d be one thing making a play and just penguin-walking back and lining back up,” Jackson said. “But for him to have the emotion that he has that I think a lot of people don’t really see, I think that goes with the confidence that I was talking about earlier.
“And then just him being himself. ‘Cause it wasn’t like he was doing anything extraordinary when he was celebrating. It was just him getting himself going. Probably talking [to] himself, pumping him up to go back out there and do it again. It was exciting to see.”
When asked during training camp whether Mitchell could become one of the greats at the position, Parker answered affirmatively. He emphasized Mitchell’s makeup – his natural confidence, his levelheadedness, and his work ethic – in his reasoning. Four games into Mitchell’s sophomore season, DeJean concurred with his position coach.
“I think he can achieve anything,” DeJean said. “Anything he wants in this league with the way that he plays, what he does on the field. If he continues to play like he has, like I know he will, he’s going to be in some really, really good conversations.”
In true Mitchell form, he won’t even have to speak to be part of those conversations. His play will do the talking.