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What the Kansas City Chiefs‘ pass game is missing most is a deep threat ever since Tyquan Thornton dislocated his ankle in Week 4. And when Xavier Worthy went down with a hamstring strain against the New York Jets in Week 9, the existing problem got even worse.
Head coach Andy Reid confirmed that Worthy “tweaked” his hamstring in an incident that ultimately required the former first-round wide receiver (No. 28 overall in 2024) to leave the game and not return.
With no sense yet as to how long Worthy might be out, the urgency with which Kansas City must pursue another pass-catcher, or perhaps two, at the trade deadline (November 10) has ratcheted way up.
One name that NFL analysts have connected to the Chiefs frequently in recent days/weeks is that of Josh Downs of the Indianapolis Colts. However, another answer could have been on the other side of the field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, November 8 in the form of Jets wideout Adonai Mitchell.
Adonai Mitchell Has Flashed in Best Moments Across Early NFL Career
GettyNew York Jets wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
A second-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts out of Texas in 2024, Mitchell was part of the blockbuster deal last season that saw the Colts acquire cornerback Sauce Gardner from New York in exchange for two first-round selections.
Mitchell has been a hit-and-miss prospect over his first 37 games, which include 15 starts. He has tallied 72 catches for 1,030 yards and three TDs during his professional career.
Mitchell’s best game this season came last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, during which he made seven catches on nine targets for 142 yards and one score. He finished the afternoon against the Chiefs Sunday with zero catches on seven targets.
Some of that inconsistency is owed to Mitchell’s flaws as a 24-year-old player still improving while playing in the third season of a four-year, $7.4 million rookie contract.
But some of it is also because of inconsistent quarterback play across much of his career and a function of being a member of a Jets offense that has highlighted pass-catchers in spectacular ways this season, only for those same playmakers to disappear almost immediately from a statistical standpoint.
For instance, rookie wideout Omar Cooper Jr. put up back-to-back games with more than 100 yards receiving and a TD in Weeks 6 and 7 before producing zero catches in Week 8. He finished with eight catches for 58 yards in the Jets’ loss to the Chiefs.
Adonai Mitchell Can Perhaps Offer Chiefs Deep Threat That Xavier Worthy Failed to Deliver
GettyNew York Jets wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
The one thing Mitchell can offer the Chiefs with consistency is explosive-play potential due to his speed.
He was second in the class of 2024 wide receivers at the NFL Combine with an athleticism score of 92. Standing at over six-feet, two-inches and weighing 205 pounds, Mitchell posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.34 seconds and a vertical leap of 39.5 inches.
A member of the same class and a teammate of Mitchell’s with the Longhorns, Worthy ranked fourth with an athleticism score of 89. He ran his 40-yard dash in 4.21 seconds and posted a 41-inch vertical, though Worthy is three inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter than Mitchell.
Worthy was supposed to be the deep threat for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, though that has never really materialized. Injuries have also interrupted each of Worthy’s past two seasons.
If the Chiefs believe they can secure Mitchell for a fourth- or fifth-round draft pick, which is around what Downs is likely to cost, that is a call Kansas City definitely should make given that the Jets now profile as trade-deadline sellers after a 2-7 start.