Good luck to Adonai Mitchell, honestly. While he show-boated a bit too much just on the cusp of scoring his first career touchdown while still with the Indianapolis Colts last season, fumbling the ball out of the back of the end zone, he was never a bad human being. He just underwhelmed in Indy.
That appears to be drastically changing with the New York Jets. The wide receiver was a part of the trade that brought cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts in the middle of last season. Gardner missed half his games with Indy at the end of last year, while Mitchell was scoring his first NFL touchdowns.
In organized team activities and minicamp, Mitchell was a standout for the Jets. According to ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini, the receiver was the most shocking player, in terms of positivity, in New York's offseason workouts. Maybe Indianapolis simply gave up on Mitchell too easily.
Former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell is impressing with the New York Jets
Cimini wrote recently, "The Jets figured Mitchell would take a leap this offseason -- his first with the team -- but he exceeded their expectations. Mitchell...solidified himself as the No. 2 receiver. He displayed a firm grasp of the new system, allowing him to flash his vertical speed. His chemistry with quarterback Geno Smith was quickly apparent. Mitchell should be a nice complement toGarrett Wilson."
Ouch. First of all, the Jets assuming Mitchell would improve quite a lot this offseason seems fairly damning to Colts head coach Shane Steichen. He was supposed to be a brilliant offensive mind when Indianapolis hired him in 2023, but he hasn't gotten the team to achieve anything more than mediocrity, failed to get quarterback Anthony Richardson to improve, and Mitchell, too.
Maybe that is all coincidental. Richardson might be all raw skill and never be productive. If he gets traded, as Mitchell was, and turns out to be good, then the blame lies with the Indianapolis Colts head coach. The same might be said of the success AD Mitchell appears to be on the cusp of.
In the second half of the 2025 season with the New York Jets, a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the 2010 season, Mitchell had 24 catches for 301 yards and two touchdowns in eight games. In 25 games with Indianapolis, Mitchell had 32 catches for 464 yards and zero touchdowns.
That means that Mitchell averaged 18 yards receiving per game for the Indianapolis Colts in a season and a half, and in a half-season with a bad Jets team, he averaged double that number. Moreover, he scored a touchdown for New York in his third game. In that same game, he had 102 yards receiving. He didn't do either of those under Shane Steichen.
With Adonai Mitchell, it gets a little complicated for Colts fans. Actively not wanting him to do well is unfair. The team in Indy failed him; he didn't necessarily fail the team. But watching him succeed with the Jets while Indianapolis is looking for a decent third wide receiver hurts.
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