The Indianapolis Colts couldn't find a way to make AD Mitchell productive in their offensive system. The second-round pick out of Texas was given up on quickly by Indy, though. He only played a season and a half under head coach Shane Steichen.
Mitchell, though, could help form part of Steichen's legacy, especially if the Colts' season goes south and the team misses the playoffs again. That's because Adonai Mitchell (also known as AD) appears on the cusp of breaking out with his new team, the New York Jets, and under offensive coordinator (and former Indianapolis head coach) Frank Reich.
According to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic (subscription required), Reich said of Mitchell after minicamp this week, "I just want to be in the room he’s in because he’s going to light up the room...between him and Garrett (Wilson), that combo has been really good. AD has shown himself well through this whole program in the offseason...our confidence in him is really high right now."
Failed Indianapolis Colts experiment AD Mitchell showing out in New York Jets OTAs
This coming season for Indy could be a challenge with its wide receiver room. Alec Pierce, who was re-signed this past offseason, needs to stay healthy after returning from offseason ankle surgery, and Josh Downs does too. After those two, the Colts' wideout room has a lot of ifs.
The hope is that Ashton Dulin, who hasn't been overly productive as a wide receiver in his seven seasons, somehow suddenly becomes quite good. That is based more on hope than on past performance, though.
Longtime productive wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. was traded this offseason to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The issue was that he had a $29 million cap hit, and the team needed to free up money to re-sign Pierce and quarterback Daniel Jones. Pittman left a void that Indy didn't truly address in free agency or the 2026 NFL Draft.
In fact, the team could be watching AD Mitchell from afar as he has his first truly productive season in the NFL, and he will be doing so under a former Colts head coach. The irony of that is painful and illuminating.
The positive about Shane Steichen is that he is a well-respected offensive coach, but his excellence might be challenged a bit if Reich, whose last season in Indy was the year before Steichen was hired, can turn Mitchell into the kind of wide receiver Colts general manager Chris Ballard thought he would be when Ballard chose the Texas product in the 2024 NFL Draft.
If Dulin doesn't prove to be worthy of WR3, the Indianapolis Colts might be wishing they hadn't gotten rid of Adonai Mitchell so quickly. He could have been exactly the player Indy needed after trading Pittman. So far with the New York Jets, Mitchell certainly appears to be trending upwards in his career, something Indianapolis and Shane Steichen could never get him to do.
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