Chiefs: Who Is Terrence Mitchell? 

I must admit to something which many of you may already suspect. Great players bore me. It’s true. I love watching Eric Berry single-handedly win the game. I love seeing Marcus Peters take the ball from Benjamin, making him look more kitten than Panther, but when it comes to writing, there’s just not that much to say that you don’t already know.

Personally, when the game is over, the guys I obsess about are future draft picks, practice-squaders and guys buried on the depth chart beneath 900lbs of awesome. For that reason, I can identify almost every player on the roster by number and tell you at least a little something about them. Imagine my surprise when #39 pops up on the screen and I have no idea who he is. Turns out, he’s Terrence Mitchell. Now, after re-watching the game, I can tell you a few things about him.

Mitchell in Coverage

Mitchell is pretty good in coverage. You can tell by watching him play, but you can also tell by the fact that Sutton trusts him. The first snap Mitchell played, against the Falcons, Came on 3^rd and 9 in the red zone. Maybe that’s just because he played outside in nickel packages, but that’s still a pretty critical situation to throw a rookie in. Mitchell isn’t strictly a rookie, but he’s pretty new to the Chiefs. This is his 3^rd year in the league. He started out as a 7^th round pick of the Cowboys and has bounced around quite a bit. He played 37 snaps and didn’t get targeted a lot. He did allow some passing yards, but that’s not really a huge surprise for a guy getting his first start (for the Chiefs) against a high flying offense.

Mitchell’s Numbers

Mitchell is slow. Sure he ran a 4.63 at the combine and a 4.52 at his pro day, but once you hit the league, all that matters is how you actually look on the field. Mitchell was mostly able to stay with his WRs, but he saw most of his snaps in the red zone (where there’s less field behind you). Anytime he wasn’t in the red zone, he was generally playing with a massive cushion. Didn’t matter who he was lined up on, Mitchell was giving them 10 yards of space. He makes up for it by being quick and smart. He ran a 6.57 3-cone and a blazing fast 4 flat 20-yard shuttle.

Mitchell is a Good Tackler

Mitchell is a good tackler. He had two tackles, both solo, and didn’t allow much in the way of YAC. This is critical for his success because he plays with a large cushion and depends on making the tackle if his guy runs a short route.

So Who is Terrence Mitchell?

Simply put, he’s a career backup CB, that’s not an insult, it’s a compliment, few guys have what it takes to play CB for 10 years in the NFL, even as a backup. I think Mitchell can do that. He has some starter quality skills, but his speed makes him a less than ideal option. Plenty of teams would be happy to have him as their 5^th CB, if he keeps playing like this. Sutton clearly saw something in him that fit his game plan for Atlanta. If I were to compare him to an NFL player, it would probably be Daniel Sorenson. They have similar athletic traits and similar struggles, at times, in coverage. If Mitchell is interested in learning to play Nickle LB and/or Safety, he could probably find a permanent spot on the roster as a jack of all trades depth guy.

Bonus Observation

Chiefs really miss Howard and Bailey against screens. The depth DL guys tend to try a little too hard sometimes and can get trapped behind the play.

And those are my Sizzling Takes.