Max Mitchell is a prospect who has turned heads over the past few weeks. Looking at his tape, it’s clear that he has immense talent. The product out of Monroe, La decided to stay close to home to play his college career. The son of John and Jody Mitchell has one sister and is by far one of the biggest in his family tree. While coming out of Neville High School, he was just regarded as a two-star prospect, but that didn’t stop him from working hard to become what he is now. Mitchell had a stellar college career at a small school, making it hard for teams to draft him high. However, his tape makes it difficult for him to be overlooked.
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Name: Max Mitchell
Jersey: No. 74
Position: Offensive tackle
School: Louisiana
Class: Junior
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 307lbs
Games Watched: Texas (2021), Georgia Southern (2021), App State (2021), UAB (2020)
Major Injury History: None
Player Breakdown
Pass Blocking (13/15)
With Mitchell playing tackle on both the left and ride sides during his time in college, he showed he could be fluid at both. At the same time, he would jump between sides during a game and never miss a beat. Of course, he had to be good at good pass blocker for the coaches to allow this to happen. However, Mitchell does suffer from minor lapses in mechanics. While these can be cleaned up with an NFL coach, it’s something to be aware of. Furthermore, with Mitchell being excellent on both sides of the line, he is perfect for a swing tackle.
Run Blocking (11/15)
Mitchell sometimes plays a little light on the back end. However, he does lower his pads and forcibly moves people out of the way more often than not. He needs to do it even more often. At the same time, he is a player with many tools to become a serviceable starter for a team. With one of the many critiques of tall tackles being that they don’t have good pad height, Mitchell doesn’t have that problem.
Length (12/15)
Coming in with 33.5-inch arms, he doesn’t have any concerns with length. However, one leading critique of Mitchell is that he doesn’t always use his punch the way he should. Often Mitchell isn’t the fastest or the strongest with his punch, which shows in pass protection. Furthermore, he should not have a problem transitioning to the league if he can get more accurate and quicker with his lead hand.
Footwork (8/10)
While the 22-year-old does have solid footwork for teams to build on, he often trips on his own feet. The ability to play on either side of the line during the same game or drive it’s a credit to his footwork. However, Mitchell does tend to overset his feet and has too wide of a base at times. At the same time, he needs to work on not crossing his feet when sliding in pass protection. Furthermore, with most of Mitchell’s blocking ability coming from core strength rather than footwork, he can get around not having the best feet at the position.
Mechanics (8/10)
Mitchell shows that he can be a force with how he conducts his mechanics. With most of his game is based on strength, his mechanics follow suit. He plays with a controlled rage, allowing his power to win reps. At the same time, he shows that his mechanics are a part of his strength, and one cannot operate without the other. However, Mitchell does prove that his mechanics are refined to his liking, and it suits his style of play.
Athleticism (6.5/10)
Athleticism is confusing when talking about Mitchell. He demonstrates very high levels often but sometimes looks like he has on concrete shoes. Looking at his college career, it is clear that he has a lot of athletic ability, but he needs to be more consistent with it. At the same time, he mostly wins his blocking reps due to his insane core strength over pinpoint fundamentals. Furthermore, Mitchell is an absolute stack of sheer muscle and athleticism, and he will have no problem playing on Sundays.
Versatility (9/10)
With Mitchell switching between left and right tackle during drives and games, his versatility is crazy high. Teams are licking their chops over him with a projection to be a swing tackle in the league at the bare minimum. A lot of the time, he switched where he lined up and did so very often. Having to switch mainly to a revolving door of linemen during his time in college, he has never missed a beat.
Anchor (7/10)
Now we get to his best attribute. Mitchell’s anchor is monstrous, and it’s hard to know him off his spot. Being his size, he doesn’t have the best “strength” in his legs and arms. However, he makes up for it by having absurd core strength, which allows him to have excellent balance. When Mitchell drops his anchor, he uses all of that core strength to stand up a bull rush and hold a defender in their place. Furthermore, with Mitchell being a tackle having the ability to drop anchor like he can is vastly impressive.
Control (3.5/5)
Mitchell does have reasonable control. He won’t be getting any unnecessary penalties so coaches won’t hate him. However, he does sometimes have a few lapses in mental focus. With Mitchell having a few errors in how he conducts a block, it isn’t enough for people to have some concern. Once he gets to the league, any coach worth his money will be able to clean it up. However, it does happen more than we would like, and it is an eyebrow-raiser.
Player Summary
Overall, Mitchell is someone who is, at minimum, a swing tackle in the league for a decade and, at best, a mid-tier starter. While he probably won’t ever become a high-level starter, he is a player who can have a long career. However, he does need to clean up a few issues with his game that could make his growth harder. At the same time, he will have to become a better overall run blocker to match his pass blocking skill. Furthermore, with a ton of potential in his game, a long career is not unlikely for him.
Rookie Projection: Swing Tackle
Third Year Projection: Swing Tackle
Final Grade (78/100): Mid Third-Round Pick
Player Comp: Dennis Kelly
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