AD Mitchell addresses some of the questions that surround him as he looks to earn a starting WR spot

There are issues related to his diabetes diagnosis and there are/were character concerns, but the Colts are bullish on their second-round selection -- and for good reason.

WESTFIELD, Ind. – It’s a race against time and Mother Nature Wednesday at Colts training camp. I’m standing near the media area, waiting for second-round draft pick, rookie receiver AD Mitchell, to finish meeting up with his parents and his 3-year-old daughter, Icylinn, who is watching her daddy practice. But now, the storm clouds are gathering and a heavy rain is on the way. After a time, Mitchell walks over with his helmet and a bright smile; seeing his baby girl, who he misses desperately always fills his heart with joy.

“Sorry, Bob, but you’ve got 10 minutes, tops,” I’m told by Colts media relations.

They’re not trying to rush me, but the skies are darkening and we’re on the cusp of a soaking rain.

Mitchell is glowing. He hasn’t seen his daughter in a while. She lives in Texas with his mother. As a fellow girl dad who once had young daughters, I know the feeling.

All is right in the world when they are around.

“Baby girl’s first practice,” he said.

How’s it make you feel to see her?

“I can’t even tell you, dawg; I can’t even tell you,” he said. “And she got to meet (mascot) Blue, so that was exciting for her.”

Blue may be a big lure for the younger crowd at camp, but for everyone else, it’s hard to take your eyes off Mitchell, a 6-2, 205-pound speedster from Texas, who the Colts hope will supplant or at least support Alec Pierce at the second wide receiving spot opposite Michael Pittman, Jr.

After two productive years at Georgia, Mitchell could no longer bear to be separated from his daughter and transferred to Texas. There, he had 55 catches for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns. And he’s always shown up in big games, catching TD’s in all five CFP games he played in. Just watch him at camp, and you can see why the Colts, and Reggie Wayne in particular, went to bat for Mitchell, who was the 11^th receiver selected in a receiver-heavy draft. For one thing, he looks the part, tall, lithe, super quick. But watch him execute his release from the line of scrimmage. Watch him accelerate out of cuts. The Colts would have loved to have dealt for the No. 6 pick in the draft, likely either Malik Nabors or Rome Odunze, but the Giants weren’t prepared to make the trade. So the Colts recalibrated and went with Mitchell, who is hardly some kind of consolation prize. He’s produced and he’s produced on the biggest CFP stages imaginable.

But he didn’t come without questions affixed to his selection.

On journalist Tyler Dunne’s excellent Substack account, Go Long, long-time football scribe Bob McGinn quoted a number of anonymous scouts who questioned
Mitchell’s character prior to the draft. Mitchell, the scouts said, had significant issues, many of them the result of having Type 1 diabetes, which was diagnosed his junior year of high school. When his blood sugar levels were off – too high or too low – he acted poorly.