Most seasons, the NFL trade deadline comes and goes with a whimper, but earlier this season, a few teams made major blockbuster moves, including the Indianapolis Colts, who traded two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the New York Jets for two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner, who suffered a calf strain in just his third game with the team and could miss some time. The Jets are all but out of playoff contention, but Mitchell has already surpassed his yardage total in eight games with the Colts in his first three with New York, including an eight-catch, 102-yard, one-touchdown effort in a Week 13 win over the Atlanta Falcons. He’s received at least six targets in each of his three games in New York after garnering no more than four in any game in Indianapolis.
The Jets do not benefit from winning the rest of the season, so coach Aaron Glenn’s priority should be evaluating his young players ahead of what will be a pivotal 2026 draft. Just 56 days removed from his 23rd birthday, Mitchell certainly qualifies as that, and it’s not like New York’s other available starting wideouts, John Metchie and Allen Lazard, are good enough to garner a closer look than Mitchell, especially with Lazard set to turn 30 later in the season. Mitchell is a former second-round pick who led the Big 12 in touchdowns in his junior season at Texas, ran a blazing 4.34-second 40-yard dash, and posted nearly a 40-inch vertical leap. The Jets could cut him for just $700,000 of dead cap in an offseason in which they have more than $100 million of cap room to work with, so over the next five games, they need to figure out whether they’ll want him as a target for whichever quarterback they inevitably draft in the top 10 next summer.
Arguably, only Tyrod Taylor could hold Mitchell back, given that in Taylor’s first game back from injury, he connected with Mitchell on just two of his seven targets. Mitchell also only caught one of Justin Fields’ six targets in his New York debut, though that can largely be tied to his two drops, which shouldn’t be a long-term concern. While probably better than Fields, Taylor isn’t the best quarterback to maximize Mitchell’s strengths: his 73.2% on-target percentage this season is below the league average, and he’s completed just two of his 17 passes launched more than 20 yards downfield. Thanks to his explosive speed, Mitchell’s average target is the fourth-deepest in the league.
Purely because of Taylor’s struggles on deeper throws, I wouldn’t consider him a must-start for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins, but he should still be worthy of WR2 or FLEX consideration in deeper leagues. The Dolphins have done a decent job guarding opposing wide receivers, allowing the seventh-fewest FPTS per game, but on a per-play basis, they’ve been more gettable, allowing the highest completion percentage and seventh-most yards per attempts. They also have been worth the fourth fewest expected points added and have posted the league’s 10th-worst coverage grades by Pro Football Focus’ standards. If Tanner Engstrand calls good plays for him, Mitchell should still be able to impart damage after the catch against one of the league’s worst tackling teams.
