NFL Draft Profile: Cameron Mitchell, Cornerback, Northwestern Wildcats
Cameron Mitchell
Northwestern Wildcats
#2
Pos: CB
Ht: 5110
Wt: 191
Hand: 0968
Arm: 3138
Wing: 7618
40: 4.47
DOB: 9/8/2001
Hometown: Bolingbrook, IL
High School: Bolingbrook
Eligibility: 2023
One Liner:
Mitchell is a patient zone corner who makes up for his average athletic traits with awareness and physicality.
Evaluation:
Mitchell primarily aligned as a boundary corner in zone coverage for the Wildcats. He has a clear path to the field as a rookie because of his extensive special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. Mitchell was a high-end special teamer at Northwestern, making multiple tackles on the coverage units. He shows good awareness in zone coverage to work from one route to the next and stay anchored in his assignment. Mitchell has some experience in soft-shoe press coverage. He is patient early in the receiver’s release and waits until the receiver declares before opening his hips. Mitchell doesn’t have great size or arm length, but he crowds wide receivers at the catch point. The redshirt junior reads the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate throws and quickly closes on short routes. His route recognition and reaction time showed significant improvement from 2021 to 2022. Mitchell is willing to bump receivers off their routes and be physical downfield. Tight ends don’t stress him athletically in coverage, but they give him problems as blockers. Mitchell offers plenty of upside in run defense. In Northwestern’s rainy 17-7 loss to Penn State, Mitchell played downhill and led all defenders in the game with nine solo tackles. He’s a wrap-up tackler who excels at tracking the ball carrier. The former three-star recruit challenges blockers and closes downhill with excellent burst. While he’s a willing run defender, Mitchell sometimes slips off tackles and doesn’t consistently drive through ball carriers. He didn’t have great ball production at Northwestern and committed three penalties in each of the past two seasons. Mitchell’s arm length is average at best, and he suffers from some minor hip stiffness. There’s room for his foot speed and footwork to improve. The Illinois native predominantly played zone in college, which makes it unlikely he’ll offer upside in a man-heavy scheme at the NFL level. He commits false steps when trying to mirror receivers near the line of scrimmage and rarely gets physical with receivers in press coverage at the line. Mitchell is stressed vertically by speed and wasn’t asked to mirror releases then carry receivers vertically often. He allows too much cushion in off man or zone and is overcautious about protecting the deep pass, leading to comeback routes and underneath throws sometimes being completed for first downs in front of him. Mitchell suffers from a slight delay when trying to stick with in-breaking routes in man coverage.
Grade:
5th Round
Background:
This season he played in 11 games accumulating 52 total tackles (38 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one sack, and one interception. Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after recording six tackles, two pass breakups, and an interception to help beat Nebraska (8/27). Made his first career sack against Miami (OH) (9/24). In 2021, he was All-Big Ten honorable mention by Big Ten coaches, starting all 12 games as a sophomore. He recorded 48 total tackles (39 solo), .5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and 6 pass breakups. He was ranked a Three-star prospect and was the 23rd-ranked player in Illinois (247Sports).
