Mingo Had His Eyes on the Panthers at No. 39
Emotions were already running high for Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo on the first night of the draft, but that intensified the closer and closer it got to the 39th pick.
“My agent told me it was going to be between me, an o-lineman, or a tight end. I saw two tight ends come off the board and I saw an o-lineman come off the board too, so I pretty much knew it was going to play into my favor.
“I was having feelings all last night because I took like ten visits and out of all the teams, Coach Jefferson, his son Van Jefferson used to play at Ole Miss when A.J. [Brown] and DK [Metcalf] were there but then he ended up transferring. He’s a Mississippi guy so we hit off pretty good and he told me the other day that if I was there at 39 that they were going to take me. That was the only team that told me that," Mingo said. "So the whole time I was looking at 39 and my agent called me and said you might get called in a few minutes. Then the clock started I said, man, it’s already been about thirty seconds in why the call ain’t come in? It finally came in and it was a great experience that I’ll definitely cherish.”
So does this mean Mingo was the guy GM Scott Fitterer was all giddy about in his pre-draft press conference? It sure was.
"We had a great meeting. He came in the office, Dan Morgan and I sat in there and he just has a vibe about him. A kind of toughness, he's all about ball. A little country to him and totally different than what I thought. That was the guy. He was really cool."
Speaking of toughness, Mingo missed several games in 2021 due to a broken foot. He tried to finish out the year but just wasn't quite able to and had to shut it down for a few months to get back to 100%.
“[It taught me] patience. You know God does everything for a reason. Sometimes we want something to happen on our terms but that’s not the case. I broke my foot when I was starting off really hot. Me and Matt [Corral] had a real good connection going, had a setback, came back the last few games and I wasn’t all the way healthy. So I went most of the spring and my foot still didn’t heal all the way, so I had surgery on my birthday, April 20th. Last year I was on crutches at this time, so it’s just a blessing to see how things can change over the course of a year.”
Mingo bounced back stronger than ever from the injury, posting career highs in receptions (11), receiving yards (861), touchdowns (5), and yards per catch (16.9). For some, it may have seemed like a bit of a reach and it very well may be in terms of value but Mingo's physical traits jump off the page. If he becomes a more crisp route runner, he'll be a difficult piece for opposing coaches to defend. He'll do a lot of work out of the slot but can also play outside and stretch the field vertically.
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