Oakland Raiders

One of the lasting images of the 2009 NFL Draft was Chris Berman waving around Mel Kiper, Jr's book ranting about the Raiders reaching with their selection of Mike Mitchell in the second round. During day two of the draft coverage, the NFL Network's Mike Mayock apologized for having ripped on that selection the day before, since he had found another team that had been eyeing the safety out of Ohio University.

The impression of Mitchell was not helped by his missing most of minicamp and all of the OTAs with a hamstring injury. However, it was Mitchell who laid the first wood of the camp giving running back Gary Russell a hard pop that was heard throughout the facility.

Mitchell is a physical safety who has been itching to get the pads on since minicamp. In fact, during minicamp he said, "It’s really not football when you don’t have pads on. So there’s a lot of things they can get away with and we can get away with when there’s no pads on. Obviously there’s a reason you play the game with pads on. I just can’t wait to get them on and give out a couple of love taps and really let people see who I am."

He got his first chance with the play where he had a clean shot at Russell. (Gary, not JaMarcus.) Of course he took that shot, but rather than drive through him as he normally hits, he just delivered a pop. However, that pop was loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the facility. Mitchell recounted the play this way, "It was a cloud call. I was going to be in the deep third. It worked out perfectly. He got boxed in. He had nowhere to go, I had nowhere to go. That's what you dream about right there so it's a good one." When asked how the play would have ended had it been a real game, "He's going to be on his back and I'm going to be up yelling. That's how it usually ends"

He describes his hitting style as inspired by his idols Jack Tatum and Ronnie Lott. "I'm trying to hit the person behind him, not him. That's just how I play. I don't talk any trash or anything like that. I'm just a physical player. When it's game time, I'll let that speak when I play."

The fear in the Raider Nation that Mitchell is nothing more than Derrick Gibson 2.0. However, besides hitting, Mitchell has been making plays in coverage including making an adjustment when tight end Zach Miller peeled off for a route and Mitchell broke up the pass. He has also been praised for his learning of the game.

In addition to being a hard hitter, Coach Tom Cable says that Mitchell has been a student of the game. "What I like is he has really committed to the learning part of it. He’s always trying to ask questions, always around with his coaches, so to me, he recognized the fact that he missed all that and he’s making up for it, and doing fine. He’s obviously an intelligent, guy, but just his want to, to press it, go after it and find out and get the answers has been the most important thing."

Mitchell also acknowledges that he missed out because of the rule that wouldn't allow him at OTAs because his college class had not yet graduated. "Yeah I had a lot to do just because it was so tough not being able to practice and have those reps. Even, if I could have just been watching reps, that would have been huge but to not have anything I was pretty much coming out here really, really a rookie. I didn't know the defense, I didn't know where to go so I'm looking out here and the game was going way faster than it should have been. Now, I've had the time for those four days and I actually stayed here my whole summer rehabbing my hamstring so I had another month to stay out here and learn the defense. Now I know what I'm doing. Now it's a matter of playing and when it's down to just playing, that's when it's just a game."

He definitely has the right attitude for a safety. When he was asked at the end of practice who he laid the hit on, his response was classic, "I have no idea. He had the ball, so."






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