This is worth noting. Brandon Mitchell has chosen his destination for transfer. He's transferring to North Carolina State.
The coaching staff there are the guys that coached Chandler Harnish and Jordan Lynch, both of whom hurt defenses with their feet as much as with their arm. NC State has been going hard after guys that can run and throw, and potentially play right away in 2013. They made a hard push for Asiantii Woulard when he de-committed from USF (for the second time) after Skip Holtz was fired. They secured the transfer of Gators backup and dual threat player Jacoby Brissett who has to sit out 2013. When Tyler Ferguson edged out Steven Bench at Penn State in the spring, which prompted Bill O'Brien to announce that the official QB competition would be between Ferguson and freshman Christian Hackenberg (once Hackenberg reports), Steven Bench announced his intention to transfer and NC State was one of the first teams to come calling. Bench is another guy who knows how to run and throw on the run. When Brandon Mitchell announced his intentions to transfer after coaches refused to declare a starter during spring, again NC State was the first one to come after him. This is the kind of player they want. All they have is Colorado State transfer Pete Thomas, and that's not the kind of player they want. I also think there's a fair chance Mitchell is flat out better than Thomas. Looks to me like Mitchell will be the bridge to Jacoby Brissett who will compete to be the future there.
I look forward to seeing Mitchell play at NC State for a number of reasons. First off, I don't think he's run his course at QB yet. I don't think that position is totally out of the question at all. This will be his chance to finally prove it, if he can. He's extremely raw but the physical gifts are there, more so than they were for B.J. Daniels who was drafted by San Francisco in the 7th round. He's 6'4" and 239 lbs (the weight figure is a number he himself quoted a week or so ago), and he runs in the 4.5's, has a strong and fairly accurate arm (no the refinements such as consistent ball placement are not there but that doesn't mean he's scatter shot by any means), and his execution and timing as a quarterback are not as poor as people think. This is an offense that will be tailor made for his skill set, and it's a skill set certain teams in the NFL are really looking for because it's being popularized by the likes of Newton, Kaepernick, Griffin and Wilson. Alex Smith will also be running some of that stuff and now the Dolphins want to get their chips in the game with Ryan Tannehill the former wide receiver. If Jake Locker ever pans out he's another guy that will hurt with his legs as much as his arm, and Christian Ponder has that potential as well. As does Andrew Luck, who already ran for 300 yards and 5 TDs in 2012. Aaron Rodgers has been hurting teams with his legs for years. This is the way teams are going and with the pure combination of abilities, if Brandon Mitchell puts together the right season he could be looking at a mid to late draft pick even as a quarterback. If guys like B.J. Daniels, Tyrod Taylor, Josh Johnson, Tyler Thigpen, Dennis Dixon and Joe Webb can get looks, there's no reason Brandon Mitchell can't.
But this is a positive for him even as a wide receiver prospect. Had he stayed at Arkansas and moved back to the position again, he'd have once again been perhaps the 3rd or 4th wide receiver option on the team. Even though the coach brought it up in conversations with Mitchell, Arkansas wasn't ready to move him back to WR yet. They were going to have him compete through the summer for the QB job, though the situation was obviously looking grim hence the transfer. That means he'd have been another late switch to receiver and he wouldn't have been a starter. Last year he had 17 catches. The #2 WR on Wisconsin this year got 27 catches, and that was Jacob Pederson the tight end. The #3 option got 17 catches. If Mitchell was the #3 option again, he gets another 20 film looks of him with the football in his hands, and maybe 10 or 12 of those film reps would be out in space where he can do something to show what kind of run after catch player he can be. What good is that few reps going to do his draft stock as a receiver? Not much.
Last year, Jordan Lynch at Northern Illinois carried the football 294 times and threw another 394 passes. The year before, Chandler Harnish threw 384 passes and had 194 runs. This will be an infinitely better opportunity for Brandon Mitchell to increase his draft stock even as a wide receiver or tight end prospect. You will have upwards of 600 film reps of him with the football in his hands, seeing the field, showing his field awareness, making defenders miss, running for yardage, showing how quickly he thinks, how elusive he is, how fast and big and strong and physical he is, etc. I'll take that any day over another 20 catches where MIGHT get the chance to make an impressive play on maybe 10 or 12 of them.
