After securing two of the five Day 1 value picks in the 2023 draft, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, the Eagles landed the top defender in this year’s class, according to the NGS overall draft score (90). In fact, Mitchell is the only defender in this year’s group to earn a score above 85. Mitchell is the first defensive back that Howie Roseman, Philadelphia’s longtime GM, has selected in the first round. Traditionally, the Eagles have used their premium picks to build through the trenches, but this year, they deviated from this trend to bring in a blue-chip player at a position of need.
Mitchell will inject youth and athleticism into the Eagles’ secondary and is projected as a potential successor to Darius Slay, 33, and James Bradberry, 30, down the line. The Toledo product lived around the ball in each of his last two seasons, ranking second in the FBS in passes defended in both 2022 (19) and 2023 (18).
