McGee’s midseason college football awards… Jackson Mitchell!

[mikedog10]

McGee's midseason awards: From Chase Brown to Mike Leach to John Daly

College football's midway point has come and gone this season so it's time to look back at the good, the bad and the unfortunate from the first half of the year.

www.espn.com

The Jaylon Ferguson Defensive Player We Should Be Making a Bigger Deal Out of Than We Are Award

Jackson Mitchell, LB, UConn. Named for the former Louisiana Tech defensive end who in 2018 set the NCAA career sacks record and everyone, again, somehow figured out a way to ignore it. Chances are you haven't been paying attention to the turnaround that's happening in Storrs, but the Huskies have three wins, which already matches the combined total from their past two seasons. The anchor of that effort is Mitchell, who has 88(!) tackles. He has four double-digit efforts in eight games and a combined 35 over three weeks against a triumvirate of AP Top 25 teams in Syracuse, Michigan and NC State.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[gioff2323]

so, here’s a question we haven’t asked in a decade …..

How do we get him to not apply for draft? I’d love to see him come back next year, but that’s more a reflection of how selfish I can be.

He’s been something to watch.

 

[NowInStorrs]

so, here’s a question we haven’t asked in a decade …..

How do we get him to not apply for draft? I’d love to see him come back next year, but that’s more a reflection of how selfish I can be.

He’s been something to watch.

I'd have to imagine NIL could be useful for that. Not sure it'd be useful enough to stop someone from going to the NFL but it could help a bit.

 

[MTHusky]

Jackson Mitchell, what an amazing job! Please keep it up!

 

[noeynox]

so, here’s a question we haven’t asked in a decade …..

How do we get him to not apply for draft? I’d love to see him come back next year, but that’s more a reflection of how selfish I can be.

He’s been something to watch.

I'd love for him to come back also, but having off to the pros on the heels of Travis Jones excelling in the NFL is pretty good thing to sell recruits.

 

[Sportsman5]

Congrats! Big numbers and a major impact on the game.

It's very likely he comes back for his senior year. He's a little undersized for an NFL linebacker, but he can probably play special teams and be a backup linebacker. So maybe a late round pick or undrafted free agent. He could obviously go higher if his combine numbers are off the charts though.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'd love for him to come back also, but having off to the pros on the heels of Travis Jones excelling in the NFL is pretty good thing to sell recruits.

Unless he has some measurable that will be eye opening to the NFL I think there is a chance he might come back.

Unpopular opinion but he is our best defensive player this season and LAST season. Travis Jones is great too but without Mitchell some teams might have scored 80 against us.

And I don’t care what PFF says. Anyone with eyes could see it. Sorry, not sorry.

 

[noeynox]

Unless he has some measurable that will be eye opening to the NFL I think there is a chance he might come back.

Unpopular opinion but he is our best defensive player this season and LAST season. Travis Jones is great too but without Mitchell some teams might have scored 80 against us.

And I don’t care what PFF says. Anyone with eyes could see it. Sorry, not sorry.

That's fair, but Travis Jones seldomly was blocked 1 on 1, and as a DT that is gonna affect your productivity. The easy answer is the attention TJ attracted freed up Jackson Mitchell to roam free and make plays. As for this year, the DL has seen a number of players show significant improvement. Jackson's strength is that he plays really fast at the position. If he is allowed to run clean he is a problem. I have no idea what his 40 is but he flies around out there as does Swenson.

 

[ZooCougar]

That's fair, but Travis Jones seldomly was blocked 1 on 1, and as a DT that is gonna affect your productivity. The easy answer is the attention TJ attracted freed up Jackson Mitchell to roam free and make plays. As for this year, the DL has seen a number of players show significant improvement. Jackson's strength is that he plays really fast at the position. If he is allowed to run clean he is a problem. I have no idea what his 40 is but he flies around out there as does Swenson.

I agree with that. Travis Jones was/is great but at worse it’s a tie between the two. Jackson was good in 2019 too.

 

[pick6s]

If Mitchell does leave, where is he projected to be drafted?

 

[DoctorWho85]

I'm loving that he's showing what we already know and that last year wasn't a fluke and he's legit talent.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[ZooCougar]

If he comes back next season they can make one that says “All American”.

 

[huskymedic]