Malcolm Mitchell talked extensively before the 2013 season about how he longed to spend a full season on the offensive side of the ball free of either injury or defensive responsibilities.
“Still haven’t,” he pointed out on Wednesday.
But the opportunity to finally do that next season was at least one of his motivations for deciding recently for forego the NFL draft and return for his senior season.
“I’m looking forward to seeing if that can happen next year,” he said. “Then you’ll really be in for a show.”
No, Mitchell went down with a season-ending ACL injury in the season opener at Clemson in 2013, then re-injured the same knee shortly before the 2014 camp got underway. But Mitchell finally made it back to the field for the fifth game of this season, and he’s been playing — and feeling — better ever since.
He’s felt so well, in fact, that he briefly considered sticking to his long-term plan, which wsas to turn proo after his junior season. But he informed coach Mark Richt last week that he intends to come back for his senior season. And that was a considerable boost for a receiving corps that will be losing two productive weapons in Michael Bennett and Chris Conley.
“I decided a couple of weeks after the Tech game,” Mitchell said. “A lot went into it. The best thing that helped me make the decision is I did me a pros and cons list about what would be the outcome, positively and negatively. Education was a big thing. And I don’t think the NFL plans on shutting down anytime soon.”
Known as Georgia’s most explosive play-maker among wideouts, it took Mitchell a while to get going. He made one 11-yard catch in his first game back against Vanderbilt on Oct. 4 and had six — but for only 24 yards — the next week against Missouri.
It wasn’t until late in the season that Mitchell began to resemble the quick-twitch deep threat that had 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns his first two seasons. He 18 catches for 166 yards and three TDs in games against Florida, Kentucky and Georgia Tech. Despite playing in just eight games and starting only two, he finished third on the team with 28 catches for 229 yards and three scores.
“I felt very well the last couple of games of the season,” said the 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior from Valdosta. “I wasn’t too concerned with my health because I have been doing well lately. … I don’t feel like I’ve lost any of my explosiveness.”
Mitchell said he most likely would be heading to the NFL had the ACL injury, but having it gave him a chance to grow up and sink deep into his studies. He’ll graduate after next semester with a degree in communication studies. He is now a voracious reader and famously joined a book club of older women.
But making it to the NFL still remains Mitchell’s obsession. He met with NFL consultant Joe Mendes and asked the NFLPA for an draft grade. But he’d go only if he was rated the No. 1 receiver prospect overall and he knows he won’t.
And that is his goal — to be the top-rated NFL prospect — after next season.
“That’s definitely something I want to work towards,” he said.
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