The Indianapolis Colts selected wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. While Mitchell has the athletic potential to be star for the team, he has to beat out another young pass catcher to earn playing time in his debut season.

Mitchell has been rotating in with the first team offense this summer at the X wide receiver position. The current starter, former second round pick Alec Pierce, has taken a few more snaps with the starters in 11 on 11 sessions, but the split isn’t too massive between the players at the moment.

As for performance on the field, the consensus among beat reporters appears to be that Pierce is showing out more in the full team portions of practice while Mitchell is flashing more in the 1 on 1 portions. This is to be expected in a battle between a third year pro and a rookie, but it is noteworthy nonetheless.

Pierce may not bring the flash that the shiny new toy Adonai Mitchell brings to camp, but he will be a tough player to beat out for the rookie. Pierce is a veteran player that the Colts have some level of trust in, and he has had some big moments over his two seasons in the NFL. He leads the Colts with 14 receptions on targets over 20 yards down the field the past two seasons and he is one of the better blockers the team has at the position.

Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter had some massive praise for Pierce after practice last Wednesday, a day in which Pierce hauled in mutliple downfield targets from Anthony Richardson with the first team offense:

“Yeah, he made some big plays man, made some big plays. He was – I mean he always brings it to practice every single day. He is as consistent as they come. His work ethic, his work habits, his pre-practice habits, just the way he prepares himself to have a shot at having some success during that practice when those opportunities go up.”

“I’m kind of remembering right now a year ago today, you kind of remember if you miss one or two of those, you think you’re not having a great camp, but in reality, it’s a small sample size type of camp, and he had a great shot at a few today and he went out and made some huge plays. It goes that way a little bit for wideouts. They’re going to be – they’re fighting and clawing and scratching to beat their DB for that catch and quarterbacks are trying to put the ball in a certain spot. Sometimes those are 50/50 balls we’re trying to get more than 50 percent of and Alec (Pierce) went out and made some big ones today. So shoot, we can’t get enough guys making big plays around here. That’s always going to be the case. Alec made a few good ones today.”

Mitchell has also seen his fair share of praise from the coaching staff this offseason, but the expectation certainly seems a bit more tempered compared to that of Pierce. While a question about Pierce prompted Cooter to go into a tangent about the veteran players’ ability, this is how Cooter responded to a question about Mitchell just a day prior:

“We’re excited about AD (Adonai Mitchell) and we’re going to let him get a bunch of reps and a bunch of different situations. But shoot, Alec’s (Pierce) played a bunch of good football too. We’re going to make sure and sort of let those guys all rep it out and try to go get open versus our DBs who are going make it tough on them and sort of see what’s best for the Colts. Man, let’s go get a bunch of reps. We’ll figure a bunch out in training camp.”

The Colts are certainly optimistic about the future that Mitchell has with the team and what he can bring in certain situations, but it appears as though Pierce is firmly in the lead (at the moment) for the starting X receiver spot. It may not be a big lead, but it certainly feels like a lead nonetheless.

One more minor note to make in this battle though is that beat reporter Jake Arthur has mentioned numerous times on the Locked on Colts podcast that Pierce has been taking more reps with the special teams units this offseason than ever before. This development may not mean a ton, but one could theorize that the Colts are preparing for the eventual day that Mitchell supplants Pierce as the starter in the lineup (even if that doesn’t happen this season).

Regardless, both Pierce and Mitchell are set to have an important role with the Colts in 2024. Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs are the obvious top two options in the passing game, but Mitchell and Pierce can both serve as ideal complimentary pieces to what those top players bring. At the end of the day, all that matters is that the Colts’ offense can stay efficient and effective with whoever is on the field at receiver this season.