Compounding Russell's problems were a work ethic and body type that didn't exactly go hand in hand. The QB would often balloon up to body sizes you normally only see on OTs and NTs, not something that gave Oakland's fans a lot of faith in the man who was supposed to be leading their team. Reports that came out around the time Russell was cut suggested that he was close to 300lbs.
Recently rumors surfaced the Jets were looking into the possibility of adding Russell as a backup QB for the 2010 season. With a small contract the Jets would have seen this as a low risk and high reward move and Russell would have got the opportunity to resurrect his career in a new city all the way across the country. If the deal with the Jets had not come to fruition chances are that a team needing an extra body for training camp would have called later in the summer.
This led to Mitchell slotted as the backup strong safety behind Oakland Raiders and the third—string free safety behind Michael Huff and Hiram Eugene.
As the season got underway, Mitchell was a special teams gunner, making his mark by laying out a return man or two.
Towards the last half of the season, Mitchell's play seemed to inprove. He began laying in what looks to be a Wolverine package; where he had free will to either blitz off the weak side or drop back into three-deep coverage. He recorded 12 tackles and a sack in this scheme.
Sure, safety is an extremely important position. It's your your last line of defense against the run and the pass.
Against Oakland Raiders , Pittsburgh, and even Dallas, Mitchell was dropping back more than mad rushing. Funny thing is, he looked very good; no blown coverage. In fact, most Raider fans didn't notice he was on the field, which is good in the sense that he played shut-down coverage.
Tyvon Branch is a lock at SS, and a Pro Bowl is coming his way.
Michael Huff may switch to CB, and if he underachieves, Mitchell will be right there to oust Eugene for the spot.
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