Senior Bowl Player Profile: Ole Miss WR Jonathan Mingo

On February 4th, Mobile’s game will be held at Hancock-Whitney Stadium and over a hundred of the nation’s draft hopeful seniors will descend on the Gulf Coast for a week of practice in front of scouts from every NFL team before the Senior Bowl. Leading up to the game, we’ll take a look at a different prospect every day and talk about their background, their college career, where they could be drafted, and how the Senior Bowl could help them. First up, talented Ole Miss WR Jonathan Mingo:

Background:

Mingo is a native of Brandon, Mississippi and attended Brandon High School. He was a highly sought after four star recruit as the 12th ranked player in the state in the class of 2019. He chose to play for Ole Miss over Georgia, Auburn, Arkansas, and Mississippi State.

College Career:

Ole Miss has been a nice pipeline of NFL receivers lately over the last decade or so. While not all of them have worked out and some are still finding their way, Oxford has undeniably been a location for pass catchers to go in the first few rounds of the draft. Going back to Mike Wallace in 2009 and Donte Moncrief in 2014 (both third round picks) as well as Laquon Treadwell (first round in 2016), Ole Miss now has superstars AJ Brown and DK Metcalf (second round picks in 2019), as well as second-year Elijah Moore, who has had a tough year but has shown promising flashes thus far in his career.

All this to say, the Rebels have produced NFL talent at the position and Mingo is looking to become the latest. He finishes his Ole Miss career with 112 catches for 1,758 yards and 12 touchdowns. His senior season was by far his most productive, catching 51 passes for 861 yards and five touchdowns. He had an absolutely massive game this year against Vanderbilt, finishing with 9 catches for 247 yards and two scores. Alabama fans will remember the game this season in Oxford where he had 7 catches for 59 yards and a touchdown. Lane Kiffin used him in a variety of ways, as he is strong and quick and able to win matchups utilizing his athleticism. Check out some of his big plays:

Current Draft Projection:

Currently, most sites project Mingo as roughly a third round pick with the potential to move up higher. With former Rebels DK Metcalf and AJ Brown falling into the second round and many teams kicking themselves for passing on them, perhaps Mingo can work his way up draft boards throughout the process. His strength and playmaking ability are off the charts, but some scouts are concerned with his ability to separate vertically as well as not having the most polished route tree. We have seen prospects with this combination of green and red flags go both ways in the league, so it will be up to each team to see what they think they can get out of Mingo.

How the Senior Bowl Could Help Him:

The Senior Bowl was made for a player like Jonathan Mingo. While he’s had plenty of TV exposure due to playing in the SEC, a player like this with all the physical traits you could want in a receiver but some red flags as well is perfect for the Senior Bowl. He has an opportunity to come to Mobile and show every team in the league what he can do. If Mingo can impress throughout the week, don’t be surprised if someone falls in love with his athleticism and grabs him on the earlier side of Day 2.