Panthers’ Jonathan Mingo wants to ‘make things easy’ for draft classmate Bryce Young
Jonathan Mingo was on crutches last year around this time.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound wideout broke his foot in the middle of his junior season at Ole Miss, but waited until last April — specifically his 21st birthday on April 20 — to have surgery.
The path to the NFL looked bumpy for Mingo at the time, as he had played in just 21 games during the first three years of his college career. But fast forward to this past weekend, it has all seemingly worked out for the playmaker, as he parlayed a breakout final season at Ole Miss into a second-round selection by the Carolina Panthers in the NFL Draft.
“It’s just a blessing to see how things have changed over the course of a year,” Mingo said Friday while reflecting on a whirlwind 12-month stretch. “It’s really just staying patient and focusing on your mentals. Your mental aspect is a big part of your game outside of football. You’ve got to take care of that real good, because if you don’t have a good mental aspect of the game and don’t take care of your mentals, it’s going to be hard to play the game. Football is going to humble you.”
While football has humbled Mingo, the wideout knows he offers a rare blend of size and speed at his position. He also values the technical aspects of the game, as he enjoys breaking down coverage in his mind and threatening it with his strengths.
“I feel like what I do best — I understand football,” Mingo said. “I understand the defense. I realize leverages and reading the whole defense. I feel like I’m a physical guy. I’m a big receiver. I have to use that to my strength. What I feel like I do best, is I’m quicker than most receivers and most defensive backs think. I can play a little mind games. I can be physical with the release and I can be quick. I’m faster than most people would think. I can get open, I can catch the ball, I can block. I can do anything that the coaches need me to do.
“I feel like once I get the ball, the first person shouldn’t bring me down. It’s always going to be hard to bring me down. I feel like I bring a lot to the table.”
Mingo was selected by the Panthers following the free-agent signings of Adam Thielen and DJ Chark. Those two veterans, plus former second-round picks, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Laviska Shenault, made up the top four players at the position entering the draft.
Mingo offers a completely different skill set from that group.
According to head coach Frank Reich, Mingo is a very strong fit for the offense and first overall pick, quarterback Bryce Young.
“We run a lot of shallows, crosses — we want to get the ball vertical,” Reich said. “He has been very effective there.”
Mingo — who follows Pro Bowl wideouts A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf from Ole Miss to the NFL — agreed with Reich’s assessment of his complementary skill set for Young.
The big-bodied wideout — who used to catch passes from reunited teammate, Matt Corral — thinks he can be a do-everything weapon for Carolina.
“I can turn a little 5-yard hitch into an 80-yard touchdown,” Mingo said. “I can just make things easy on the quarterback. You’ve got to make the quarterback look good. Just trying to help him out and turn a simple catch into a touchdown to make things easier for him and make the game come faster for him.”
