How UDFA WR Mitchell Tinsley made the Commanders 53-man roster
Breaking down Tinsley’s skillset and why the Commanders opted to keep him on their 53-man roster
One of the great stories of the Washington Commanders training camp has been the emergence of undrafted free agent wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley. The Commanders targeted Tinsley after the draft and offered him a significant bonus to sign with them. Since then, Tinsley has impressed in each stage of the offseason and played well enough in preseason for the Commanders to keep him as the seventh receiver on the initial 53-man roster, despite already having a deep group of receivers.
So what does Tinsley bring to the Commanders that forced them to keep him on their roster and not risk trying to get him to the practice squad? Let’s take a closer look.
Tinsley’s best trait is his route running ability. He’s not a particularly explosive athlete relative to the elite athletes of the NFL, so he needs to be detailed in his route running and understanding of leverage in order to create separation. In preseason, he showed his routes were consistently pretty strong, especially for an undrafted free agent.
Here we see Tinsley running a curl route against Bengals seventh-round rookie cornerback D.J. Ivey. Tinsley uses a stutter release off the line, waiting to see if the defender is going to commit to jamming him or not. The defender doesn’t look to engage, so Tinsley takes a free release outside. Once Tinsley gets into his route, the defender then looks to get his hands on him to try and force him towards the sideline. Tinsley does well to knock the hands away and keep himself clean as he gets towards the top of his route.
At the top of the route, Tinsley breaks off his route sharply and uses a savvy move to help him create separation. He gets his hand on the back of the defender and gives him a gentle push. This is enough to help Tinsley break off his route a bit sharper and force the defender to continue up the field, creating separation, but it’s not so obvious as to draw a penalty. He executes the move well and it leads to the defender running two yards beyond Tinsley.
The throw from Jake Fromm takes some time to get there, but Tinsley shows good concentration to stay focused on the ball and adjust to the flight of it. He pulls in the catch and secures it quickly, knowing that the delay would allow the defender time to recover and make a tackle.
As Tinsley isn’t an explosive athlete, running good routes and using moves like that throw-by move to help him create separation will be critical to his success at the NFL level. For him to win consistently, he’ll need to show a strong feel for coverage and leverage and understand how to find gaps in zone coverages. Fortunately he has shown that in preseason.
Now this play will look like a basic catch and it is to some degree. Tinsley aligns in the slot to the right and runs a basic hitch route. He gets to about five yards, or three steps, and breaks off his route back towards the quarterback to make himself available. That part is simple and every receiver is able to do this, but what Tinsley understands is the subtlety of the route.
As Tinsley breaks off his route, he can see the linebacker inside of him attaching to his route. Tinsley knows that there will be space outside of him thanks to the receiver running up the seam, so he can break his route back outside and find some space to work away from the inside leveraged linebacker and create a throwing option for the quarterback. The end zone angle shows this best. You can see how Tinsley breaks off his route and then naturally begins to pivot outside away from the linebacker. This small detail gives Fromm a more comfortable throw outside away from the coverage and allows Tinsley the opportunity to turn up the field after the catch for additional yards.
Having that natural feel for coverage and where the space will be is a great trait for a receiver like Tinsley to have. If he wants to become a regular starting receiver in the NFL, he’ll need to do those subtle details consistently to create as much separation as possible and make himself a friendly target for the quarterback. Finding gaps in zone coverages is where Tinsley should thrive, which makes him an interesting option as a receiver that could play in the slot.
While Tinsley might not necessarily have the long speed of Terry McLaurin or Jahan Dotson, he does have some quickness to him. This enables him to win quickly on underneath routes and again, follow on the theme of making himself a friendly target for the quarterback.
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