By Robert Wilson
Great work ethic. Determined. Grounded. Team player.
All these adjectives describe Brandon High and Ole Miss alumnus Jonathan Mingo.
Here’s another one after this weekend’s NFL Draft.
Professional football player.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound wide receiver was taken in the second round – the 39th overall pick – Friday night by the Carolina Panthers.
Even back going to his sophomore year of high school, then Brandon coach Tyler Peterson projected Mingo to do great things and compared him to A.J. Brown, a Starkville High and Ole Miss wide receiver who was a third-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft and now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Peterson made a prediction to his assistant coaches when Mingo was going into spring practice of his rising junior season.
“I told them I think Jonathan could be an A.J. Brown type of player,” said Peterson, who is now the offensive coordinator at Clinton High. “No one worked harder than Jonathan in the weight room when he was with us. He had great work ethic and drive. There wasn’t any clowning around with Jonathan. Sometimes you will see great athletes who don’t want to work hard and just cruise on their athletic ability. Not Jonathan. We never had to get on him for not working hard and or a lack of effort. I’ve very proud of him. I think Jonathan has got a bright future.”
“It’s a blessing to be drafted by the Panthers,” Mingo said in his first press conference after his selection. “A lot of hard work – so I’m happy God put me in this situation.”
Mingo said he modeled his game after Brown and Oxford High and Ole Miss alumnus DK Metcalf, now with the Seattle Seahawks.
“I try to be the best version of myself,” Mingo said. “I like to look at everybody’s games, take what pieces I can, and see how they fit my game. I like watching all receivers; I’m just a receiving guru.”
Brandon offensive coordinator Wyatt Rogers, who coached Mingo when he was at Brandon, Wyatt’s sons, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers and Southern Miss offensive lineman Luke Rogers, and daughter, Anna Grace, were at Mingo’s draft party at Brandon this weekend.
“We had a great time,” Wyatt Rogers said. “We get home and I guess Jonathan kind of got away from everyone and calls Will. Will’s almost consoling him – saying, ‘yeah, man, this is what we have worked so hard for.’ Mingo tells Will to put his mom (Judy) on the phone and Mingo tells her, ‘now Miss Judy don’t you start crying or I’m gonna cry, too.’ She starts crying and I look up and everyone, including me, were crying, too.
“Jonathan is such a great dude. In the world full of ‘me’ attitudes, he never was anything but a ‘we’ guy. I’m proud of him not only as a player, but as a person. Not everyone can stay grounded and continuing to be the great person is. We need a lot more Mingos in this world.”
Wyatt Rogers tells another story about Mingo and his clutch ability to make big plays.
“We were playing Pearl in the playoffs in 2018,” Rogers said. “We were down six points with about a minute and a half left on the clock. We are trying to get the ball to our best player (Mingo) in space and Pearl knew this too and were trying to take him away. We converted about four fourth down and longs on the drive and we call timeout around the Pearl 30 with 18 seconds left. We call a play ‘5-4 X Post,’ so Will ends hitting him about four yard deep in the end zone for the TD. Probably one of the biggest players in Brandon football history. He ran by a cornerback and safety when both knew that he was the target. I bought a sailboat about a year later and I had to name it ‘5-4 X Post.’”
Mingo had 2,492 yards and 23 TDs in his career at Brandon, including 77 catches and 1,451 yards and 14 TDs as a senior, and was named an Under Armour All-American. He continued to excel at Ole Miss. Mingo caught 112 passes for 1,758 yards and 12 touchdowns in his career, averaging 15.7 yards per catch in 34 games with the Rebels. He was named second team All-SEC honors as a senior after catching 51 passes for 861 yards and five TDs. Mingo set a school record with 247 receiving yards against Vanderbilt, and it was the most receiving yards by any player in the country last season.
Mingo’s wide receiver coach with Panthers is Shawn Jefferson, whose son, Van, played wide receiver at Ole Miss and now plays for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Panthers drafted former Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young from Alabama as the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Mingo has been impressed with Young during his career
“One thing about Bryce Young, he doesn’t make mistakes,” Mingo said. “He’s very poised, doesn’t get rattled. He takes each play, play by play, he takes his time. He’s a smart kid. I met him at the combine. He was real, real cool; nice guy to be around. I’m excited for the opportunity to play with him.”
Mingo did well at the NFL combine in February, running a 4.46 40-yard dash, 22 reps on the bench press, a 39.5 vertical leap and a 10-foot, 9-inch broad jump. He has been compared to former Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin.
Those numbers combined with Mingo’s success at Brandon and Ole Miss impressed NFL scouts enough to make his a second-round selection. He is the fourth Ole Miss receiver (Brown, Metcalf and Elijah Moore) to be selected in the second round in the past five years.
Mingo’s work ethic and performance will also pay off financially. According to draftkings.com, the first pick of the second round will sign a contract worth approximately $9.9 million and receive a signing bonus of approximately $4.2 million. The second pick of the round will receive a $9.8 million contract with a $4.15 million signing bonus. The numbers decrease each pick until the 32nd pick where the player will receive a $6.17 million contract with a $1.49 million signing bonus. All rookies sign four-year contracts. Mingo was the eighth pick of the second round.
