Pwn The Portal: WKU Grad Transfer WR Mitchell Tinsley
Exit No. 5 – Enter No. 5 as Strength, Speed and Sure Hands Arrives in One Package with Penn State’s Newest Roster Addition.
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Apparently this is gonna be a thing.
Twelve months after he absolutely electrified Penn State’s hesitant-to-change fanbase by simply catching up to speed with the rest of the sport, James Franklin has once again stepped foot in Transfer Portal – College Football’s bargain bin – and already crossed ‘WR1’ from his off-season shopping list.
Like most of Franklin’s 2020-2021 portal rescues, former Western Kentucky stat gobbler Mitchell Tinsley fits a certain profile. Recruiting stars deficient (Derrick Tangelo). Limited college offers out of high school (Eric Wilson). Late bloomer physically who outgrew his Outlet Mall irregular measurables from high school, sprouted into an impact overachiever at the college level, and is now eager to see if he can shine just as bright on a bigger stage (Arnold Ebiketie).
You know, under-the-radar kind of guys…or in Tinsley’s case, completely off the radar guys.
Wait, what do you mean ‘off the radar’?
Like, dude didn’t even have a freakin’ Rivals or 247 profile coming out of high school, Lazy Transition Device. THAT off the radar. Seriously, go Google it. We’ll wait…
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Welcome back.
In the 15 minutes or so we spent search-engining (verb) for biographical information on the newest Nittany Lion’s journey to Happy Valley, our pool-skimmer depth of research unearthed nothing pre-dating Tinsley’s 2018 admission to Hutchinson C.C. in Kansas.
Thankfully York Daily Record reporter/First Team All-Goatee member Frank Bodani picked up the phone, did some journalism, and pounded out this terrific piece on Tinsley’s unconventional path to prominence. For those of you who don’t have any free articles left and are too cheap to flip a few bucks Gannett’s way, here’s the skinny:
• After being demoted to the J.V. basketball team as a junior, Tinsley decided, “Why am I wasting my time when I know I’m good at football?” Good question.
• The next fall, Tinsley played his lone season of high school football. Starting QB got hurt early in the year. Because of that, Tinsley’s stats were modest. At 5-11 and several meals shy of 170 pounds at the time, Tinsley received zero interest from traditional four-year colleges.
• Undeterred, Tinsley paid his own way and walked on at Hutchinson C.C., a traditional power in the ultra-competitive JUCO Jayhawk Conference. With little else to do in this longtime salt mining community, Tinsley lived in the weight room and packed on 30+ pounds while he grew two more inches, #gainz that caught the attention of G5 college programs like Ball State, Akron, New Mexico State, UMass, and Western Kentucky. Since “RUSH” remains a nasty four-letter word in the Hilltoppers pass-happy offense, Tinsley signed with Western Kentucky.
• 130 receptions, 1,779 yards, and 18 touchdowns later, Tinsley arrives at Penn State as the no-brainer, plug-and-play replacement for departed All-Big Ten WR Jahan Dotson…even though stylistically, both No. 5’s couldn’t be any more different.
To get a full grasp of what Tinsley can do against Big Ten competition, we scouted Western Kentucky’s early-season losses vs. Michigan State and Indiana. Then, for funsies, we tracked Tinsley’s monster outings in November against Rice (10 Rec, 198 Yds, 2 TD) and Florida Atlantic (9 Rec, 164 Yds, 2 TD).
First thing that pops off Tinsley’s 2021 WKU tape is that at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, he somehow plays three inches taller and 20 pounds stronger than his listed height and weight – showcasing uncanny physicality that manifests in various ways on the field. For example, go look up Tinsley’s 75-yard, 4-broken tackle touchdown in the 2021 Boca Raton Bowl that resembles that scene from 1990s cinematic classic Little Giants where Ice Box has the entire defense dragging behind her like a human wedding train.
Sadly, we don’t have All-22 of that play, but here’s a fairly cartoony Tinsley touchdown validating his strength:
Quarters coverage from Rice vs. this 3×1 boundary Trips look from WKU. Tinsley (arrowed, top of screen) runs a switch concept with the No. 2 receiver, giving him an “uncapped lane” between the numbers and the hash to push vertical. The throw is a nanosecond late and a touch high, causing Tinsley to leap to corral to catch. He’s exposed, vulnerable.
Rice CB 25-Jordan Dunbar goes in for the killshot…and Tinsley doesn’t flinch, doesn’t buckle, doesn’t brace for impact, doesn’t break stride. Heck, the hit actually springboards Tinsley forward toward the end zone. Impressive.
Perhaps this is us projecting a bit — drawing unfounded conclusions from the little we know of Tinsley’s unorthodox path to D-I relevance and the limited four-game sample we quickly became enamored with – but, man, it sure as heck feels like Tinsley performs with the competitive edge (ferocity, maybe?) of a zero-star guy who didn’t get a sniff out of high school and remains pissed about it to this day.
Honestly, it’s so damn refreshing to watch.
In an age where so many receivers’ post-catch routine consists of falling down or scooting out of bounds, Tinsley wants MORE.
Perfect example:
Down 9 points with roughly 3 minutes left in the 4th vs. Indiana, Tinsley converts this 4th and 7 by figuratively stepping on the cornerback’s toe, creating separation as he peels back for the catch. Sideline is right there, but Tinsley’s not interested. Instead, he turns upfield and racks up an additional 27 yards.
According to PFF, Tinsley registered 20 Forced Missed Tackles in 2021, a top 10 individual FBS ranking that is equal parts impressive and intriguing because when you watch Tinsley’s tape, he’s hardly a fly avoiding Daniel San’s chopsticks – sudden, unpredictable, elusive. No, he’s more like recently departed RB Noah Cain post-catch – an athlete blessed with an uncanny knack to side-step trouble and wiggle out of tackles without breaking ankles.
For context, Dotson topped Penn State WRs with 9 Forced Missed Tackles last season.
Fight your typical Pavlovian response and don’t take the bait when 40 times from Holuba Hall’s sloped turf leak in a few weeks…IDC what he runs, Tinsley has OK speed but he’s not going to trigger the Flux Capacitor in Doc Brown’s DeLorean anytime soon like Dotson, or KJ Hamler, or Saquon Barkley. He’s not fast, but he’s certainly fast enough when his strength can complement his speed, especially on vertical routes.
Observe:
Here’s another:
Despite playing just five total seasons of organized football, Tinsley has completely mastered the dark art of subtly creating separation – be it a bump, an slightly extended arm (like we saw in the first MSU clip), a stealth shove (like we saw in the second MSU clip) – while the ball is in the air. In 2021, Tinsley was targeted 28 times beyond 20 yards. On those throws, Western Kentucky scored 4 TDs and had a passer rating of 132.4. That’ll do.
Hopefully you’re still scrolling. Why? Well, we purposely saved the most exhilarating aspect of Tinsley’s game for the end – this guy catches everything! In 121 targets last year, PFF docked Tinsley with two drops…2! In the four games we scouted, no ball that touched Tinsley’s gloves hit the ground.
And trust us, these weren’t all layups, either. See for yourself:
More of a back-kneecap throw than a back-shoulder throw here. Tinsley’s feet are off the ground and his frame floats parallel to the plastic grass when the ball enters his grasp. Can’t decided what’s more impressive here: The athleticism displayed contorting his body or the Kung Fu grip Tinsley used to survive the ground with a defender koalaing (verb) his back.
Considering we only scouted four games, it’s ridiculous we have this many contested catches from Tinsley to show you. Enjoy!
As far as knocks on Tinsley…well, there aren’t a ton. For as potent as its offense was last year, Western Kentucky’s route concepts were fairly vanilla, so he might not be the most precise route runner. We wish Western Kentucky would have targeted Tinsley more in the Red Zone – at least in the four games we scouted – so that we could fully gauge whether he’s a reliable one-on-one option when the field shrinks. Here’s the lone RZ toss we saw where Tinsley was the first option…again, more sly hand-fighting to separate at the last second.
Really, the only glaring negative that jumped off the screen was Tinsley’s mediocre blocking when Western Kentucky stretched things horizontally at the snap. For a guy who plays with tremendous physicality when the ball’s in his hands, it’d be nice to see the same when the ball’s in someone else’s hands.
To be fair, bitching about this feels a bit like buying a Ferrari and complaining that your Big Gulp won’t fit in the cup holder. But hey, it’s worth mentioning.
CONCLUSION: Hand up. (Raises hand) In the brief history of our blog we’ve developed a bit of a Sunshine Pumper’s reputation when it comes to fresh faces entering the Penn State program. I think we called Mike Yurcich a “genius” in our post-hiring FTB Film Study, touted Kirk Ciarrocca’s ability to dissect the game from the booth, and spent far too many flowery words on Baylor transfer RB John Lovett. This time, though, all the rainbows and puppy dogs attached to Tinsley’s signing are 100 percent warranted! No, seriously. He’s a Day 1 plug-and-play WR1 and the prototype pass catcher for Yurcich’s vertical attack. Additionally, Tinsley’s arrival indirectly benefits Penn State’s offense because it enables junior Parker Washington to continue to grow as a game-changer/difference-maker in the slot rather than being pushed out of position to fill Dotson’s void on the perimeter.
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