NFL Notes: Bo Levi Mitchell, Browns, Jets

Bo Levi Mitchell

Calgary Stampeders QB Bo Levi Mitchell said he’s hoping to get an opportunity in the NFL at some point after winning league MVP last year and helping his team win a Grey Cup title in 2014.

“I think about it all the time,” Mitchell said, via ESPN.com. “Just now in training camp, there were seven or eight scouts who came in. I know there’s been some talk in the NFL about me. When my time comes, the NFL has been my dream since I was a kid. I’ll take that shot.”

Mitchell has things pretty good in the CFL, which is why it would take the right situation for him to consider leaving for the NFL.

“If it was the perfect situation — if a team wanted me to come out there and take a legitimate shot at a job, then yes,” Mitchell said. “But not just to say I went to the NFL to hold a clipboard or be a journeyman. I want to play football.

“I know it’s not the easiest thing. I’ve seen a lot of guys attempt to do it. But I feel I can play. I feel like I can be a Warren Moon, a Garcia, a Doug Flutie, a guy who comes from the CFL and plays in the league for a long time.”

Browns

Both Browns HC Hue Jackson and TEs coach Greg Seamon offered praise for TE Seth DeValve and how he’s looked during offseason workouts up to this point.

“Seth has done a good job,” Jackson said, via Ohio.com. “Seth is an emerging player. It’s his second year. This is not the same Seth as a year ago. He came out and was banged up and learning his way in the National Football League. I’m sure he’d probably tell you he felt a little overmatched. But I think he’s worked extremely hard, and I think it shows in what he’s done this offseason to give himself a chance to compete, and I think he’s done a good job.”

“Most of his development in the offseason was that he put on a little weight, he is noticeably stronger, he is faster and he is healthier,” Seamon said. “He continues to work hard technically.

“His ability to run routes, catch the ball, leave his feet, catch the ball away from his body and he has a big catch radius, I think those things are showing up out here. I’m pleased with what he has done developing as a blocker from a technical and footwork standpoint. The proof will be obviously when we put the pads on, but he is ahead of where he was a year ago. I see Seth as a guy who is important to us.”

Jets

• Rich Cimini of ESPN writes that the Panthers provide a more realistic blueprint for the Jets to turn things around.
• The Panthers used the No. 1 overall pick on Cam Newton back in 2011 and built a decent enough roster around him that by his third year in the NFL, they were a playoff team. By Newton’s fifth year, they were in a Super Bowl.
• Cimini admits that New York is “far, far away” from that level right now. In fact, opposing scouts have told Cimini that only four or five players on their roster — Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, James Carpenter and maybe Brian Winters — are capable of starting for other NFL teams.
• According to Cimini, the best-case scenario for the Jets is that Christian Hackenberg finishes the season entrenched as the starting quarterback and some of their draft picks prove to be ascending staters.
• However, Cimini believes it’s more likely that they’ll finish out the year without a clear-cut answer at quarterback and endure another year of growing pains.
• Cimini doesn’t expect HC Todd Bowles to last long enough to see the turnaround in New York, whenever it may come.