If you like box scores, Philadelphia Eagles corner Quinyon Mitchell is not for you.

The rookie defender has generated no interceptions and just 31 tackles in ten games. In Thursday night’s 26-18 win over the Washington Commanders, his stat line was: 1 measly tackle.

It’s hard to generate statistics when violations ignore you like a teenage crush.

Despite his rookie status, Mitchell has already earned respect from offenses for his physical style. Usually they don’t even test the rookie, choosing to throw elsewhere. He was targeted just once on Thursday night. The pass was incomplete.

Mitchell silenced Commander Terry McLaurin’s star receiver. The rookie faced McLaurin in 20 snaps on Thursday. He was targeted zero times at those reps. McLaurin’s only two targets (one catch for 10 yards) came against other DBs.

“I knew I wasn’t really being targeted,” Mitchell said after the win, via the Philly Inquirer.

McLaurin gave the first-year DB the highest possible compliment.

“He’s a good corner,” McLaurin said. “I think he’s playing well. He’s not really playing like a rookie.”

This isn’t the first instance where Michell has completely taken away an opponent’s main target. According to NFL Research, Mitchell hasn’t allowed more than 25 yards in a game since Week 5. He held CeeDee Lamb to one catch for five yards, Ja’Marr Chase to 16 yards on two catches, Amari Cooper to one catch for 10 yards, Mike Evans to two catches for 19, Drake London to one catch for five yards. And that’s just a handful of his dominant performances.

McLaurin’s 0/0/0 line Thursday night should be Mitchell’s campaign ad for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

“Terry McLaurin is a great ballplayer, but we got a corner in the first round for a reason,” Eagles safety CJ Gardner-Johnson said of his teammate, via Underdog’s James Palmer.

Mitchell has allowed 0.5 yards per coverage snaps, second-fewest among cornerbacks (min. 100 coverage snaps), according to Next Gen Stats.

Mitchell, for his part, is not in the spotlight. He just goes about his business, silences stars and moves on to the next one.

“My approach remains the same every day: come to work, study alone, study with the coaches,” Mitchell said. “I feel like everyone on the team is really hard on me. They expect better from me, and I appreciate that.”

Corner is a notoriously volatile position. Even some of the best DBs can get bullied for a while. The fact that Mitchell has played so well in so many games as a rookie is somewhat mind-boggling. DROY usually goes to a stat-stuffing pass rusher. This year, the best defensive rookie yet – with all due respect to Jared Verse – was a corner.