Fontel Mines

Mines is an unheralded athlete with excellent size and leaping ability. He had to fill the leadership void in the receiving unit his senior year after fellow starter, Deyon Williams, underwent mid-August surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot. Mines was rated the 15th-best receiver in the nation by BorderWars.com as a senior at Hermitage High School. He received a three-star rating from Rivals.com, adding All-Mid-Atlantic Coast Region accolades by Tom Lemming and All-Atlantic Region honors from Prep Star. He was also ranked among the top players in the state of Virginia (13th by Rivals.com, 15th by the Roanoke Times and 18th by Super Prep). Mines (pronounced Fon TELL) was a member of the Charlottesville Daily Progress "Gold List in 2002. He added first-team Group AAA All-State honors from the Associated Press and the Virginia High School Coaches Association, first-team All-Central Region, All-Metro, and All-District accolades as a senior. Mines had 37 receptions for 674 yards (18.2 avg) and 10 touchdowns that season and was named his team's Most Valuable Player. He caught 29 passes for 512 yards (17.7 avg) and 10 scores and intercepted four passes as a safety his junior year. Mines was a starter on his school's basketball team. He was an Honor Roll student and received the school's perfect attendance award for four consecutive years. Mines enrolled at Virginia in 2003, seeing action in 11 games as a reserve receiver. He caught only six passes for 66 yards (11.0 avg) and a touchdown, but four of those grabs resulted in first downs. As a sophomore, he started the season opener against Temple, but suffered a right collarbone fracture that sidelined him for the next five contests. He returned in a reserve role for the final six games, finishing with 70 yards on seven catches, including three receptions that were good for first downs. Mines started six of 12 games in 2005, sharing the flanker and split end positions with Deyon Williams and Ottowa Anderson. He ranked second on the Cavaliers with 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 28 catches (12.3 avg). Proving to be a clutch receiver, 20 of his catches resulted in first downs, including seven on third-down plays. Mines played in all 12 games in 2006 at split end. He made 27 catches for 256 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also recorded a tackle. In 42 games with the Cavaliers, Mines started 22 times. He caught 68 passes for 737 yards and five touchdowns, and assisted on a tackle.

positives

Has a long, lean frame with room to carry at least another 10 pounds of bulk with no loss in quickness...Possesses a tight abdomen and large hands...Not sudden off the line, but shows enough foot quickness to stutter-step and avoid the jam...Best when working underneath, as he has a nice feel for locating the soft areas in the zone, doing a good job of settling in and extending to make the catch away from his frame...Uses his body effectively to shield defenders from the ball...Once he builds to top speed, he has the functional acceleration to ride up a defensive back and eat up the cushion...Combative in traffic, timing his leaps and getting a strong push off the defender to compete for jump balls...Has the natural hand extension to reach the pass at its high point...Effective on hooks and crossing routes, as it is rare to see him gather after the catch, maintaining acceleration to gain valid yardage...Has the body flexibility to contort and get to the off-target throws...Has the strength to post up defenders and is tough to guard inside the red zone...Has adequate stop-and-go agility...Not an elusive runner, but runs hard with good second and third effort.

compares to

Justin Gage-Chicago-Last season was supposed to be the year that Mines established himself as a receiver, especially with go-to target Deyon Williams battling a stress fracture. Much like Gage, Mines has the athletic ability, but his production has been too minimal for him to make much of an impact on the field.

negatives

Has long, lean legs and marginal lower body muscle development...Has marginal explosion or burst, needing time to gain acceleration to his break point... Needs extra reps to digest the playbook and has struggled academically...Must remain conscious of his weight, as he tends to put on extra pounds that negate his quickness...Needs to learn to run at a lower pad level in order to prevent defenders from getting into his body in attempts to disrupt his route progression...His inability to keep his pads down prevents him from getting a burst out of his breaks...Tends to take soft angle cuts...Does not have the speed to threaten the deep secondary...Can get to the high passes, but despite his long arms he struggles to get low for the shoestring catches...Lacks the hip snap and wiggle to elude after the catch...Needs to refine his kick slide and generate better strength behind his hand punch, as he makes only glancing blows when asked to sustain as a blocker in the backfield.

2005: Sat out the North Carolina, Akron, Syracuse, Clemson and Florida State games after he suffered a right collarbone fracture after making a catch in the second quarter of the season opener vs. Temple (9/04).

Campus: 4.61 in the 40-yard dash

270-pound bench press

Bench pressed 225 pounds seven times

480-pound squat

292-pound power clean

32 1/2-inch arm length

10 1/8-inch hands

Right-handed

15/26 Wonderlic score.

Attended Hermitage (Richmond, Va.) High School, playing football for head coach Patrick Kane

Rated the 15th-best receiver in the nation by BorderWars.com as a senior and received a three-star rating from Rivals.com, adding All-Mid-Atlantic Coast Region honors by Tom Lemming and All-Atlantic Region accolades from Prep Star

Ranked among the top players in the state of Virginia (13th by Rivals.com, 15th by the Roanoke Times and 18th by Super Prep)

Member of the Charlottesville Daily Progress "Gold List in 2002

Added first-team Group AAA All-State honors from the Associated Press and the Virginia High School Coaches Association, first-team All-Central Region, All-Metro and All-District accolades as a senior

Had 37 receptions for 674 yards (18.2 avg) and 10 touchdowns that season and was named his team's Most Valuable Player

Caught 29 passes for 512 yards (17.7 avg) and 10 scores, and intercepted four passes as a safety his junior year

Was a starter on his school's basketball team

Honor Roll student and received the school's perfect attendance award for four consecutive years.

Psychology major, with a minor in Anthropology

Son of Deborah Mines

Influenced by Big Brother Chris Collins

Born Fontel (pronounced Fon-TELL) Alexander Mines on 2/26/85 in Richmond, Virginia.