Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts Live Mock Draft 4.0

Episode Date: April 7, 2021

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed to go through Colts Live Mock Draft 4.0. Mixing things up, we jump over to the PFF mock draft simulator. What happens is quite possibly a dream, home run scenario for Indy.Featuring multiple trade backs, the Colts acquire blue chip prospects at key positions of need. Will Indy run up the card at No. 21? How about addressing the huge holes at EDGE and LT?All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed episode featuring Evan and Stephen sitting in the GM seat! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back to the latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Cedery, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. As we're going to recap and go over live mob draft 4.0, we're going to be doing this live here for you on the air here on Tuesday night. Stephen, how are you doing tonight?

I'm doing well, Evan. How are you doing? Doing well, and man, I'm so glad to say this but today is April 6th we're just about three weeks away from the NFL draft it's one of my favorite times of the year and going over our latest mock draft live mock draft 4.0 here for the listeners here on Locked on Colts we're going to be using a different draft simulator this time instead of using PFN Pro Football Network's live mock draft simulator we're going to go with Pro Football focus pff and it's really interactive just like pfn they have the tradeback scenarios you can trade up if you want so it's really free and fun to do let's go ahead and dive into it steven and for me i mean just think about the colts position i know we're now about

three weeks away from the draft do you still i mean i'm kind of i feel like we're kind of in agreement here that if the colts have like a bona fide stud at left tackle or an edge rusher available at 21, do you think they stay put there? I think they do the edge rusher that chris ballard really likes or you know if yeah i just feel like if the edge rusher really likes or somebody like you know a rashaun slater somehow slips then chris ballard stays at 21 um the edge rusher i love i love in this class right now is quitty payi from Michigan. I think that he offers everything that Chris Ballard really looks for in a prospect is somebody that we've talked about before on the podcast. But if say, for example, Quidi Pei is gone at 21, then I honestly think Chris

Ballard is going to trade down no matter what, because he's going to try to recoup those picks. And with the depth of the position at that left tackle position in the athleticism, you've got going to trade down no matter what because he's going to try to recoup those picks uh and with the depth of the position at that left tackle position in the athleticism you've got uh there i feel like that's kind of what chris ballard's thought process is going to be he's going to try to accumulate a little bit more in terms of picks he's going to be able to be a little bit more aggressive in terms of the players that he takes. But I do think, like we've said before, I think left tackle, edge, and pass catcher are the three priorities right now for Chris Ballard and the Colts. Totally agree with you there. I think that's what we've been targeting really throughout most

of our mock drafts so far. No surprise we're probably going to be doing the same here. We are on the board now this year on Pro Football Focus's mock draft simulator at number 21 overall. And wow, this is a haul here,ven i mean just as far as the prospects on the board for them here i'm leaning towards declining all trade offers here and running up the card because let's just go over the office tackle prospects real quick on the board for the colts and we'll dive into edge rusher next but offense tackle they have tevin jenkins there samuel cosme alex leatherwood liam eikenberg all the guys have been really linked with the Colts heavily so far through the pre-draft process.

Going over to edge rusher, though, this is where it gets really fun because Colts have their pick of the litter. They have literally all the top edge rushers on the board. No edge rushers have been taken so far. Quitty Pay is there for them. Jalen Phillips is there for them. Aziz Ojolori of Georgia. Jason Owe is there as well.

I feel like at this point, Steve, look at the edge rusher. I mean, I'm Chris Ballard. We do have two trade offers though, but just looking at the board here real quick, I feel like Quidipe or Jim Phillips is a pretty easy decision here. Yeah, I would honestly, I would go with Quidipe like we talked about there to start the show. Evan, I feel like Filipe is one of those guys that, in terms of the edge rusher position as a whole, most of the guys that are able to make an immediate impact are guys that you take in the first round specifically, usually in the top 20. Anybody beyond that, you're really kind of hoping that they develop. This is what the Colts have seen with Mokotore, with Ben Banigou. Even, you know, guys that have come on later in their career, a couple years in their career, like Yannick Ngakwe, for example. He was a later round pick, but it took him a couple years

to really develop. For the address or position specifically, that's one where if you don't get a guy early with those really super athletic rates, then you're really kind of scrambling and hoping that a guy develops. I think a guy like a Quidipe or even a Jalen Phillips, Jalen Phillips injury history concerns me in that whole retirement from UCLA is it's a complicated situation. So that's one where I think Chris Ballard and the Colts at Dodds are going to go really deep into his background to find out really how much he likes football. Like how much does he, he loved the game? Is he going to be a guy that you get into the building? And then all of a sudden he's like, you know what, this is too much for me. Um, could he pay is not that could he pay is going to be

that, that address or that hustles all the time. So this is one of those rare occurrences when we've done these mock drafts. This might be the first one that I would say we stay at 21, we make this pick, and we go with an edge rusher here at Quidipe or Jalen Phillips, Eileen Quidipe. Eileen Quidipe, too. I think the Colts would honestly as well. I would not be shocked at all if the Colts have Quidipe

as their edge one on their board because, look at it, Lance Zerline, scoutingreport, NFL.com, and the first thing I'd say about to you is team captain who leads with great work ethic and determined effort, explosive twitched-up ball power, possesses rare short area quickness and agility, and excellent flexibility playing low and firm into the block and a great run defender. And ironically enough, looking at Quitty Paye, he's around 6'3", 260, has 33-inch arms. Just in Houston, coming out of Georgia, they're around the exact same height, weight, and speed.

Their RAS score is almost identical, too. Pay is around a 9.5. Houston was around a 9.2. This is like, to me, honestly, Stephen, if they're not going to re-sign Justin Houston, Quitty Pay is a plug-and-play option for them at the weak side defensive end. Put him next to Forrest Buckner. I mentioned this before on Twitter and also on the podcast with you as well in the past, Stephen. I think you put Quitty him next to Forrest Buckner. I mentioned this before on Twitter and also on the podcast with you as well

in the past, Stephen. I think you put Quiddie Payne next to Forrest Buckner. He could be someone that's in the D-Roy running next year for Defensive Rookie of the Year. He could be a guy that gets 10-plus sacks next to Buckner. Oh, I believe it. I think that he's a perfect option for the Colts in this defense. And to pair him up with Fororest Buckner there in the middle,

like you mentioned, and Grover Stewart, to where teams aren't going to be able to focus on Quidipe, I just think that he is a plug-and-play starter in this defense with his traits, with his explosiveness, with his ability. He's a three-down defensive end to start his career. So you trust him to be able to make the right decisions in run and being able to hold, maintain, contain if they need to. And he's got the athleticism, that bend that you feel free just letting him pin his ears back and go after the quarterback. I just think

that he is the perfect fit for this defense. And I really hope that he's available for them at 21. But at the same time, if he's not, then I think that the Colts will trade back at that point and just try to accumulate more picks. And by the way, for those who are wondering, for Atlanta was a team that was on the board for a Stephen and that trade back scenario, they were offering up pick 35 at top of the second round.

So that's really an ideal scenario. If Quidipe wasn't there, I think we are all aboard that idea of trading back to around the top of the second round again getting a future second round pick and really making their that's really the quintessential chris bauer trade there but the culture now go ahead i was going to say one of the interesting things i'll give some some free publicity for for pff and their mock draft simulator one of the interesting things about this is that when you get trade offers it's not like a straight trade offer like you do with with pro football network

with pfn it's you get teams that are interested and they list to you what the highest pick is or what the closest pick to your pick is and then you get to pop in what what offers you want to make so for the colts you mentioned atlanta was was going to be on the clock there, I think 35. So the Colts in this situation could offer 25 for 35 and a future round one pick. And PFF, sometimes they'll accept that. Sometimes they'll just reject it outright. So it gives you some kind of realistic feedback too you can't say all right yeah i want 21 but for it i want 35

i want your third round pick i want your first round pick i want your second round pick and third round pick next year and then it'll go and accept it that's not what happens here it gives you kind of a realistic uh idea and it kind of makes a variance as to what other positions are available. So like if you're up at the top of the draft and you say a quarterback's available, they're going to be able to give up more to get a quarterback. So I just think that that's a really interesting caveat to the pro football focus mock draft simulator. It's a different take to it. PFF has always had a little bit of a different take to things, but it's one that I think is really interesting when you're going through these simulators

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of every major sport with the help of our local experts. Follow Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back on the board now, Stephen. At 54 for the Colts, we took Quiddy Pay, I think a home run pick at the number 21 overall, plugging the clinic for the four-specter, and he's going to put monster numbers in year one for the Colts if that were to happen. But at 54, we have a couple intriguing options here. I have

on the board here wide receiver tight end and left tackle for them. Of course, we need to address left tackle here soon with Andy Costanza retiring. Couldn't pass with Quidipe, though. Going at left tackle, the best option available for them, who really, I think, checks a lot of boxes for them, honestly, is Brady Christensen of BYU, team captain for the Cougars this past year, a blue star prospect, very good high-character guy, very athletic, too. I think he had a 9.87 RAS score, which I think is the third-best RAS score of this class.

Had just a super rare kind of time at shuttle and three cone for a guy at six foot five, 300 plus pounds. It feels like to me, it might be the guy here, Steve. We also go over to wide receiver and tight end, Diami Brown of North Carolina, the best wide receiver on the board as well. Then we also have Brevin Jordan and Tommy Trimble at tight end at 54, if you want to go the tight end route there as well. So really, it's up to those four guys.

You're leaning more towards Christensen, Brown, Tremble, or Jordan. And we also have a tradeoff on the board, though, so let me get on that real quick. The Washington football team is trying to move up from 74 to 54. So this means the Colts will be drawing back 20 spots into the early parts of the third round with this deal, which is the San Francisco compensatory pick that they have. So looking here at 74 for 54, do you even want to entertain this type of trade back?

Are you more interested in the guys we just mentioned and staying put at 54? I'd be interested in it because I think that you might be able to get something like 74 and 82 in this kind of trade back. And you might even be able to pull something like 74 and 82 in this kind of trade back and you might even be able to pull off a future second um in one of these which i think is something that chris ballard would ideally like to do is to recoup an extra third round pick or an early fourth round pick and then possibly get a a future future pick out of it too let. Let's try to do this trade back with Washington then, Steve. I think it makes a lot of sense to try to recoup some of that value for Carson Wentz. Left tackle could still be on the board there.

Maybe Brady Christian does slide a little bit. There's also guys like Deontay Smith of ECU that are going to be on the board later on. So we still have some options there at left tackle as well as pass catcher that could be there in 20 or so spots. So we're the Colts here. And like you mentioned with PFF, we are the ones negotiating here, more so than the computer is. So would you want to offer for 74 and 82 or 74 in a future pick in next year's draft?

Let's do 74, 82 in like a future third and see if maybe, who knows, they might fight. All right, let's see. Wow, they did it. That's a hell of a trade right there 74 82 and a 2022 third round pick awesome all right so let's move back now if we're going to drop back 20 spots for the colts to 74 back up on the board here we have to go and look at who's available at left tackle at this point. And, wow, this works out perfectly, Stephen. Brady Christensen is still there for the Colts, and the top left tackle available on the board,

as well as the tight ends Brevin Jordan and Tommy Tremble. Diami Brown is off the board for North Carolina. But, really, we drop back 20 spots. We still have the left tackle, the top left tackles, and the top tight ends on the board here for us. So, you leaning more towards tight end here or more towards the future left tackle? It's Christensen for me. Honestly,

I think Christensen with his athletic profile and if you watch the tape of BYU throughout the season, there's a reason Zach Wilson had all day to throw. There's a reason that he's going to be the number two pick. He's got some great traits, some great, he's got a great arm, very mobile. If you watched his bowl game, he, nobody got within like three yards of him while he's in the pocket. Like it was sick. How could BYU's offensive line, Brady Christensen test it out of this world. And if you watch his tape,

it matches. He's a plug inand-play starter there at left tackle. I think he's a no-brainer pick for the Colts here at 74. I agree with you. And just real quickly, because I know a lot of Colts tend to be wondering, like Brady Christensen, he does have shorter arms than the average tackle, but I have to wonder from the Colts' standpoint, Stephen, if having Braden Smith moving him from guard

to right tackle his rookie year and how well he's done, I think he has like third percentile arms for a tackle in the NFL. Maybe the Colts don't care as much about shorter arms anymore for tackles when they see how good Braden Smith is at that position. Well, and part of the – this is where the athletic profile really comes into play with the Colts, I think, is if you're able to get your shuttle out and so you're able to move your feet quick enough to basically negate the fact that your arms are maybe an inch or two shorter than what

ideally they would be, I think that that's really what the Colts look for in that is, is there a way that you can compensate for that lack of a certain measurable in your game? The Josh Norris talks about this a lot is what can you do? What can you do well? And so that's kind of what the Colts look at here in this situation is they're like, okay, well, you're really athletic. Can you stop an edge rusher? Do you have to rely on your arms and your arm length to be able to stop an

edge rusher? For Brady Christensen, that's obviously not the case. And he went against some pretty good edge rushers over at BYU. It's not like they played some little cupcake schedule. They had some good teams that they played against throughout the year. And so Brady Christensen's shuttle, his, his agility drills, his foot movement and his athleticism really puts him in a category where that can negate the fact that he's got a little bit shorter arms. And that's kind of the way that I look at it is, is there something about you, about your game that you're able to overcome whatever that little, little issue is.

It's what Chris Ballard talks about with Kenny Moore whenever that comes, is he's got that intangible. He's got that dog mentality that he's able to just make up for the fact that he's maybe a little shorter, a little bit lighter than what their ideal cornerback normally is. And yet Kenny Moore got paid, and he deserved every penny of it and so i think brady christensen gives him that opportunity to plug and play start left tackle i'm not as worried about his arms because his athleticism i think can compensate for that totally agree with you there

and just going real quickly going over lance erlin's profile and brady christensen on nfl.com his strengths low cut with big barrel chest he can play outside with his athleticism And just going real quickly, going over Lance Zerline's profile on birdiecrucisson.nfl.com. His strengths, low cut with big barrel chest. He can play outside with his athleticism. Plays with adequate snap quickness and body control. Accelerates in the run blocks with a good hip snap into the defender. Good, great footwork in preparation for climb blocks. And a choppy, quick slide step in pass throw.

Ideally suited for a zone run blocking scheme. So that's really what the Colts are on. I feel like that's a perfect fit there. And like I mentioned before, Christensen was a team captain for BYU. Fits the blue star mold that we've been talking about on the podcast here for a while now. And comparing his athletic score here, I have his RAS score pulled up as well.

Brady Christensen had a 9.84, a 4.940-yard dash, a 10-yard split of 1.71, and a shuttle time of 4.52, and a 3 kind of 7.33 those are all above 9.5 elite scores on Raz that puts him in the top three of this year's class for relative athletic scoring so he really fits the athletic more like you mentioned there Steven and comparing the Braden Smith too as well who moved over to right tackle for the Colts after being drafted originally as an offensive guard Braden Smith for right tackles has a 9.31 Raz, and he really checks a lot of the same boxes as Christensen does.

So I think this does check a lot of boxes there for the Colts. So we're going to lock in Brady Christensen after trading back with the Washington football team, and we're going to take him with our number 74 overall pick here. We are back on the board, though, at number 82 overall, Stephen. Really, this is working out well for us here because we look at the wide receiver list here. A couple

guys are off the board now. Diamond Brown is gone, but you see tight end. Brevin Jordan is gone, but I feel like this guy has been connected to the Colts so much, and especially with Frank Reich and Chris Bauer being on his pro day. I feel like Tommy Trimble might be the favorite pick. If they trade back to get 82 overall, I feel day, I feel like Tommy Trimble might be the favorite. If the trade back to get 82 overall,

I feel like that's right in Tommy Trimble's range here. Absolutely. Tommy Trimble is a guy that is a perfect fit for Frank Reich's offense. It's somebody that we've talked about before. He offers that blocking versatility, and he's got that athleticism. He's able to make plays downfield. He just wasn't asked to do it because, quite honestly, Notre Dame had two very good receiving tight ends that weren't as great at blocking.

Tommy Trimble was very well-rounded. So I think he's a more athletic upgrade over Jack Doyle going forward. This Tommy Trimble is, he's a guy that I think is, if the Colts are able to trade back, if they're able to get another second round pick, for example, if they drop back from 21 and say with a team like Tampa Bay and get 32 and 64, I think you're looking at Tommy Trimble at 54, 64. Because I think that his fit for this Colts offense just makes so much sense. To go ahead and get him here at 82, I think is great.

And it knocks off all the three main boxes we talked about at the beginning of this show of pass rusher, left tackle, pass catcher for what the Colts need. And it really helps round out this team with a lot of young athletic talent. Colts fans, rockauto.com is a place to go if you want to save money on your next car purchase, whether it be saving $100-plus or on a field ball assembly, or even stuff like tires, motor oil, new carpet. Rockauto.com has had me covered in the past, has many listeners and Lockdown Podcasts never covered in the past, and they're going to save you a lot of money back in your wall too if you decide to sign up today with rockauto.com has had me covered in the past, has many listeners, and Lockdown Podcast has never covered in the past. And they're going to save you a lot of money back in your wall, too, if you decide to sign up today with rockauto.com.

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The Draft Dudes podcast watches every prospect so that you don't have to. And the LockedOnNFL Draft Duo. The Draft Dudes Podcast watches every prospect so you don't have to. And the LockedOnNFL Draft Podcast is your daily draft news and mock draft podcast. Follow the LockedOnNFL Draft Podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, I mean, I have to ask you, Steven. I mean, based off what I would see so far, if the Colts were to pull up a scenario

like this, trading back into the early third round, still getting the two guys we targeted at 54 and getting quitty pay on top of that 21 so it's quitty pay brady christian tommy tremble that's a dream scenario right it really is and like that that extra 2022 round three pick which you know now i i look at this and i'm like well maybe we should have asked for the round two who knows they might have taken it but to get those three guys specifically pay and like just all three guys are perfect fits for what the Colts do.

And if they were able to come out of day two with those three guys somehow, I would be ecstatic as a Colts fan. And I think Chris Ballard and Ed Dodds and Frank Reich and Jim Ursae would be incredible. Jim Ursae would probably immediately do a huge raffle prize or Abby's hat pick. Something where he would do a huge giveaway because he would be so excited about the three players that the Colts just got because they're going to be immediate contributors on this team.

I think Carson Wentz puts them in a stratosphere to be able to go to the next level, but to be able to add on an elite pass rusher, a very athletic left tackle and a tight end, that's a perfect fit for your system that relies a lot on multiple tight end sets. It was just a perfect day. First two days of the NFL draft for them. Back on the board to start day three, Stephen, in the PFF mock draft simulator.

It's Colts live mock draft 4.0 here on Locked on Colts. And Stephen and I are back on the clock here at 127. And we do have a trade offer here from the New Orleans Saints. They are trying to move up six spots, so they must be targeting someone here at 133. Let's go over our spots here for what we need right now. After getting edge rusher, left tackle, and then the pass catcher, are you focusing more so on the DBs right now?

That's kind of where I'm leaning at. What say you? Yeah, I look at defensive back and also edge rusher again I'm always I I'm of the mindset that you can never have too many good edge rushers and I think that's probably something where it's probably pretty similar mindset to what Chris Ballard thinks as well yeah so looking here at these guys in the list and surprisingly on PFF a lot of the guys we really like, like Ellerson Smith and Jordan Smith, as well as a guy like, looking here, like Adekumba Ogundenji, a very long athletic guy. They're all the way down in like the 170s on their board. So I mean, we can maybe get one of those guys in the fifth round, not really worry much about it.

So we can go probably over to defensive back for a second, see what's on the board there. We have Kelvin Joseph out of Kentucky, Benjaminjamin st juice out of minnesota i know the colts were at his pro day probably for rashad bateman as well i have to imagine those are the top two guys on the board there safety tyree gillespie out of missouri demar hamlin out of pittsburgh robert rochelle out of central arkansas for cornerback as well there's a lot of options here i feel like steven are you entertaining the idea with how PFF ranks these guys, like Jordan Smith and Alderson Smith, where they're all the way down about 50 spots on the board here? Maybe we entertain this tradeback option with New Orleans.

Yeah, I don't think it's a bad idea to see what we can get from them. I think that Jordan Smith, I'll tell you this, from playing around with PFF quite a bit, is he tends to go a little bit higher than what his rank is on there, which I think is more realistic. He ends up usually going here in like the third, fourth round, fourth, fifth round range. So it's kind of cheating because i kind of know

i have a general idea of where guys go um for for at least for pff now i was pretty shocked that quitty pay was there for us at 21 so obviously surprises happen um but yeah i would probably entertain this trade down offer just because there are some pretty good defensive backs that kind of fit the Colt system that we can maybe look to get a little bit later. There's also like a Jamar Johnson, the safety out of Indiana would be a really good free safety prospect or Kobe Stevens. So if we can pick up maybe a couple more, you know, round four, round five picks in there, I think that might be a good idea.

So the Saints have picks remaining here on the board, Stephen, at 133, and then they're at 218, 229, 255. So do you think 133 plus 218 works for you? Maybe we jump back, get an early sixth-round pick or early seventh-round pick, and move back six spots? Yeah. Yeah, let's try to get the sixth-round pick and see whether they take it. They got it, yeah. The Colts now have 133 and 218 drop back six spots here with New Orleans Saints.

So we're going to get back up on the board here in just a second. We are back on the clock now officially with the pick 133 in this draft. So the Colts are back on the board here. Let's go back over defensive back, see if anything's changed. All the guys are still on the board there for them. So luckily for them, nothing has changed. Any guys stand out to you, Stephen, as far as this goes? Because I'm looking here at the board. The only guy I'm seeing in the defensive backs that is gone, I mean, I'm not even really seeing anyone. Jacoby Stevens is there. Shamar Jean-Charles is there. All the corners in St. David's mentioned are still on the board there as well.

Do you have a specific favorite type there? I've got a couple. Run over the corners for me. Yeah, sure thing. Let me go ahead and pull back up the corners. All right, Kelvin Joseph out of Kentucky. Benjamin St. Juice out of Minnesota. Trill Williams out of Syracuse,

Trey Brown out of Oklahoma, Robert Rochelle out of central Arkansas, and Shamar Jean Charles and Demi Doreen War out of Appalachian state in Oregon. Yeah. Yeah. So the interesting part about this is Kelvin Joseph is just a really, really interesting guy because there's some, from what I heard is, is there some concern about,

about off field stuff there. But I've yet to find out what it was. People have just said it. I'm going, all right, well, what was it? I don't know what it was. But he's a guy out of Kentucky who's a long corner that really kind of fits in like that cover three shell that I think could be a really good fit for the Colts defense. And it's somebody that we, we haven't really focused on either, but he's a former LSU player. He transferred out of LSU, went to Kentucky has played pretty well there for Kentucky. And so it's,

it's tough because he, he only played nine games in 2020. And so it's tough because he, he only played nine games in 2020. Um, and so it's really, you're kind of going off of traits there for, for Kelvin, Kelvin Joseph. Um, and so that it's, it's one of those really, really tough, um, tough thing. I'd almost want to say somebody like a Trill Williams um just because of his experience and his versatility um because he's played corner safety and he's played slot there for Syracuse so that might be a corner that I look at more so than than a Calvin Joseph or maybe even a Benjamin St. Juice out of Minnesota. He's a big, long cornerback as well. That's kind of – I kind of feel like that's going to be more so

what they're looking at. Yeah, I mean, I can see that, honestly. I mean, looking over who was at the Senior Bowl, Trill Williams is there at the Senior Bowl. So he's a guy that fits that senior bowl box for them. Looking at the RAS scores here for these guys, Trill Williams is 7.69, a very good size for him. Like you mentioned, 6'2", 10, did 20 reps on the bench press.

The athletic scoring, though, was pretty poor, 4'5", 9, 40-yard dash, a 7-1-7, 3-cone. So maybe he hasn't40-yard dash, a 7'1", 7'3", cone. So maybe he hasn't checked the athletic box, so to say, but he probably checks a lot of the other stuff around that. Kelvin Joseph, very good athletic scoring.

Maybe the character thing is the one thing that's off with them. So it's really just based off of athletic scoring, or you go so more with the blue star guy in Truel Williams. I mean, I think we both agree.

Probably Kelvin Joseph probably our picks, but maybe in the Ballard realm, if we're thinking what Chris Ballard's doing at this point in the draft, we know he loves the team character guys. Maybe he goes for a same juice story or a guy like a true Williams instead. Yeah. I still want to take Kelvin Joseph. I'll be honest. Even though i know it may not be

something that chris ballard does um but that testing like his numbers are good he's shown some promise when you go into the fourth round you're not looking at guys that are going to be necessarily plug and play starters so you're looking looking at guys that are going to be necessarily plug and play starters so you're looking at developmental guys so that takes a guy like a trill williams and really kind of pushes him down the board a little bit because he's going to be limited in what he can do um even though he was really versatile at syracuse playing in the acc um so it's not you know you're not playing against the top competition over there with the exception of Clemson. And so I'd still kind of lead Kelvin Joseph out of Kentucky in this scenario.

I'd agree with you. If we were in the GMC, I think we'd both go Kelvin Joseph here out of Kentucky. So we'll lock in Kelvin Joseph here. Excuse me. I picked 133. And now we have addressed the cornerback spot with a high upside guy who's going to test guys like Rocky Haseen, Marvell Tell for a key spot in the depth chart for the Colts then to back to corner in 2021. But the Colts now are back on the board here at 165. And I think at this point, Steve, I think it's fair to say after even the signing, the depth signing I did with Mike Davis of the Steelers, you have to wonder, honestly, if safety is high on their list. Because I went back through and checked the Colts pre-draft visits so far. The great thing that Brett Faitig is doing, at Fan Nuance on Twitter, he keeps track of all the stuff.

And I try my best to keep up with that as well. And I've seen a lot of safeties that the Colts met with, like Jacoby Stevens that the Colts met with multiple times. DeMar Hamlin they met with. They met with as well guys like, I think, I believe, what I saw, Trey Nward out of Oklahoma. Tara Thompson out of San Diego State. It feels like to me, even with a guy they signed on a one-year deal with, Sean Davis, I really think maybe a third safety safety a long-term third safety we mentioned this before on the podcast last week the colts really haven't been able to use a third safety much for the past couple of years

it would not shock me at all especially the way that he tested i think it was like a 9.8 rasp or maybe jacoby stevens a team captain for lsu as well be a guy to target here in the fifth round. I think Jacoby Stevens makes a ton of sense for the Colts because of, again, we go back to athleticism and one of the main reasons that we focus on athleticism, especially when we talk about defensive players, is the Colts run and play fast. And so athleticism and being able to play fast, being able to kind of cut on a dime to be able to just get to where you need to go as quickly as possible, that's their defense. And so they have to have those athletic players in there because without them, you're going to be in a really tough spot. So that's kind of a general idea of where my mindset is, at least in terms of

projecting defensive players for the Colts. It's what they've done for each of the past, like, three drafts. They've gone after guys that really fit a certain mold in the style of play that they like. So I think Jacoby Stevens would just be an absolute perfect fit for the colts here in in this this spot um you know you're looking at the what fifth fourth round the end of the fourth middle of fourth round so you you're gonna be able to take some risks um the only other position i would look at here is potentially edge rusher um or even like for instance maybe even a linebacker if you feel like a jamin davis or somebody like that might be available somebody that is athletic and is going to be a run and hit kind of guy yeah i i think

it's fair to say maybe some of those guys could be there for them later on in this draft. I mean, we still look at the PFF board here. Guys like Patrick Jones could still be there in the sixth round out of Pittsburgh. Taron Jackson out of Coastal Carolina. William Bradley King out of Baylor could be there for them. Looking over

as well, wide receiver on their board. Maybe even guys like looking at the list here, Frank Darby out of Arizona State could be there for them later on in their board. Maybe even guys like looking at the list here, Frank Darby out of Arizona State could be there for them later on the draft or even high upside guys. Josh Amirabibi could still be there in the sixth round for the Colts. They want to take a swing on a high upside guy. That's really been our guy so far in this live mock draft scenario,

just taking a swing on him. Derek Barnes out of Purdue could be a guy later on the draft who could target a linebacker. I feel like the board sets up well, Steven's looking at PFF's board, where I feel like the safety depth really dries out after this fourth, fifth round range. I feel like they might be pulling the trigger here. Looking at Jacoby Stevens' draft score as well, it looks like here for a great team against strong safeties, 8.26 is an elite green scale.

A very explosive guy, Jacoby Stevens is. 42-inch vertical and a 10.1 broad jump. Those are right almost 10.0 for all safeties in the history of the RAS court system. So I feel like to me personally, Steven, I really am comfortable with Jacoby Stevens, especially the way the Colts have looked at safety so far in this draft class. But what say you? Yeah, I feel fine with Jacoby Stevens here. Like I said, the only position I'd look at is edge rusher, really, because it's such an important position. But with the need that the Colts have

to play three safety sets, or that desire that they have to play three safety sets, going with somebody like Jacoby Stephens makes a lot of sense. Let's lock it in, Stephen. We'll go here at 165, Jacoby Stephens out of LSU. I feel really comfortable with the Colts draft so far, honestly. We go and get a corner, high upside in Kelvin Joseph, a high upside safety here in Jacoby Stephens, who are going to be really keyed up guys for the next three or four years

on this roster. We're back on the board here at 206 for the Colts, and we have really intriguing options still. We have high upside guys can go for a wide receiver. We can go at edge rusher too. We have offensive line depth as well if you want to go that route. Where would you want to look at first here? Let's look at wide receiver.

All right, let's go and check out wide receiver. I'm going to pull up the board here on PFF. Wide receiver right now, the top guys on the board, Wap Filer out of IU, Frank Darby out of Arizona State, Joshua Meter Beebe out of Illinois, and Marlon Williams out of UCF. Let's look at edge rusher and offensive line. Edge rusher and offensive line, all right. Let's go ahead and checkher and offensive line. Edge rusher and offensive line. All right.

Let's go ahead and check out interior offensive line here first. Top guys on the board here. Michael Bennett, center out of Penn State. Tommy Kramer, guard out of Notre Dame. And Jimmy Morrissey, a center guard out of Pitt. Hmm. Yeah. yeah it's part of me that wants to say somebody like a tommy kramer or sometimes like sidarius hutcheson out of south carolina um is available in the sixth round um and so but looks like he's gone gone, I'd almost say to go with Tommy Kramer here just because I believe he was a pretty

good guy at the Senior Bowl, showed out well there. Chris Ballard takes a lot of stock in that. And so, plus given the fact that he's a Notre Dame guy, they know how to coach offensive line there. So I wouldn't be surprised to see that being the pick. Honestly, I could see that happening here too. I mean, just looking at the way we talk about him, I think he was a pick in our last mock draft as well, Tommy Kramer in the seventh round, just checks all the boxes.

I mean, he's just a plug-and-play guy. He wouldn't be a plug-and-play guy in Indy, so to say, but he'd be a valuable depth piece in Indy. He can play center guard tackle for the next three or four years in a pen shift need be. And then just going over to edge rushers real quick, the only guy on the board that really intrigues me is a guy like Patrick Jones' second out, Pittsburgh.

But honestly, if they were to get Quidipe at 21, I wonder if they would even take in their edge rusher in this class. Because Quidipe, if they draft him, he's going to be on the field like 85%, 90 90 of the snaps yeah and that's that's one of the other things to consider is when you get somebody like a quitty pay there at the top like it's very different if say we traded down because somebody like quitty pay was gone and we took a guy like a peyton turner at 54 and then we like go ahead and double back with that with a Jordan Smith or an Ellerson Smith in the third or fourth round, that's a very different scenario. When you've

got a guy like Quiddie Paye, who you know is going to be a three-down defensive end for you, then you maybe don't focus on that as much. As you've all heard now, I tend to lean to trying to get as many edge rushers as I can just because it's such a valuable position. But given the guys that are still available, I'd feel a little bit more comfortable going with, like I said, interior offensive line or wide receiver. And then possibly going back around and going and grabbing some more depth in the secondary. Because the other good thing that you get with secondary players is you get guys that typically are able to play special teams. And that's a big, big focus for the Colts. So I kind of lean Tommy Kramer here at 206. And then potentially look at wide receiver at 218,

wide receiver or defensive back at 218 and 248. Let's go back here on the board here at 218. This is with the tradeback, New Orleans Saints, in the fourth round. They also got their sixth-round pick in the process. We do have a tradeoff on the board, though. A lot of the guys we just went over are still on the board here for the Colts. Maybe they can move back a little bit and get someone. Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles are calling us here to move up a little bit.

Late in the sixth, early seventh round range. And their next pick is at 224. They also have picks at 225, 234, and 240. Are you at all entertained by the idea of moving back six spots, maybe getting back-to-back picks here at 224 and 225, if Philadelphia were to accept that? I think I'm fine where I'm at. You're adding – one thing to consider with the Colts is Chris Ballard's now

had four drafts under his belt. He's brought in a bunch of guys in free agency, and, yeah, they do preach competition. But they are not going to have that many roster spots. Come, you know, so if, for example, if we trade back here at 218 and we pick up three to four extra picks, what is the likelihood of three or four seventh round picks making the roster versus, you know, getting a guy that you really like there at 218 um that you feel confident in that could play um i look at that and i say i'd rather take a guy like if like a josh meter bb is there um he's kind of like the guy that we take in every one of our mocks um just because he makes a lot of sense

for the colts um and he's like our like day three draft crush that we somehow have fallen into. Um, so I kind of lean that direction, um, for it rather than make this trade, just because I don't see those round seven guys really being able to make a difference on the roster. Um, just at this point with how the roster is currently constructed. Yeah, that's a fair point there. And just speaking of Amitra Bibi real quick, who's been in all of our mock drafts so far, wide receiver out of Illinois, freak athlete, 46 and a half inch vertical, which would have broken the NFL combine record this past year. Looking at his athletic profile, he just checks everything so far. And Kent Lee Platt, he was on the show a week or two ago,

talking about the RAS scoring system and really how the Colts are really at the lead of this, where they really almost take elite athletes on almost every single pick they make. It's rare they don't take a guy with a high RAS score in the draft, especially early on here. But going over a guy like Amit or Bibi for a second, you have to think with the RAS scoring here in place, he just makes so much sense. I think his RAS score is around a 9.2, especially that vertical jump he had. He's 6'2". I would just love to see a training camp battle with Desmond and Amit or Bibi just based off of what we've seen. I think that would be a fun little thing.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Colts really like Desmond Patman too. he's a guy that they kept on the roster for I think the entire season so it's obviously somebody that they didn't want to risk losing um I think Yemeter Beebe is a guy that could come in and be that deep threat um if you're looking for a vertical receiver that can just run a go around, like, yeah, okay. His 40 wasn't great. But he'd be such an asset there in the red zone. He's got that explosive that those explosions,

that explosive trait in terms of his vertical jump being 46 and a half and his broad jumping over 11 feet. Like that's absolutely insane to have somebody that can jump that high in that far at six foot tall. Like it's just absolutely nuts that he could do that. He's one of those athletic freaks that he's worth the gamble, I think, especially in the sixth round. Let's lock it in here, Stephen. Josh, you meet your BB wide receiver out of Illinois on the board here. The Colts now are down to their last pick, I believe, in this live mock draft 4.0.

And we're at this point where we can really just take a swing on a guy. Like, I really feel like we could go and get someone here, like a linebacker if we want to replace Anthony Walker for depth reasons. The Colts are a really stacked linebacker. They have six guys who make the roster next year, including Jordan Glasgow. They're special teams ace. Or we can go back to offensive line. Maybe get a swing tackle here as well for more training camp battles,

like a Cole Van Lannen out of Wisconsin who's on the board here. Or we can go out and get, let's say, a running back. You want to replace Jordan Wilkins, or if you want to go and get, let's say, another tight end or a corner. We can really do anything here with our last pick. What do you have on your mind? I kind of want to go defensive back. The guys that I want to to know if they're available are uh joshua

bledsoe um derrick forest or devon key um those are guys that all have very very high rast scores um from the safety position um derrick forest is out of cincinn Cincinnati. Guy that probably not a lot of Colts fans have heard of, but he's really athletic. He's a really good tackler. Devin Key is out of Western Kentucky. He's another safety that is super athletic. I think he's the all-time leading tackler for Western Kentucky. And so just an absolute playmaker in terms of what he can do on the field and that mindset that they bring. Both of them, I believe, were seniors. Derek Forrest, I know, is a senior. Same thing with Joshua Bledsoe out of Missouri. So those are guys that I think are just sneaky safety picks just because that's

one of the positions that the Colts really like to have those defensive backs able to be able to play that three safety set. And without Malik Hooker really back there having to kind of plug in a guy like a George Odom in there, somebody that maybe isn't quite as athletic and maybe not what they want. So I look at the safety position. I look at the corner position, again, for special teams ability. And because those positions tend to be the ones that get most injured throughout the year, to put it flatly. They don't, for whatever

reason, the Colts have had a lot of issues with their safeties and corners staying healthy. And so I feel like that's one of the positions they might want to address multiple times in the draft, especially with later round picks. One of the guys you mentioned there, looks like the only guy you mentioned there, Joshua Bledsoe out of Missouri is the only one here on the board that you mentioned there, Stephen. He, unfortunately, did not, wasn't able to test at his pro day at Missouri due to an injury, but he did check in at 5'11", around 215 pounds. So he looks like PFF has enlisted as a cornerback as well. So he can play multiple positions, almost like a Marvell Tell, where he could come in, be a safety originally, then maybe move over to cornerback later on in his career after a training camp or rookie OT as whatever it may be.

I am intrigued by the thought of Derek Barnes out of Purdue, a linebacker, just because looking at his RAS score here, around an 8.7 RAS score. He's good. Yeah, surprisingly enough here, Steve, I mean, looking at the Colts' future linebacker, they have two guys on expiring contracts this year. They have Matthew Adams and Zaire Franklin, who I imagine won't be on this roster

after next year because they want to go test themselves elsewhere. They're never going to have the chance to really play much of a role here in Indy because of Darius Lerner, Bobby Okereke, and Franklin and Adams are really good special teams players as well. It wouldn't shock me at all, Stephen, if they do take a linebacker for the fourth consecutive year with Chris Ballard because those guys he drafted first off, Matthew Adams, Zaire Franklin, they're in the last year of the contracts. Had I known Derek Barnes was available, I probably would have said him and just saved us some time talking about safeties.

I think Derek Barnes makes a lot of sense because he's got that athletic profile. It's something that Lance profile and it it's something that like Lance Erlein and I joked about this on on Twitter um last year because there was a comment about you know do you think you know Chris Ballard's going to take you know what position and Lance Erlein made a joke about taking a linebacker he's not going to I had to clarify to this person it's like you know Chris Ballard takes a linebacker like he's not gonna i had to clarify to this person he's like you know chris valerie takes a linebacker every year i think it's his most drafted position so that's that's the joke is is that he's making fun of you for saying that they're he's gonna be some bold prediction they're gonna take a linebacker like no they do that every year that's not a bold prediction that's

like playing with like easy house money there you're like no i i feel pretty confident that's not a bold prediction that's like playing with like easy house money there you're like no I feel pretty confident that's going to happen Derek Barnes makes a ton of sense um for the Colts he's an athletic linebacker he's able to move all over the field um he makes plays he's a quality tackler I had I known he was on the board here, I think that he would have been just a no-brainer pick for me because he's also a guy that I think would be more than happy to go play special teams and mix it up in there and just do whatever the team needs. Blue star guy, too, that Derek Burns is, a team captain for the Buller-Makers this past year. Very athletic, looking at his RAS score officially now after speaking about it for a minute. 8.42 RAS score in that green elite category.

4.58 40-yard dashes and above 9.0 for all linebackers. Great vertical as well, 37-inch vertical. Almost 30 reps on the bench press as well. Like, I could see him day one, Stephen, like, when you're going against Tennessee, that you could have Okereke and Leonard out there, but you also put Derek Barnes and Sam. Like, I'd feel comfortable with that. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, he's a little light in terms of weight to be your Sam, but he's almost 240. Normally those guys are, well, he's about right about there, but yeah, he's an athletic guy who's

able to run and hit, and that's what Colts like in their linebackers. I can see that being a great option for them. Let's lock in Derek Barnes, our final pick in live mock draft 4.0. Steven, at 248, the Colts select Derek Barnes, linebacker out of Purdue here. And wow, what a draft this was looking back over here, Steven, because PFF gave us a grade of an A-. I think personally it was an A+, the way we did this. But let's go over real quick. Quiddy Pay, run at the card for 21 in michigan we trade back from 54 with the

washington football team received 74 82 and a 2022 third round pick so they gave us a b plus amount of pff we took brady christensen who we were going to take a 54 anyways and back 20 spots to get him out of byu tommy trembled tied out at narodama 82 and then two high upside guys at defensive backs kelvin joseph the cornerback out of Kentucky and Jacoby Stevens is safety out of LSU. And our final few picks, Tommy Kramer, the guard on Notre Dame, Josh Amitabh, the athletic wide receiver at Illinois and Derek Barnes, a linebacker out of Purdue. What do you think about that draft hall, Stephen? I mean, that's about, let me go through here.

It looks like four or five, six, seven, eight picks that we count with. We start with six finished with eight and we start off the draft with quitty pay i think it's a home run oh yeah and not to mention we added in that extra pick next year um from washington which who knows what washington's gonna be next year um they're from the nfc east yeah it seems like different teams want it each of the past like six seasons, which that actually might be true, oddly enough, now that I think on it. But they could be anywhere from a top 10 pick next year to in the playoffs. So that round three pick that we got from them could be very valuable. And shoot, any pick that the Colts get in day two is valuable to them.

I think once we get past those those first three picks like those first three picks are absolute home runs I think for specifically for the Colts um not to mention the players themselves like Quidipe getting him at 21 is just a dream scenario I think and then being able to trade back 20 spots, still get Brady Christensen and Tommy Trimble out of the same trade. I think that's just such a great move. And then being able to just kind of focus on depth on day three, getting corner with Kelvin Joseph, getting that Jacoby Stevens, looking at a guy that's a really versatile offensive lineman in Tommy Kramer that you feel really comfortable, who could really push Mark Lewinsky there at the

right guard spot, and you're able to use Danny Pinter as that move interior offensive line where you feel comfortable having him play any of those positions. So you got that. Josh Meter-Beeby, we talked about him so much and how much we really like him. It might be getting to the point that we maybe talk about him too much because he just makes so much sense as an athletic wide receiver. And to get a guy like Derek Barnes, to get him there at the end, to be able to come right in, and he could push the uh push for that starting sam spot that was just vacated with with anthony walker going to cleveland it's it just makes a lot of sense for the colts all the way around and i'd be really really excited i think the colts would be really excited about

this draft and i think fans would get really pumped about this draft. Steven, this was a lot of fun, as always. We'll be back next week for Colts Live Draft 5.0. But in the meantime, really appreciate everyone listening on today's podcast. Go ahead and follow Steven Thiem now already on Twitter, at NiceReach. Steven, go listen to his podcast, as always, over on Stampede Blue. Steven, appreciate the time to present tonight's mock draft. Thanks, Evan. Have a great one.