Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Draft Class STACKED with Productive, Experienced Players

Starting point is 00:00:00 The 2025 NFL Draft is in the books and the Colts have their new young players to look at. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. There's your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Today's episode is brought to you by the all new 2025 Nissan Armada. Stay tuned for the Armada draft pick of the week later in the show. I think you guys all know who that draft pick of the week is going to be. Hello everyone, my name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd of horseshoe huddle.com and my partner Jake Arthur is our credential boots on the ground for the site. We just got done a very busy draft week. Obviously guys, we appreciate you all tuning in. And this week is all about reacting to that draft class, breaking down how they're going to fit in with this Colts team and just going over, you know, what the remaining needs are for the team. So today we're going to just recap again the Colts draft.

Starting point is 00:01:11 We're going to go day one, day two, day three, talk about our thoughts on each pick and each player. A couple days removed from the big event, you know, there are a little bit more emotions involved on the night of the draft. So now that we're able to step back, take a look at the bigger picture and dive into some of these players, we're going to give our our honest reactions to a lot of these players here. So let's kick it off with with the bell of the ball here. Jake and talk about the first round pick. I don't even want to say it's like the least sexy pick of the draft just because it was so obvious that it doesn't feel as like fun because we all knew that if he was gonna get there to 14

Starting point is 00:01:47 The Colts were going to take Tyler Warren out of Penn State He ended up falling right into their laps and and they got the perfect blend of Talented player at the biggest position of need in the draft. So I mean there's not really too much to say I mean, we'll we'll fill the whole segment here Jake, but there's really not too much to say on Tyler Warren. It's just such a perfect fit for this team. And I would say it's a pleasant surprise too, because I mean, you, me and Stephen on the very last show before the draft last week,

Starting point is 00:02:16 we all picked Colston Loveland because we didn't think Tyler Warren would get there. And then when the Bears at 10 picked a tight end, that made it even riskier. You know, the Jets went went ahead and did Armand Mambeau the smart move, but it was pretty touch and go there. And you feel like something's being taken from you almost. When we've been like, we've been talking about Tyler Warren more than I've talked about anyone else on this planet for like the last few months. And then it felt there for a moment,

Starting point is 00:02:45 like, is this really gonna happen? Are they gonna get sniped two years in a row? But no, it was a foregone conclusion that if he was there, you have to make that pick. And I mean, we studied him about as much as possible leading into it, but I looked even more into it. I was able to find out more about him as a person, obviously, because we're given more information, you know, after, after

Starting point is 00:03:07 he becomes a member of the TV cover. So all in on this pick. I mean, I would have loved Colston Loveland as well, but Tyler Warren was always option number one, a just, you know, a good blocker reminds you of Jack Doyle when it comes to blocking on the move and things like that. A guy who can sit on the line but you kind of don't want to waste your precious, you know, snaps with him just chilling out on the line. But he could do any single thing that you want to tight end to do. But he's also got kind of some unicorn qualities because look at what he did at Penn State. You just don't see tight ends doing that. You see, you know, a running back may come along every 10 years or so that can do that, or a wide receiver can do some special things, but you never see a tight end doing what he did. So the Colts got a rare opportunity here. They don't have unicorns fall in their lap like this very often. And it finally happened.

Starting point is 00:04:05 And I mean, thank God they didn't overthink it or outsmart themselves and go in another direction. Cause there were some talented players still on the board that would have fit the Colts pretty well. But I mean, they did the wise thing and targeted the guy who I imagine has been pretty much their first option all along. Yeah, I can't imagine they had many players higher than Tyler Warren in this draft class. I think at the end of the day, he was probably a blue player for them, a player that graded

Starting point is 00:04:32 extremely high, maybe higher than most of the other teams in the NFL. And from my understanding, talking to a few people, the Colts were certainly one of those teams that had a big gap between Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland in terms of having Warren as a tier higher than Loveland. So I'm sure they were not complaining whatsoever when they saw Loveland go off the board at 10, even though they liked Loveland, they viewed Tyler Warren as a much better fit for what they wanted to do going forward. And ultimately they were lucky enough to have him fall into their lap at 14. We had a good question in the comments here and it kind of segues into kind of our projection

Starting point is 00:05:06 for Warren is how do you think Warren compares to like what Brock Bowers looked like last year with the Raiders or how Brock Bowers maybe would have looked with the Colts. But it's kind of hard to compare the two because Bowers is such a unique player in terms of what he can do after the catch, what he can do before the catch, just overall athleticism he has. But Warren in a lot of ways is kind of the poor man's version of Bowers for lack of a better term. Like I'm not trying to say he's a poor man's version of anything, but he does do a lot of things that Bowers does in the short passing game in the receiving game. But he gives you more of a blocking element where

Starting point is 00:05:44 Bowers has to be so like pass dependent on like pass catch dependent. I don't think he's going to hit the numbers that we saw from Bowers last year in Vegas. I don't think Bowers would hit those numbers with the Colts. Even he was in a really great blend of like perfect opportunity and then he maxed out that opportunity. But I think when you're looking at what Warren could do in his rookie season, I think you're going to get a lot of the underneath targets to him. I think you're going to have maybe a lower a dot, like average depth of target than most would want. But I think they're going to do a lot of things to get the ball in his hands, let the layups kind of funnel

Starting point is 00:06:17 to him a little bit and let him create after the catch. So I'm not going to say you're project, like he's going to have like a thousand yard rookie season, because I just don't think that's feasible with the Colts quarterback room, the other targets they have in just overall how they're going to use him. But I do think we're going to see a pretty good season permanent in just in terms of like he's going to have a good amount of catches because they're going to force feed him in the short game. I think he's going to have a lot of schemed up touches from from tap passes in the backfield to screen passes to mesh concepts where he's running away from defenders. So I think they're going to use a lot of good things with Warren this season.

Starting point is 00:06:54 Again, I can't go as high as what Bowers did last year because Bowers broke a bunch of records for rookie tight ends. But I do think we're going to see a really productive rookie season from him. I don't know what the ceiling ultimately is with Warren. I don't think I would go as high as like all pro, but I think he can be like a pro bowl caliber tight end in the NFL. And honestly, in a draft class where there's not many stars in this class, like a lot of starters and not stars to get a guy who has pro bowl potential at his position at the 14th overall pick, I think that's a pretty good pick for the Colts.

Starting point is 00:07:25 So overall, yeah, I think Warren can bring some of that Jack Doyle element back to the run blocking game. I think he can give them an enforcer mentality in the past game and really pick up their run after catch. And I think ultimately he could be like a Pro Bowl tight end one day. I think that's well worth the 14th overall pick, and especially when the Colts had a massive need at the tight end position. Yeah, I definitely think as far as projecting role goes the two guys who are going to have the most schemed up touches in the passing game are definitely downs and Tyler Warren.

Starting point is 00:07:58 I think there's just a lot you can do with those guys like I'm just picturing now the tricky things you can do with Josh Downs and Tyler Warren together. I mean, you know, how, how involved mesh is with the offense, like I think Shane is trying to think of so many ways just to he because he's got these guys are smart to like, so when it comes to option routes and stuff like that, I think it's going to create a lot of opportunities for the quarterbacks, but it would be nice to be able to trust the quarterbacks a little bit more right now to like, well, I mean, we'll see. We'll see what kind of chemistry they form with these guys. I mean, obviously Anthony's already there, but no, it's, I think they're going to be very involved.

Starting point is 00:08:37 And I don't think that the Colts, I mean, Tyler did a lot of just college stuff, like the Wildcat stuff, the passing and running and all that. I don't think the Colts are going to totally abandon that. The other night when I think it was Thursday night when they drafted Tyler, one of the very first things that Chris Ballard mentioned was his abilities inside the five yard line. So I think they're going to keep doing some exotic stuff with them. I don't know how much he'll pass and all that.

Starting point is 00:09:04 That's kind of a rarity. I mean, it even kind of was there at Penn State, but I don't think he's just going to be some classically used tight end. Yeah. And another aspect to this too, is the Colts did, especially towards like the later part of the season, they did start to use more of their tight ends in the backfield as like a full back or like full house sets in the backfield. And, and just as like a sniffer tight end a little bit more off the line And they had some great success. They had multiple big runs last season doing that with Drew Ogletree they wanted to do a little bit more that with Kylan Granson, but Granson's just a Tough blocker when you have to do when you have to have him block anybody but a defensive back

Starting point is 00:09:39 So I think when you have a guy like Warren where yes, he's a tight end But he's kind of like a tight end that can do some fullback stuff. I think it does open up a little bit of the triple option game, the you know RPR type game with him in the backfield, even just you know toss plays where you want to have like a fullback lead blocker you could put him in the backfield there. So yeah I don't think it's going to be like a generic usage of him this next season. It's not just going to be in line tight end, you know, get out there, run a couple routes and seal off the edge on our outside runs. It's going to be very unique in terms of playing some fullback, playing some running back at times, I'm sure will be in the cards or some direct snaps will go to him. He'll be flexed out wide a good chunk with Moira Cox down the line to get 12 personnel out there and there'll be times where both those tight ends are in there off the line of scrimmage. So I think we're going to see a lot of unique ways that he's used. And if how the Colts have used Josh Downs the last

Starting point is 00:10:31 couple of years, any indication of unique ways they can use skilled players like that, I think we're going to see a really interesting set of packages for Tyler Warren this next season. So I'm excited to see how Shane Steichen deploys a player with his skill set. And I for I don't want to say head scratcher picks on day two, but definitely more controversial picks than what Tyler Warren was to start off the draft. There is nothing like the atmosphere of an NBA playoff game, right? Pacers fans, every bucket, every defensive stop, every moment feels huge. It's electric in the arena. And with game time, you can be a part of it without the stress of last minute ticket hunting. Game time makes it

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Starting point is 00:12:41 But the guys they took on day two, maybe not the most mocked two players to the Colts, certainly not Justin Wally out of Minnesota. I don't think he was not to the Colts by anyone, but let's kick it off with the second round pick defensive defensive end JT to it to we Malo out. I'm getting there, guys. I'm getting there. JT to email low out edge rusher out of Ohio State had 12 and a half sacks this past season, but not really known for his pass rushing ability like he can finish sacks

Starting point is 00:13:09 and he can finish plays when he has the quarterback near him. But he's not a pure pass rush winner. I think he only had like a 12 percent pass rush win rate this past year, and that was in his senior season, which was like 80th in this draft class among Ed Russia. So he's not really this like camoco to Ray type of high upside quick winner in the pass rush game. But what you're really getting out of him is the run defense is the ability to clean up sacks and the traits,

Starting point is 00:13:36 the long arms, the power and the explosiveness are all there. So for me, Jake, I'm very much in like with this pick, not in love with this pick. I think the Colts could have swung for more of a home run pick here. But again, in a draft class, it probably doesn't have many stars. I'm fine with grabbing a productive starter caliber player in round two. Maybe it's not the again, not the sexiest pick, but it's a nice and solid pick there in round two, and I think he's going to be a productive player for them. Man, it's been a while since I did the new thing. I will say I did mock JT Twimolo out to the Colts

Starting point is 00:14:12 in the second round in my final mock but I had them trading back to do it. I think I had them going to like 53 and when I looked again at the draft board and like where everyone went I think they probably should have done that. Uh, if I'm not mistaken, Donovan as a rock who did get picked like right ahead of them. So like that may have been their intended target there at 45. Um, but yeah, there wasn't a ton there. And I think they probably could have slid back a little bit, gathered another extra pick or two. I mean, Demetrius night was there.

Starting point is 00:14:44 Tate Rattlage was there, and Trey Amos was there. Those are three guys I thought, you know, maybe could be pretty good fits there. But other than that, it felt like picking someone just to pick them. And again, I really liked JT to a little while, but you probably you maybe could have had him a few spots back. So him as a player, though, I do think it's a good fit. I think he's probably got a little higher upside than what we've seen from Quiddy Pay. Really powerful, big, maybe longer type of guy. College production is there, which Quiddy really didn't have at Michigan. JT has been like three straight years, first team all big 10, like 40 tackles for loss in the last three years,

Starting point is 00:15:23 which I'm a big tackles for loss guy. I want to see those numbers up there. And then I think like over 20 sacks and 21 and a half sacks. So pretty productive, pretty experienced, which I always want to see on a stacked Ohio State defensive line, where I think everyone got drafted on the defensive line. He was one of the first picks of them.

Starting point is 00:15:45 I think Tylek Williams was a little ahead of him. So I like him. Again, I don't know how much the pass rush upside is there, but that's what you've got Latu for. I do think he complements long-term what they've got. So who knows how much longer Ebi Kham, Kodipay, and Tyquan Lewis will be around. But I very much see the long-term vision

Starting point is 00:16:07 of Yatilatu being your pass rush, your weak side end, and then you've got JT as more of your strong side, edge defender, edge setter, I mean. But yeah, I see the vision. I probably would have done it a little further back, but I don't hate it. Like, it's fine. Yeah, I think when it comes to taking players on draft day, it's so much easier to say

Starting point is 00:16:30 like moving back like I'm with you, like, in my head, I'm like, oh, we could have moved back and grabbed him. But we just never know how the board's gonna fall. These teams have better Intel than us. So maybe they knew a team within the next couple picks was going to grab them. And I will say this in the Colts defense here, like when you're looking at the edge rushers that were available, then I think Ashen Gillette was still on the board. I think Landon Jackson were still on the board. I think those guys have higher upside than JT. But if you're looking for a guy who can come in from day one and be a solid role player in his rookie season with a high floor, I think JT was the best pick there.

Starting point is 00:17:03 So maybe they just didn't want to make that drop off from the high floor JT and just grabbed him at 45. But before we get to our final segment, guys, we got to talk about Justin Wally, the cornerback pick out of Minnesota. And this is probably where Jake and I differ the most because I think Jake is a little bit lower on this pick than me who is somehow becoming the big advocate for this.

Starting point is 00:17:24 I mean, look, we're talking about a third round pick here. So obviously Justin Wally is not some final product that's perfect by any means. But the film is pretty darn good. And for me, something that really stands out and something that I've really grown on when it comes to draft prospects over the years is the emphasis on players producing at a young age when they're stepping in an 1819 years old what are they looking like out there in college and are you seeing the growth from he was again 1819 years old. He was out there in big time matchups against Marvin Harrison, Jr. Keon Coleman, multiple other big 10 receivers. And he was holding his own in those matchups from, from a young age. And then we just saw this past season that when he was a senior, when he was

Starting point is 00:18:19 named a captain, when he was the guy in that secondary, we saw a really strong season for him with multiple pass breakups, a couple interceptions, the Maryland game alone. I think he had three pass breakups in a pick six, the USC game. He had four pass breakups in that game. So I don't know. I'm pretty high on this pick in terms of just where I think most Colts fans are like. Yeah, I can understand going offensive line. I probably would have preferred an offensive line.

Starting point is 00:18:43 But when you look at this corner back room. It's a relatively slow corner room with not a lot of ball production like juju brentson jalen jones have a combined. Three interceptions in two seasons and will four seasons combined if you're putting both them together three interceptions across those those two years they both been in here. Sam Womack, you don't really know how much longer he's gonna be here. A guy like Wally gives him the speed and the playmaking upside. And it's probably a guy that Lou Anna remote wanted. So I think the Colts view this as their can Taylor Britt. And I think he's gonna play a good bit this season.

Starting point is 00:19:16 So I've grown on this pick a lot. Maybe I'm just too optimistic, but this pick has grown on me a lot. And I think Wally has the highest upside of any non Tyler Warren player in the strap for the Colts. Yeah, I don't. I don't hate the player or the pick. I'll be honest.

Starting point is 00:19:32 I do think. I find it hard to believe that you couldn't have you couldn't have gotten him a little later. Just adding a corner to a group that's already kind of overcrowded. That makes me sound anti best player available, but like cornerback and wide receiver are like the two positions where they they could have just gone throughout the whole draft and not addressed it and it would have been fine.

Starting point is 00:19:59 I get like he fits well and he offers some things that they don't have. But I also look at what was on the board and I'm like, man, you couldn't have waited to get this guy or like maybe traded up in the fourth and tried to get him or attempt to. Cause like you look at guys like Wyatt Milam, Emery Jones, uh, and Jared Wilson, all guys who very much fit needs and were very, they had good value right there as well. And they could have, you could have seen an easy path for them to start right away. Even Jacob Parrish was another undersized corner, pretty comparable athletic measurements. His testing, I think

Starting point is 00:20:40 was better, better tackler. Jamari Caldwell, you really needed to do more behind Grover Stewart and they didn't do it until the sixth round, but a guy like Jamari Caldwell was there. Jonas Sanker, who is a, a Euro fan of his. You need that third safety, which they still don't have. It just felt like a luxury pick to me. And again, I think Wally is going to be a big, a good player for them. I just, I don't know. It just seemed probably too early for that. And I just don't see the super clear path for him to contribute right away. Cause they love Jalen Jones. They're not just going to cast him aside. I do think Juju Brince or Samuel Womack is probably going to hit the cutting room

Starting point is 00:21:24 floor after this. But it just was too early for me compared to what else was on the board. That's totally fair. Only two things I'll push real quick and then we'll go to day three guys is we know Chris Ballard's very high on Jalen Jones. We have no clue what Luan Rumo thinks of Jalen Jones. And he might not be very high on him. So that's one little push back and the other one is, from for my understanding Wally probably would have been gone within the next 10 picks From from yeah, because I think it was the Buccaneers and the Jaguars were both very interested in him as well so Chris did make it seem like

Starting point is 00:21:57 He probably wouldn't have been there because we asked like did you need to do this already and they felt confident He probably wouldn't be there. Yeah. Yeah, but coming up, guys, we do have some day three players talking about. And you guys know how much we love day three prospects. I've had shirts made over day three prospects in the past. So we're going to talk about some of these Colts day three picks coming up in just a second.

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Starting point is 00:23:23 All right, Zach. So let's discuss day three here. and go find your next big adventure. All right, Zach, so let's discuss day three here. I really didn't have many big gripes on day three. There was a couple players who they probably should have addressed that position earlier in the draft, but like the players that they chose to finally fill those needs, I really don't hate it. So getting the thing started with round um, round four, 127. Now they traded back 10 spots from this and gathered an extra six round pick in

Starting point is 00:23:52 the process. They grabbed Jaylen Travis from Iowa state. Uh, now this is, uh, very athletic, very enormous mountainous person. Uh, also very, very smart, uh, person. Also very, very smart guy. He's, we found out today he interned, you know, in some sort of political office in Washington, D.C. Well, well, well, it was in the indie draft guide, buddy. Wait, bro, I was that up. Yeah, it wasn't the indie draft guide in the back,

Starting point is 00:24:17 in the background. He interned with Amy Klobuchar and for like some summer things. So yeah, check out your indie draft guide for that one. That was great. I overlooked that and found that out today, buddy. But no, that's a super smart guy. I mean, you want your offensive lineman to be smart,

Starting point is 00:24:35 obviously. You don't always see guys that big move that well, which is super encouraging, because it's like if Zach Boehner could have just moved any modicum of what Jalen Travis could do, then we might be having a different story. But no, I do like this pick. I think it gives the Colts now the flexibility. If Travis pans out and they like what he looks like in the first year, it gives them the flexibility now to try Matt Gonzalez at right guard because they didn't want to

Starting point is 00:25:05 take him away from his swing tackle duties to do it. But now they drafted someone who could maybe fill that role. So this is better for the offensive line. They said, you know, rounds two to five was kind of their sweet spot for offensive lineman. So the maybe could have done it sooner. Maybe could have gone for a guard first. But again, this move kind of allows them to solve that guard spot as well. So kind of killing two birds with one stone. Yeah, Travis, you know, he's a project right now. There are a lot of things he needs to clean up on film.

Starting point is 00:25:33 But look, if you're betting on anyone on day three, bet on the guy with the sky high traits, the size, the smarts, the great background and just a good person overall. You know, I think that's such an easy like investment to make on day three. So yeah, round four pick. I enjoy that pick. I think it's a good pick there. Round five, which was essentially the last like guy on their board that they drafted is DJ Giddens. They're running back from Kansas State in the indie draft guide. We put a comp on him as Marlon Mack. And when I watched his film, I was like, yeah, this feels very much like Marlon Mac. I think there's a little bit more pass catching upside with DJ Giddens, but whenever you see that jump cut on film, I don't know if it's you, if you're like me, Jay, but whenever I see a running back,

Starting point is 00:26:15 who's not like Jonathan Taylor size, so like a little bit smaller than Taylor do like a massive jump cut. I think of that Kansas City game from 2019 where Marlon Mack was doing the multiple jump cuts in the hole and broke it off for 40 yards. So I always think of that vividly. Right. I just think of the jump cut as Marlon Mack. So I saw Giddens do it a couple of times and I'm like, oh yeah, I totally see the comp now. But DJ Giddens, I think he's going to have a big role in year one, just being that, that second running

Starting point is 00:26:43 back. I think he's going to be a big, he's going to basically be what the Colts think Tyler Goodson is, but a little bit more refined than what Goodson has been the last couple of years. Yeah, so I think Giddens and Travis are going to serve big roles for the team going forward. And then they finish it off with Riley Leonard, Tim Smith and Hunter Roller.

Starting point is 00:27:01 Any of those three names really stand out to you, Jake? I mean, obviously a quarterback was involved in that. Right. So I'll start with Giddens here. I think the Colts are super high on him. So a fifth round pick, but I could see him being that RB to that you mentioned. I know that Khalil Herbert, who they just brought in, but I think there's kind of room at the table for all three of them, them including Taylor Riley Leonard.

Starting point is 00:27:23 That felt out of all the players in the draft who I felt confident they would want to go for, obviously Tyler Warren was the most obvious one, but Riley Leonard was kind of next. I had the occults picking him in the sixth round as well. So there's just too much familiarity and background there. Shane Steichen likes him. Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard both trust Philip

Starting point is 00:27:46 Rivers very much. And Riley Luner trains with Philip Rivers. So he's getting better. I think he fills the need of what they lost with Sam Ellinger. So while some people question what this does for the quarterback room and how it doesn't affect the top of the depth chart. No, it doesn't. This isn't for 2025. You know, Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones Color me surprised if they're both here this time next year. So you could be looking at Riley Leonard as your QB to next year a guy who's mobile a guy who can operate that quick RPO game. And I mean, he's smart and he's training with the guy like Philip Rivers.

Starting point is 00:28:27 So there's limited upside there. I'm not saying he's he could really be a starter. I don't see that for him. But could he do what you need a backup quarterback to do? Absolutely. And you have a year where you don't need him and you just kind of develop him to be that. So did I like other quarterbacks more?

Starting point is 00:28:45 Yeah, absolutely. I did. But for a six round pick, you're getting a guy who's probably going to be around for the duration of his contract. So that's a plus. And at this point, you're just getting guys like you're there's not a ton you're missing out on when you're drafting a guy with the hundred and eighty ninth pick. So yeah, it's again, it's he's it wasn't my favorite quarterback left, but I understood exactly what they were going for. Yeah, I mean, best case scenario, you get a cheap backup for the four years of his rookie contract or I guess the three years after this one on his rookie contract. You get a rookie contract six round pick as your main backup middling case scenario.

Starting point is 00:29:23 You get what Sam Ellinger was a good vibes guy holding that clipboard, having some good preseason games. And then the lowest, the worst case scenario, he loses out to Jason Bean and, and whatever that means. We get to keep the bean thing going this whole next season. So overall it's going to be fine. It's going to be fine there. I did want to round this out though, with the other two picks with Tim Smith and Hunter Woller. Woller I think is going to be a really good special teams player.

Starting point is 00:29:45 I think he's, you know, the next Jojo Dome and the next Sterling Weatherford. Not not to pigeonhole him into that, but I do think it's it's a similar vibe. And I think it's another shot at that archetype that Ballard clearly likes. And I'm curious to see if he could maybe crack the field a little bit in some dime sets or some unique personnel sets that Lou Anna Rubo wants to run. But I really want to highlight Tim Smith real quick because I, I'm such a fan of this pick just because the Colts have not had a good backup run defending defensive tackle in like six years since Grover Stewart was a backup defensive tackle.

Starting point is 00:30:18 Maybe if you go back to like Al Woods when Al Woods was still like a rotational player here like five, six years ago. And when I look at Tim Smith, you know, there's there's no pass rush juice. There is no pass rush juice whatsoever. I was trying to be optimistic and I was like, let me just find one clip of him winning a pass rush. I didn't find the one clip. So there's just there's really no juice there in the pass rush game.

Starting point is 00:30:39 But as a run defender, you see the powerful hands, you see him winning with leverage, you see him breaking down double teams, and he just looks like a guy who's going to have a good seven, eight year career as a rotational run defending defensive tackle in this league. And I think there's a lot of value in that in round six. I think this is a guy that the Colts have kind of needed for such a long time because they swing so high on these super high athletic, like gap shooting guys that don't really know what they're doing, but they can get up field. That's what they've been doing at defense tackle. Curtis Brooks, Eric Johnson, Taven Bryan, you know, I mean, Rayquan Davis is a little bit bigger, but he just, you know, he had a rough year last year. But with Tim Smith, I think you are getting a guy who's just developed high floor, powerful base, wins with his leverage and he knows how

Starting point is 00:31:25 to defend the run. And I think that's what the Colts have needed for so long behind Grover Stewart. So it was almost like a breath of fresh air when I was watching his film. It's like finally, like I don't need this guy to be a 10 RAS type guy behind Grover Stewart. I just need a guy who's not getting driven off the ball every single time to offensive lineman touch him. And for Tim Smith, I see that I see a guy who's not getting driven off the ball every single time to offensive lineman touch him and for Tim Smith I see that I see a guy who knows how to get his legs set and knows how to take on double teams knows how to displace guys one-on-one and knows how to get running backs to the ground and you know what I will take that maybe it maybe I would have taken in DS peoples there and

Starting point is 00:31:58 continued to go with the high RS type dudes but when I saw Tim Smith's film today I was like finally finally we have a guy who can defend the run. So I'm not going to complain about that pick whatsoever. If anything, it's one of my favorite picks in the in the in the draft for the Colts. Yeah, it's it's definitely not sexy and it is definitely a lesson in knowing the fact that teams aren't always looking for stars or starters. Like on day three, you're very much looking for guys to fit a specific role. And exactly what they're looking for in Tim Smith is a guy who is not going to be

Starting point is 00:32:34 pushed around in the run game. Like he's going to hold his spot and you're not going to have some massive albatross that opens in the middle of the line when he's out there, which is great because teams smell blood in the water when Grover Stewart leaves the field and they give up these huge chunk runs and they get run all over. And then Stewart has to come back on the field and his gas and it's, it's just, you needed something like this. And again, it's not sexy and I was lukewarm on it at first cause there were other guys

Starting point is 00:33:01 there, but I mean, again, it's, it's a six round pick and it's a guy who I see clear a clear usage for him so yeah I think he makes the team which is is great to say because you again as long as he holds up his end of the bargain you see just a very clear role for him yeah if last year's draft was filled with guys I guess the last like couple years drafts were filled with guys on day three where it's like swinging off on athleticism or guys that we don't know if we're going to make the team. This year's day three was very much unsexy, unspectacular, but a lot of guys who can serve roles and make your team. Like I, as of right

Starting point is 00:33:39 now, I think I'd project all of these day three guys to make the team. Maybe Wohler's a little, you know, because again, he's competing with McGrone and and Shagu Aloubi who are really good special teamers. But outside of him, I think all these other day three guys make the team and I think they make the team better in year one. I will say that barring Daniel Scott staying healthy and living up to what they hope for, I really see Hunter Wohler more in the Trevor Denbo mold. Yeah, Kylan Granson and Trevor Denbo were like the two guys that Brian Mason really trusted to be like the personal protector on the punt team.

Starting point is 00:34:15 And like I immediately when they drafted war, I was like, okay, there you go. There's your new punting protector. So I think he'll probably make it. I don't know how much he's going to contribute on defense. We'll see. But I think he's going to be a core for a special team. Yeah. So I think the Colts, you know, I think they raised the floor of the roster with this draft. I don't know if they really raised too much of the ceiling overall,

Starting point is 00:34:37 but I do think they filled a lot of gaps, raised the floor, and just overall made the bottom of this roster a lot better. So I think it's a fine draft for what it is. I'm not going to say it's a home run draft, but I think it's a perfectly fine draft. And I think it's going to help this team win some more games this year. But we do want to thank you guys for making Locked on Coulter first listen today and every day.

Starting point is 00:34:54 Now, if you're second, listen, check out Locked on NFL Scouting. The NFL draft is over, but the roster moves and news never stop. Host Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find Locked on NFL Scouting on YouTube or every list of your podcast. ever stop.

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