Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Laiatu Latu Brings Elite Pass Rushing Upside

Starting point is 00:00:00 Leatu Latu has the tools to be an impact player from day one for the Indianapolis Colts. 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. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Monopoly Go.

Starting point is 00:00:35 I admit it, I have a competitive side, and it is a big fan of Monopoly Go, the mobile hit twist on the classic Monopoly game. So join your friends and download Monopoly Go now free on the App Store or Google Play. Hello, everyone. I'm Zach Hicks of HorseshoeHuddle.com, your favorite host here on the Lockdown Colts podcast. My running mate, Jake Arthur, is not here again this week. He's going to be out on vacation down in Florida, having a good old fun time there. I'm holding down the fort this week, but don't worry.

Starting point is 00:01:03 I got a slew of awesome guests coming in. The first one this week being Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network, one of the best draft analysts in the game. Did a fantastic job yet again this season. I have him here today. We're going to talk about all the Colts draft picks or as many of the Colts draft picks as we can get to today. Me and Ian are both long-winded dudes, so we'll see what we can do with getting to all these picks. But we're going to spend the whole first segment talking about Liatu Latu, because that's the big name, obviously, in the class. We're going to go into day two with our second segment, talk about A.D. Mitchell and Mackensalvis, and then round it out by trying to just rocket fire through all of the day three picks. But Ian, before we get into Latu, man,

Starting point is 00:01:44 congratulations on another great draft season. You guys put in a ton of work there at Profile Football Network, and I really, really enjoyed your guys' coverage yet again. Yeah, it was a good one. It was a rewarding cycle this time around. You know, you're always looking for things to improve, right? And that should be at the forefront always, you know, is kind of thinking how can we hit more, cover more ground, hit more topics, right? So this past week, two weeks, I kind of thinking, how can we hit more, cover more ground, hit more topics, right? So this past week, two weeks, I spent auditing my grading scale for each position, right? Like thinking, what are some other traits that I can change the weights for to, you know,

Starting point is 00:02:14 more accurately identify what I'm looking for, and also what succeeds at a given position, right? So, you know, the work is never done in that respect. But it was a very productive cycle and a very exciting one, too. For a long time, we didn't know what was going to happen from the top of the board all the way to the bottom so it was great to ride through it with everyone and now we're rolling the rolling tape forward to 2025 awesome awesome so if you guys want to get ahead on some of your 2025 stuff make sure you're following ian cummings on twitter at ic underscore draft but today we're talking the colts draft 2024 draft the colts surprised everyone by taking the first offender off the board at pick 15 which is absolutely insane all the way at pick 15 the first offender comes off the board and it's pass rusher layout to lot to a player that kind of goes

Starting point is 00:02:55 against the mold that the Colts typically go for but this is such a developed pass rusher and Chris Ballard said it so many times in their pre-draft video that they released the with the next pick you know we got the best effing pass rusher in the entire class ian what are what were your thoughts on law two going into this draft yeah it was uh it was a surprising pick but a pick that i was you know the more i thought about it i was like i can i can dig this you know i can roll with this for sure you know he was one of my guys and um that top four group of edge rushers they were all kind of separated from everyone else, right? You had Dallas Turner, Chop Robinson, Jared Burst, Laiatu Latu. All of them were clustered pretty close together.

Starting point is 00:03:31 I had Dallas Turner a little bit higher. I would say he was a top 10 player for me. I was a big fan of the overall talent with him. But they were all top 25 guys for me. And Laiatu Latu was definitely a mid to late first round guy. I think the medicals were the biggest wild card in his evaluation, even though he was clear to play after being, after retiring, right? Every team is going to have a different medical check, right?

Starting point is 00:03:51 Different thresholds that they try to hit. So that was the big wild card, the big kind of variable in the uncertainty there. But as a prospect, I think, you know, everyone's been gravitating to the pass rushing. And I think that kind of hits the nail on the head, right? Like I've, I've been trying to find more ways to articulate it because especially with laia to latu it's so unique he's 6'5 he's 260 right so he's a big dude right you wouldn't expect him to be as finesse oriented as he is right but there are some times where you watch the tape and it's like he has a force field no matter how much the linemen try they can't strike

Starting point is 00:04:22 him cleanly because he's so flexible he's so quick to react and do counter work right he's got a he's got an endlessly deep pass rushing bag too so so many moves and then he's got the the hip flexibility too where he's almost on a gyrosphere on every rush where he can channel that hip torque into punches and keep himself clean while reducing under the apex and using that bend to finish moves so the pass rushing palette that you're working with is so fun. And the more I think about inserting that into the Colts defense, because what's the one thing that they've lacked is that elite pass rushing threat, I feel like. And now they have it with Liatulatu.

Starting point is 00:04:54 The question is, can he stay healthy beyond his rookie contract, right? But for the Colts who are gearing up to win now with Anthony Richardson, right? You know, they're starting to enter this window where within two to three years, you might be legitimately competing, right? I think Laatu Laatu fits that to a T and I liked him as a prospect. I liked the pick even more. Yeah, and it's such an interesting add too

Starting point is 00:05:12 because the Colts had three edge rushers with eight plus sacks last year. You're getting a guy in here though with Laatu Laatu who could maybe be even more than that. I mean, you're taking, you know, an older player, 23 years old, going to be 24 throughout the season who's very developed, had nearly 30 sacks the last two seasons in college football. I know it's not a one to one comparison, but you're adding this guy to a group that's already a good edge rush group that they already have going on here.

Starting point is 00:05:37 But one thing I really want to talk about with layout to law, too, is I don't know if you have a similar process to me, but when I'm evaluating prospects, I look for the physical deficiencies, you know, the physical issues that I can't fix with time. You know, it's just physical issues. And I try to see where a player can kind of mitigate those issues on film. And if that seems like it's something that's translatable. And when I look at Laotu Latu, the two things that stood out were obviously the explosion testing wasn't fantastic in the pre-draft cycle, and also the arm length. The arm length is below average when it comes to him. Now, when I saw his film, though, he's a player who uses snap timing to mitigate the explosion issue. So he looks way more explosive on film than he did in the pre-draft cycle because of

Starting point is 00:06:21 that snap timing. He's so quick off the snap. And then like you mentioned with just guys can't get their hands on him because he's so flexible and has great, you know, counter work that kind of mitigates some of the arm length concerns. So when you're looking at a player like Lato, you know, he has the speed, he has the quickness, he has all these things, but he also has the ability to mitigate his issues. Does that just kind of add to the polish that he brings to the NFL? I think for sure, you know, anytime a player is as polished as he is, it does kind of not, not raise your margin for error, but I think it limits the opportunities for error, right. That other players can capitalize on, right. Because he's just so refined and so flexible. Again, the flexibility was the biggest thing on tape, right? Like obviously the hand usage is incredible. Right. And I think that's one thing that, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:03 people talk about developing and developing and developing at the NFL level, but you've also got to remember the NFL teams have a limited amount of practice hours that they can use on these guys. And a lot of those hours, especially during the season, will be spent on install, not development of your skills, right? So having a guy like Latsu who's so natural in that regard is so special, but the flexibility for a guy was 260 pounds right like ankle flexion hip flexibility torso flexibility all the categories that i look for he is legitimately

Starting point is 00:07:31 elite in all of those areas and that's what makes him so difficult to get hands on right but i to your point i do think that's very important for mitigating those weaknesses because the power profile is not really there to me i do think there are times where he can get a little bit of power right but he's not going to be a guy who's going to bowl through a tackle or kind of displace them and then stack off of that power exertion he's very finesse oriented and that's okay because he's so slippery you know he's so quick off the snap he's so tough to deal with with those traits alone but um it is important when you see a limitation like that can they counteract it in another way in lots of cases i think the answer is a resounding yes. And real quick before we go to this segment,

Starting point is 00:08:05 I think a really interesting thing with him too is, you know, aside from the injury concern, you know, obviously you have the injury concern with him and that's what kind of, I don't want to say it lowers his floor, but that's the only thing kind of lowering his floor is that injury concern. But is this kind of a swing for the fences type of pick because of what he can become? I mean, you look at the profile and I'm not saying that it's you know TJ Watt or Trey Hendrickson but it looks a lot like those guys you know this is kind of a swing for the fences at least in terms

Starting point is 00:08:35 of pass rush ability right yeah I think it is and I think at the same time too I think again what he inserts into the Colts defensive line is exactly what they needed I think in Quipay you have that explosive compact guy who's a little more power but isn't quite as bendy isn't quite as consistent as an as a you know with the execution as a pass rusher right you have deo who's alignment versatile who's got that length that they really crave right and you can move them around a little bit you've got grover stewart that nose tackle who's got that ability to encumber blocks but also disrupt a little bit on his own. DeForest Buckner, who plays off of that. But you don't have that guy who can be that elite pass rushing presence, right? That guy who can consistently win one-on-one against his guy

Starting point is 00:09:13 and force the offensive line into a mathematical disadvantage, right? So I think having Latu in that regard, especially as a pass rusher, I think that's exactly what they needed. And if you're a defense, think about that component that can take you over the top. It is a swing for the fences pick because for this window that we have with a rich is specifically this rookie contract and hopefully beyond that, if he can stay healthy, but I think really what they're thinking about is that three to five year

Starting point is 00:09:35 stretch, right? Two, maybe even two to five, right? That's when lots, who's going to hit his prime. And that's when we're going to have a defense that's primed and ready to go

Starting point is 00:09:42 to dominate offenses. Awesome. Awesome. Coming up guys, we're going to have a defense that's primed and ready to go to dominate offenses. Awesome. Awesome. Coming up, guys, we're going to switch to day two of this past draft. Let's talk about A.D. Mitchell and Matt Gonsalves. But first, it's winner take all time in the NBA and NHL. And FanTools giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any $5 bet.

Starting point is 00:10:07 That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props, and much more. The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks are kicking off tonight. Or not kicking off, but basketball tipping off tonight. And you guys can put some money down on your local Pacers. I think it's going to be a fantastic series. And look, we're hoping the Pacers can make it to the third round. So visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. FanDuel, America's number one sports book. All right, guys, we're here with Ian Cummings from Pro Football Network talking Colts draft. We had him on last year talking Colts draft. You

Starting point is 00:10:44 guys want to see how those takes aged? I think they did pretty well outside of the Colts entire rookie class getting hurt. But besides that, I think we did a pretty good job last year, Ian. But going to this next pick here, the Colts had another pick in the top 50 with A.D. Mitchell. I believe they traded back, so it ended up being just outside the top 50. I think it was the 51st pick in the draft, but they took a wide receiver prospect in A.D. Mitchell where the grades on him were so divisive. You know, you could have had people with a top 15 grade on him, wide receiver three or four as high in this class, or people who were just way out on him, the, you know, quote unquote off field, which we won't

Starting point is 00:11:22 really talk about because we just don't have the info on that but you know the off field stuff the production profile and all that that kind of pushed him to wide receiver 10 to 15 for some people where did you fall on ad mitchell and did you like kind of this placement here in the middle of the second round for him yeah i love the placement he's my wide receiver six and he was very close to wide receiver five i actually had xavier worthy and ad mitchell pretty much neck and neck i think i think mitchell had the superior size right but i think worthy was a little bit more refined with his movements and also i think a little bit better on the vertical plane obviously with the long speed but also the ball tracking ability too so worthy was one of my guys i was a big fan and real quick on the on the character stuff right because we've heard reports and we

Starting point is 00:12:01 don't know any concrete information but there was a report that it was linked to diabetes right and if that is the case then that gives me a little more solace because if you're an nfl team with a nutrition program like you should be able to manage that right so yeah i don't have too many major concerns about that right for me i thought the value is very good i think he's a guy who has all the talent that you want and especially in a shane stykin vertical offense right like seeing a guy who's 6-2-2-0-5 with 4-3-5 speed that's pretty fun to think about what he can become in that offense so just the upside is very very appealing and i think the route running building blocks too right i do think there are some times where with his quickness and his flexibility he can be prone to using wasted motion sometimes right so you do want to cut down on that but there's some really bright

Starting point is 00:12:43 flashes man where he's putting dbs on a string with those rocker steps and then sinking at 90 degree angles and channeling explosion out of his brakes so the route running upside truly is is unmatched near unmatched in this class i think he can thrash dbs one-on-one and i think he's got enough vertical speed to work for me the biggest thing is going to be consistency on a down-to-down basis right not just the route running but there were times where he had an opportunity to track the ball down the field in the vertical plane and maybe lost a little bit of steam late in reps right and to be fair Quinn Ewers deep ball placement didn't really do him too many favors there but um I think you are working with a guy who's got some work to do but I think on the three level framework right separation vertical ability

Starting point is 00:13:21 vertical tracking and there's some really bright flashes again too where you know he'll go low for a pass, get his hands in the exact right spot, secure it against his frame and not let it hit the ground. So I think you have everything that you need to get a true impact player on the wide receiver position. And he fits the personnel, too. They've got Michael Pittman. They've got Josh Downs. But now they have that guy who can provide a little more phase versatility.

Starting point is 00:13:41 And I think that's a very good thing for the offense. Yeah. And A.D. Mitchell is a guy I struggled with a lot in this pre-draft process because of, again, the production profile, I think, was so scary and the inconsistencies were scary. And, you know, in that Sarkisian offense, you had to hit your landmarks and he just wasn't great at hitting his landmarks at every time. And that kind of contributed to his lack of production last year. But one thing I did want to mention with him, because we just talked about with with lotto is you're looking at the physical weaknesses and looking about how you can

Starting point is 00:14:08 mitigate them at the next level with mitchell i don't know if there are the physical weaknesses you know and i think that's like i had him at wide receiver six two despite kind of being down on him the whole process because at the end of the day when you're looking at the physical things that this guy can and can't do there's like nothing he can't do. It's all, it's all mental with him. And I wanted to get your thoughts on that. Do you believe that like, again, when we're talking physical weaknesses, do you think this is a guy who basically has none? Physical weaknesses? Yeah. It's tough to point them out, man. And that was the one thing for me is I didn't know how, how to quantify the vertical utility, right? Because we hadn't seen the 40 time and again you don't want to base everything on a

Starting point is 00:14:49 40 time right because it does show up on film like he's got enough speed for sure but i was still left with questions about how he can maximize that right because tracking can be a little bit of an issue sometimes effort late in reps right so you know it is one of those situations where you know the only guy who maybe is going to get in his way is him. And if he if he can take the next step, which I think the Colts situation is very good for him. You have Steichen, who's an experienced offensive mind. You have A. Rich, who's a young ascending QB with good leadership qualities. I think you have a very strong wide receiver rotation to help him.

Starting point is 00:15:19 He can he can learn things from them. Knowledge can percolate down right as an often does in the unit. So I'm fairly optimistic for what he can become things from them. Knowledge can percolate down, right? As an often does in the unit. So I'm fairly optimistic for what he can become in that unit. I think for him, the biggest thing is, and this is the tough part of grading wide receivers, right? Because every year, especially right now, we're kind of in a golden age of wide receiver play, right? Like every class is so deep.

Starting point is 00:15:38 So yes, I might have AD Mitchell higher on my board, but maybe if I was a personnel guy, a general manager, maybe I'd rather take a swing on lad mcconkey right if i think the the floor is a little bit higher if there's a little more certainty with his projection right but if you're the colts and you have a really good supporting structure around him to incubate his growth then by all means take that swing because i agree with you completely right six foot two 205 435 speed and again the flexibility for me i know lots who was a big it was a big thing with him it's a a big thing for AD Mitchell too. You know, I look at taller receivers, 6'2", 6'3",

Starting point is 00:16:09 6'4". You usually hit a point of diminishing returns with the flexibility and the change of direction, right? And the hip sink is a route runner. You don't see that with AD Mitchell. I mean, he is one of the most flexible guys in this class when it comes to cutting tight angles, sinking his hips, bending on brakes with that curve linear acceleration and sustaining that explosiveness too so every component that you need every tool in the toolbox is there just got to put it together so some guys don't some guys do but i'm optimistic that he can yeah i think the colts really swung for the fences with these top two picks and if it pans out i mean you might have two superstar talents with these top two picks so i think that's what the Colts are going for.

Starting point is 00:16:45 You know, add two superstar upside guys to a roster that's pretty put together already around Anthony Richardson. They go a little bit safe here with their next pick here in round three with Matt Gonsalves. Now, I know Gonsalves is coming off of an injury that kept him. I think he only played like three games this past season. He only appeared in three games this past season. So didn't really get much of a final season. He only appeared in three games this past season. So didn't really get much of a final season.

Starting point is 00:17:09 But the day before, that was pretty good. I mean, I was pretty impressed with his film in 2022. Braden Fisk was a game against Western Michigan. Braden Fisk, I thought he had a really strong game in that one. But Mackensauvis, what did you think of him? And I think the Colts are planning on moving him to guard too. So does that kind of change your outlook for him too at the NFLfl yeah that was kind of where i projected him to guard you know i think he was one of those guys who doesn't have elite arm length i think he was somewhere in the 33 close to 33 so around average which is not a liability but it's one of

Starting point is 00:17:37 those things where if you can get superseded by longer guys on the edge maybe it's better to move inside right with me i look at it as you've got to have elite or close to elite hand usage to counteract that right it's kind of what you're talking about before right not elite trait can you counteract it elite hand usage usually the way to go where sean slater was one guy who had that peter skoronski was close to that right but you know so i think with matt gonzalez i don't i didn't quite see that elite precision right i do think there were times when with those shorter arms he'd lurch beyond the center of gravity a little bit right and that would get him caught in in in advantage

Starting point is 00:18:09 situations but overall like six five six six around 330 like he's got great size and great knee bend and proportions for his size too i mean i think playing with a steady center of gravity is not an issue it's just trying to compensate for that lacking length in the middle of reps right with overreaching that can get him in trouble but overall i thought he was a good athlete good depth on his kick i think pretty good explosion and change direction for his size really physical really physical player he'll finish he'll play through the whistle and i do think that power drive and that torque translates really well on the interior too so i kind of had and i'll have to check my notes and double back.

Starting point is 00:18:45 But if I remember correctly, he did have a little bit of right tackle experience too. I could be wrong, but I think he might've. So I was looking at him as probably a swing tackle who can move inside the guard early on. I think he gives you really good depth at the, in the immediate timeline.

Starting point is 00:18:58 It can maybe develop into a starter at guard if you move them inside, because again, the explosion, the power drive, the physicality, those things are all there. And then in pass protection to some of the things that you really need to have stable center of gravity good knee bend good leverage play i think in general he's pretty solid there

Starting point is 00:19:13 so i think a high floor reasonably high upside pick in round three would have been a little rich for me i think i had him just outside my top 100 but i can see it because he provides security for your offensive line yeah yeah for sure i think he's very similar to will fries who they have currently starting at right guard and reminds me a lot of fries as a prospect a couple years ago again a guy who yeah 320 330 does not look at on film whatsoever the way that he moves the way that he uses his body doesn't look that way at all but mack and solvus i'm really intrigued by that pick there we're going to move on though we're going to coming up we're going to talk about the day three picks. And again, we're going to blast through these day three guys.

Starting point is 00:19:48 We're going to talk about the best value picks and also guys that we're excited to see in year one. But first, all right, guys, game off. We got to pause here to talk more about Monopoly Go. I know what you're saying. Flag on the play. You already talked about that. But there is so much, guys, game off. We got to pause here to talk more about Monopoly Go. I know what you're saying. Flag on the play. You already talked about that, but there is so much good stuff in this game. It's Monopoly Go. You can team up with your friends for time tournaments where you work together and build

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Starting point is 00:20:43 There's always something fun to discover with Monopoly Go. So get off the bench and go download it for free now on Google Play or the App Store. Game on. All right, Ian Cummings, this is where we shine here. Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network. This is where we shine, talking Day 3. I'm going to rattle off the Colts day three picks real quick. Tanner Bortolini in round four.

Starting point is 00:21:07 Anthony Gould, wide receiver in round five. Jalen Carley's linebacker out of Missouri there in round five as well. Jalen Simpson, cornerback out of Auburn. Mika Abraham out of Marshall. And Jonah Luwalu out of Oklahoma there in round seven. Ian, when you're looking at these guys, especially, I mean, I know the Colts are being fun with it. They're changing all these positions of these guys here, but which of these guys do you think was the best value pick on day three for the

Starting point is 00:21:33 Colts? Which guy do you think, maybe not necessarily in year one, but just down the line, ends up being a really good player for this Colts team? Yeah, for sure. I think Tanner Bordellini is the one that stands out. I know a round four guy, but i think you're looking at you know ryan kelly and his contract situation right i think you could be looking at your future starter at center if you give me another year to get some more seasoning i think looking at his tape i think because he caught my eye early in the summer of 2022 or three i think it was three uh where he was playing guard the previous year right and you could see the explosiveness the the power drive, the agility,

Starting point is 00:22:06 the ranges of polar, right. All of those things were very, very appealing. I still think there are times as a pass protector at the center position where he is still learning how to play. He's a little top heavy, a little low cut top heavy.

Starting point is 00:22:18 And I think he's still learning how to manage that, but he's got mitts for hands, man. When he can anchor and get his base beneath them, that's when he can really suffocate rushes and again that explosion that power drive that range that all lends itself very well in the running game too so i think you're looking you're looking at a guy who is still getting comfortable at the center spot but in a year if you end up moving out from kelly he can be your future starter so i think that's a very good value in round four jalen

Starting point is 00:22:41 carley's was the one that stood out to me though, as well. Later on, I was looking at him and he caught my eye back in like 2022 playing safety at Missouri, man. I mean, this guy's big. I think he measured in six, three over two 20, right. With 34 inch arms. So he's big explosive and he's actually got a lot of coverage variability on film too. You watch him. They did play him a little bit in single high. I don't think that's the way to play him at the NFL level, but it does speak to his technique, his pedal. He's got some experience doing that if you want him to, but also in the box, he tackles like an apex predator, man. He's got the length.

Starting point is 00:23:12 He's got the closing burst. So I think if you get him some refinement at the linebacker spot, that could be a very fun pick too, because he's got all the traits to do it. So those were the two that stood out to me, but in general, I really liked their day three haul. Yeah, I really liked it too. I think Bordellini, like you said said that's going to be their starter most likely in

Starting point is 00:23:28 2025 at center I mean you might get Kelly back on another one-year deal if Bordellini's not ready but he'll eventually be a starting center for the Colts most likely depending on you know how that development looks but Jalen Carley has really stood out to me too I'm glad you mentioned that because when you look at this Colts defensive staff, you know, Divine Diablo with Vegas when Gus Bradley was there, you got Kyser White when they were with the Chargers, another safety to linebacker convert. It's just such a great environment to convert a safety to a linebacker. And Jalen Carley, they said on the draft call, from day one, you're going to be a linebacker here. I think that's a great fit for him. I would have had him in some variation of box safety or linebacker as well.

Starting point is 00:24:09 And I think he just has the instincts, the ball skills. And I think, you know, the tackling ability one-on-one going straight forward in the box is a little concerning. But when he's a run and chase guy from that weak linebacker spot or from the single high spot where he can just chase guys down from behind, fantastic. Like you said, Apex Predator really comes out there when it comes to Carly's. But one more player I did want to talk about, at least, you know, before we get to the end here, but Anthony Gould, I was really impressed by his film. I don't think it's like superstar or anything like that. Like, I'm not saying that this is going to be a dude who from day one is

Starting point is 00:24:42 going to be a fantastic player or anything like that. But Anthony Gould, I was really shocked by his wide receiver film because I expected more of a specialist type guy where it's very straight line and everything is just vertical, vertical playing everything. But when they got him in like the slot snaps on empty personnel and stuff where he was able to work against a linebacker or safety, he looked really fluid and quick. I thought some of the route running was better than expected obviously you get the sky high punt return upside where did you have anthony gould in this pre-draft process yeah yeah and i think he was one of those guys who definitely the punt return the specialist ability stood out right away like you you look at teams and where they take guys on day three if they can be a specialist right that stood out

Starting point is 00:25:21 because he had two punt return touchdowns in 2022 i believe so he's been productive and i think that quickness really lends itself well but uh yeah i think the route running as well i think josh downs coming out was a little more nuanced with his direction changes and layered releases and things like that i think you're still expanding the route tree with gold but again yeah the building blocks right this is not just a explosive straight line speed guy right who can't sink his hips or bend, right? This is a guy who does show that he can at least press upfield into the frame of his DB and then lurch and bend outside of that, right?

Starting point is 00:25:51 Capitalize and very seamless integration with those bends. I think, you know, the curvilinear acceleration was one thing that stood out to me. I mean, obviously the explosion and the speed, but then you look at how he channels that through breaks. And obviously that's always a big plus for me, you know, efficiency, but also not having to take too many extra steps right you know i think all those things showed up

Starting point is 00:26:08 too so again a smaller guy who might not translate quite as well in contested situations but the idea is that if you isolate him in those in those mismatches like you said and if he uses that speed and if he can use it to separate ideally you can isolate him in situations where he will be in space you know he'll be a little more comfortable just by default. So I think right away with that vertical speed and that separation, that bend as a separator, I think you can integrate him into Steichen's offense. And then as an added bonus right away, you've got that returnability too. So that was a fun pick.

Starting point is 00:26:36 It was one of those where they had AD Mitchell, so they didn't have to make the pick. But I think right away, you've got a really good returner who can be a really nice spark plug on the offense too. Yeah, he's going to be fun. A lot of the pre-snap motion type work and getting him in those mismatches like they did. I mean, Josh Downs was number one in football last year in most routes run against linebackers. The Colts were great at getting him isolated with linebackers in those empty personnel sets. And if Downs is off the field or Downs is doing some motion type work,

Starting point is 00:27:03 you can have Gould in those similar sets this upcoming season. Jalen Simpson, too, one of the higher end free safeties in this class. Not a great safety class. A good free safety prospect. A little bit on the shorter side, a little bit on the undersized side. But he had those 32-inch arms. He had the 4-3-40. I kind of really am intrigued by his move to cornerback.

Starting point is 00:27:24 I think they're going to try him at corner first and if that doesn't work they'll move him back there to safety but i think this is a very very interesting move to corner with him yeah i think so too and i think what you think about with the gus bradley cover three type corner right is that speed that length as well like around 5 11 and change i think but had those i think it was 32 and three fours so it was almost 33 right so he's he's got some range man he's got some range he can close gaps with the speed and he can you know envelope passing windows with that length too so i think and you see that on tape too a lot of times from the safety position when he you know hinges his hips around and gets in

Starting point is 00:27:59 pursuit and adjusts his track he can close gaps in an instant he can find the ball as well he was a playmaker i think all those things are are very translatable in that cover three role because that was the one thing you know for a 511 guy i didn't love the fluidity on tape there were times when i think the sinking capacity wasn't really up to snuff at the corner position and that was one reason where i could why i could see people moving them to safety right like if you can't quite sink your hips a little tall on breaks too, but in that cover three scheme where you can play side saddle a little more with your eyes to the QB, where you can kind of adjust that spacing,

Starting point is 00:28:31 I think it translates very well with his skill set, which is recovery speed, which is disruptive range. It plays very well into that. So I like that fit a lot. And I think that's one of the few teams where I would be comfortable moving him from safety to corner full time, but he's got that safety experience if you want to move them back there too and kind of use them on default but that was a fun pick and then Micah Abraham as well while we're on the corner discussion I like

Starting point is 00:28:51 that one a lot he's another one that I've had my eye on since like 2022 it was it was funny Marshall had him listed at 6-1 at one point uh so so they were they were indulging a little too much there he ended up measuring around 5-9 5-10 but hey hey, for what it's worth, I think the speed is there. Not quite as explosive, but I think he's generally pretty fluid for his size. I think he's a really good playmaker. He had 11 interceptions and 39 pass deflections over the past three years. So the son of Donnie Abraham, I believe, NFL veteran. So he's got the instincts.

Starting point is 00:29:22 He can play the slot, the boundary a little bit. I'm very intrigued to see what he can do. Cause you know what he lacks in size or, you know, actual size and that listed he makes up for with that playmaking instinct. Yeah. He reminds me a lot of Shamar Jean Charles out of app state a couple years ago,

Starting point is 00:29:35 just the playmaker through and through that shuts it down. Maybe not the greatest tester, but a great playmaker who can just get it done. I'm really excited to see what he can do in camp, but I think the Colts had a lot of quality guys here on day three. Ian thinks so as well. So make sure you let us know in the comments section what you think about this day three hole.

Starting point is 00:29:51 And overall, the Colts draft here, Ian's very high. And Ian's opinion of this draft class is all I care about. That's all I care about. Ian Cummings, everybody from Pro Football Network, fantastic draft analyst. And I'm telling you, if you're not following him on Twitter, at IC underscore draft, you're really missing out. And if you guys don't already, make sure you're following us as well,

Starting point is 00:30:09 at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2, all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube where we list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings, reviews, and we'll catch you guys back here tomorrow afternoon.

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