Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts LOVE High-RAS Players; Talking 2025 NFL Draft w/ Kent Lee Platte

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts absolutely love to bet on athletic traits in the NFL draft and as a result, Raz scores have become a pretty accurate gauge for Colts fans to identify which players fit throughout the draft. Well we've got the guy who invented Raz with us here today. So 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. All right.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Thanks 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. And today's show is brought to you by the all new 20, 25 Nissan Armada. Stay tuned for the Armada player of the week later in the show. What is up, everybody? This is Jake Arthur of horseshoe huddle.com, your resident credentialed media member for the site, and we are joined by a very special guest today.

Starting point is 00:01:04 It is Mr. Kent Lee Platt. He's the creator of Raz. He is the notorious math bomb. You know him, you love him. Colts fans. You have a very special kinship with this guy because he has made it very easy to tell which Colts, uh, which players the Colts might want to be looking at in the draft. So welcome to the show. Kent was good to catch up with you on mobile at the senior bowl. Great for you to be on the show for the first time. So welcome aboard.

Starting point is 00:01:30 Appreciate you having me in. Yeah, mobile was a lot of fun this year. Yep, some obviously really good players out there. But obviously the biggest reason we want to have you here is because when we're looking at players throughout the draft process, we say, well, what is the RAS for? Is it at least like a nine? Because that obviously increases their likelihood of coming to the Colts. I believe I've heard, you know, over the years, the Colts, especially over the last probably four or five years have become one of the most, the teams that really, we don't want to say directly rely on Raz, but there seems to be a pretty good relationship there between the players they pick and having really, really high scores. So what have you noticed about the Colts and just these players that they they seem to take year after year? They kind of only recently seem to be bending a little bit to take guys

Starting point is 00:02:21 who maybe aren't the super freaks, but in general, most of the guys they take seem to have pretty high scores. Yeah, and they've averaged over 8.25 in every year over the last four seasons. So they've they're they're always consistently in that top 10 range overall for their draft classes, even with like you said, loosening up a little bit. I think was what Mike Abraham last year, they had a 1.7. Even with that, they're still consistently ranked among the top in the NFL. They very clearly pay a lot of attention to athletic testing. Yeah. And that's something Chris Ballard has said obviously all the time. He's like, we

Starting point is 00:03:01 want to bet on athletic traits. It seems like the athleticism is something they almost never want to bend on, but they are willing to, you know, go with the smaller guys, because it's not always just about like how high you jump and everything like that. Like obviously how well you move at the size you are. It plays a big part into it as well. So I have seen you kind of online explaining some things in detail as for like, okay, well, this nose tackle, for instance, if he does this and pre-graph process,

Starting point is 00:03:32 then it obviously, it looks better than what the score actually is. So have there been any like nuances that you've had to kind of explain a little more recently? Yeah, the nose tackle is a big one. And we've always been, we've been talking about adding out different position groups for the last couple of seasons and haven't really been able to do it. There's a lot of a lot of work like upfront work that I have to do to do that. We have the structure built out now and we at least have a working prototype of that position online now to

Starting point is 00:03:58 kind of show how it's a little bit different when you're looking at those big guys. They don't test the same way as the pass rushing interior guys do. Pass rushing interior guys, you want them to be explosive, you want them to have that fast first step, you want them to be faster because they have to chase guys down the field. You want them to have that quickness. That's most of the testing metrics. But nose tackles, you want them to be big and you don't really care about the height so much as the weights. You really want them to have a heavy weight. You want them to have a good bench press if they do the bench. And it is beneficial to have a good broad and a 10-yard split, but not required. That's only four of 10 metrics. Even if they score well in all four of those, there's six other metrics that they're probably going to test pretty badly in, at least

Starting point is 00:04:39 in general. So nose tackles don't generally test very highly when they're compared against all defensive tackles. We've seen that a little bit, even with the prototype position that we have on the site, we've seen that change quite a bit. We're seeing all those scores go up now that we're just looking at nose tackles. So my expectation is once we have that fully built out,

Starting point is 00:04:57 we can reliably look at that data set, we'll be able to start looking more consciously at how nose tackles test. When a nose tackle test with a bad broad or a bad 10 yard split, those tend to be red flags. But having a bad Raz overall, not really a concern. Yeah, and we'll definitely get to that in a bit because there's some guys who have

Starting point is 00:05:16 not the greatest scores this year, but they still just feel like really good fits for the Colts despite that. And there's always context to it. It feels like we've had a lot of guys testing while injured this year, just not testing at all. That's kind of seems to be the trend. Is that something you have found to be more difficult though?

Starting point is 00:05:35 Cause obviously as players take more and more control over the pre-draft process, you're seeing what guys work out of the combine a little less, even the pro days a little less like Will Johnson just this morning. Good example. How does private work out but did not run the 40 for example, did everything else except for that? Have you found it a little more challenging and like, do you have to go piecemeal with things like so this guy didn't do this at the combine. So we need to go to his pro day and plug in the score that way. Like, have you found yourself

Starting point is 00:06:06 having to do a little more work that way? No, because I don't I do as little work as possible. I automate everything. Okay. So the the whether they work out of the combine or the pro day, that just matters about when we get a score, right? Because we can't get a score until after they get their pro day and we get the official data from it. So that stuff is taken into account, but it's only used if they didn't already have

Starting point is 00:06:27 a combine test. On rare occasions, we'll have a guy who tests injured at the combine and then tests healthy at their pro day. We saw that with Joe Hayden, Xavier Woods, we saw that with him where he tested at the combine. Both those guys tested injured and then tested significantly better when they got to their pro days healthy. But that's not common enough that it really impacts the scores at

Starting point is 00:06:47 large because the scores are looking at things in volume. We've got thousands of players at these positions. So every occasional, Oh, this guy tested injured. That doesn't happen long enough or often enough for it to, to really impact the scores for everybody. But it does add context to that one player. And there's one that we'll talk about here in a minute that that specifically came up. Yeah, it's there's an odd relationship with that

Starting point is 00:07:11 when it comes to the injuries and the scores and then you and I were just kind of talking before we came on. The Colts have had some astronomically high scores like I'm looking at Anthony Richardson as a 10. Jelani Woods was a nine point nine nine. A.D. Mitchell nine point nine nine. J, Jelani Woods was a 9.99, 80 Mitchell, 9.99, uh, Juju Brents, 9.998, Daniel Scott, 9.995. And then they've got countless other guys who are at above a 9.5. I didn't even mention those anymore just cause I, there was too many to mention basically, but outside of Mitchell,

Starting point is 00:07:42 they have had just the worst luck with injuries, and it's not a correlation. But, you know, I think the logic there for the Colts is good to bet on athletic traits. A lot of these guys were kind of raw coming out of school to obviously Richardson at like 13 starts. Johnny Woods used to be a quarterback. But yeah, I like their logic with that. But when you do like your own personal preference in scouting, like guys that you tend to really like leading up to the draft,

Starting point is 00:08:10 how much weight does that Raz kind of factor into it for you? So for me personally, it's just a matter of what you see on tape and if it lines up with it. So if I see a guy that tests out of the jumping out of the gym, I expect him to look explosive when I actually go watch the tape. And we actually spoke about that briefly about the reverse because I started late this year due to some some other stuff. I started late this year. I didn't I didn't have as much familiarity with the players. But Basial Tutin from Virginia Tech, when I saw him at the senior bowl, that explosiveness popped.

Starting point is 00:08:40 The moment you saw him move every single time you saw him move, it was immediate. He had such a suddenness to the way he moved. I expected to see that when he tested, and I did. He tested really well, way better than I expected, but you see that explosiveness. That's what you're looking for. You're trying to line things up. And if something doesn't line up, your question has to be why. Because it may just be you're evaluating it wrong.

Starting point is 00:09:04 You have to keep that humility when you're looking at a guy and think, I really like has to be why because it evaluating it wrong. You humility when you're look I really like this guy, b Am I wrong in thinking th fast? And if you go back comparing it to other pl he's not that fast. Maybe problem. Maybe there was

Starting point is 00:09:21 those injuries are well d a guy this year, a couple that were pretty well doc a couple that guys said t injury. Sometimes those documented. We've got a g actually this year that w documented. We've got a c they were hurt after they that always has that dog kind of feel for me just every year. So for, you k

Starting point is 00:09:38 to say, well, the players ever want to even give th when a guy says he has a hamstring injury after he tested, that's the dog ate my homework. I've seen that a hundred times. It's okay, okay, man, sure, fine. Whenever you want to write it down, that's fine. You can take that context if you want to.

Starting point is 00:09:58 But otherwise, it's just matching up that tape. And it's also if a guy wins that way, whether it matters or not. We saw that with DK Metcalf, he had those bad agility drills and people lost their minds forgetting that he doesn't do that a lot. He doesn't need those to be good. No one cares that that wasn't a great score. So, you just gotta weigh what you see

Starting point is 00:10:20 versus what you're actually getting in the testing of the tape. Yeah, incredibly important. There's some guides coming up with both high RAD scores and low RAD scores where I think the tape is going to have to be king and really just in order to contextualize things and kind of project them to how they're going to turn out. So we're going to talk about that in just a moment.

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Starting point is 00:11:51 TV locked on to get started. Xbox game pass ultimate subscription and compatible controller required available on select devices, including fire TV stick, 4k second gen fire TV stick, 4k max first and second gen and Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen. All right, so as is customary each year, we've got some guys who were impressive throughout the pre-draft process. You know, they had some good tape or, you know, they obviously were good, highly heralded prospects, but then they get to the combine and then it goes to a new level. There's a couple of guys here who really jump out,

Starting point is 00:12:30 Shamar Stewart and Nick Emmanwory, they stole the show when the combine started, especially Stewart, we saw him down in Mobile Kent, had a really good first couple of days, didn't finish the week, but he was beating guys like a drum, even in the live drills, not just the one on ones. So a guy like that passes a big test down at the senior bowl,

Starting point is 00:12:50 and then he goes to the combine and literally could not have done any better hit hit a 10 out of 10 on the Raz. But the thing with him is scheme could be part of it at Texas A&M, but how did that guy finish with four and a half career sacks? And it's not like he was constantly in the backfield getting tackles for loss either. The production just does not necessarily meet it. And he is, I think, the classic case of getting eye-opening athletic testing, but then you have to go back to the film because you're like,

Starting point is 00:13:31 I see it, but like where, you know, where does this translate and how realistic is it to like really take that next step to the NFL? So when you look at a guy like Stewart, what are you seeing? Because it's again, there's obviously a lot to like there with the size and explosiveness and everything. But when you look at him, what do you see at the next level? Yeah, so we've already had guys that came into the NFL, even pass rushers who weren't very productive, but had those athletic traits, landed in the right spot with the right kind of coaching staff for the right scheme, and they found success.

Starting point is 00:13:59 And I use those terms, I know we hear that a lot, oh, he's gotta land with the right team, he's gotta have the right scheme. We hear that all the time. It's immensely important for players like this who are relying entirely on athletic talent, didn't have that kind of production in the NFL, because we have no success stories of guys that didn't land in that perfect kind of situation and find that success. You've got to have that. We saw it with Ziggy Ansa, who went to the Detroit Lions fifth overall. He had that perfect build and athleticism to run that wide nine scheme

Starting point is 00:14:29 that they were using at the time with Jim Schwartz. And it was just one of those perfect, everything fit and they were able to make it work. And then, Daniel Hunter, who landed with the Minnesota Vikings, that was another perfect landing spot for the guy. And I actually personally scouted him quite a bit during that draft period.

Starting point is 00:14:46 He had no pass rushing moves at all, not any good ones. He basically just leaned into the guys. I remember his shoulder charge. That was very unique. And that was basically it. He didn't do anything. Shamar Stewart's not like that. He's got a little bit more of his repertoire

Starting point is 00:15:02 and he's won quite a bit more than what you used to see with a guy like Hunter. I think he's further along in that development in that he's got more of a pass rushing repertoire. But why wasn't he getting home? And I don't have a good answer to that. That's, that's where you really got to find it. If you can't and you're still trying to figure it out, maybe just move past that and try to figure out is this a good landing spot for him? You spot for h we have the right kind of don't look at just do I l likes their coaches. Um, with a pass rushing specia kisurik back in the day. going to be the type of g to get. Um, somebody that to be able to develop tha

Starting point is 00:15:42 for that type of defensive line coach is go something with defensive l got to find somebody that scheme and that ability p going to take a guy like the Colts had him in for and they do have their def

Starting point is 00:16:03 Charlie Partridge does hav with good track record with guys in college He came from the college ranks from Pitt. He coached Trey Hendrickson and Trey Flowers and JJ water out in college So there's a track record there could be very interesting So if what they found with him they liked, you know during their visit it makes all the sense in the world with him they liked, you know, during their visit. It makes all the sense in the world. Cause you know, kind of a bit of a raw, highly athletic pass rusher without the college production. They've gone to that well a million times before.

Starting point is 00:16:33 It doesn't always work, but it's certainly easy to kind of draw a line there. Now a guy who is not, it doesn't necessarily fit a big need. But what we've heard all off season about Lou Anna Rumo is how multiple he wants this defense to be. So Nick, him and worry, he kind of makes some sense. I mean, another guy who just tested with a 10.0 and we've seen a lot of these DBs over the years who are huge and athletic. They're, they're,

Starting point is 00:17:04 they're just the transformer types. And I think his tape is better than those guys who just were good testers. I'm just very curious how the Colts would use him, but I don't think they're really in the business of seeing a good player and shooing them away because they don't know what to do with them yet. Right. And I'm really excited to see how he does because like you said, we, we, we get these guys every couple of years, maybe not every year, but every couple of years we get some safety who's built. Like out of, out of a mold somewhere, but those guys are very rarely the

Starting point is 00:17:37 highly touted prospects, the guys that are considered the top one or two of this position, that's not the case here. A lot of people had Nick and Lori as their second or even first safety. So this is a guy who people already considered extremely talented and then he tested really well. So I'm very interested to see how that works out because this is just, it is something we've seen before like this concept we've seen before,

Starting point is 00:18:01 but we've never seen that and a highly well thought of prospect from the beginning. Some guys will jump up because of that testing, but I'm very excited to see what we actually get out of it. Yeah, I mean, we've heard that the, you know, Anaruma would be if he's got the tools to do it would be more willing to use three safety sets, or maybe even if they want to use him with some linebacker. So yeah, a guy like that just opens up a lot of opportunities. Some other guys here, I want to make sure we mentioned who had really, really good testing, Darian Porter from Iowa state,

Starting point is 00:18:34 another really good senior bowl week and then comes in and blows the doors off Lucas oil stadium, Tate Rattlage, the interior lineman from Georgia. And then Jad Campbell. His testing may have even gone even better if not for this labrum, you know, injury that he was going through. But obviously Campbell, a highly regarded guy is probably going to go in the first round despite the injury. But Porter and Rattlage are guys we've been talking about a lot on day two for the Colts and Porter doesn't necessarily fill a need anymore but he's a guy who switched positions was a receiver earlier in his career and you know I think that kind of fits with the

Starting point is 00:19:14 Colts a little bit the timeline of how he may need to transition to the NFL kind of lines up with the timing of when they meet may need a guy to be there in the secondary. Yeah, and there is a good player. He just, he, I don't think people expect that he was the most gotten on to people expected to test as well as he did. Um, he was a bit of a more, a bit more of a surprise than some of the other guys. Yeah, no, he, he's definitely, he's an entitling guy. He's got the length, you know, the size of the speed is pretty, pretty wild.

Starting point is 00:19:43 Tate Rattlage. I'm always very intrigued by like the big, the big guys who test really well, the interior offensive lineman. So he's another guy who's kind of had some injury issues as well. But when you look at Tate Ratledge and you see the nasty demeanor that he plays with, like he's very fitting of an sec aggressive ground game type of guy. But he's got the injuries. Where, where do you see him go?

Starting point is 00:20:06 Like what might be the best fit for a guy like that? Cause I feel like the lineman who always tests really well could contend to be more like finesse lineman, if that makes sense, but like he's got a nasty streak to him and as an athletic guy, I think the sky's kind of limit for him. If we look at it from a broad perspective,, just just using history, the Colts, the Eagles and the Chiefs are the top targets for a guy like that. Most offensive line or most athletic offensive lines in the NFL. The Colts have been either one or two for like six years, something like that.

Starting point is 00:20:38 You guys are always one of the most athletic offensive lines. So it's always going to be a target if you have a guy that comes out that looks like that. Some teams tend to go more athletic on the interior and not so much on the outside. The Packers were like that for a little while where their tackles were a bit smaller so they didn't have all the same type of huge athletic traits

Starting point is 00:20:57 some of the other guys that had come out have. They've kind of changed it up a little bit but they've generally kind of stayed that way on their interior. They like their athletic interior guys. My Detroit Lions, we talked about this before, they don't care so much about injuries as much, and they've been looking to get their offensive line a bit more athletic. And they're also looking for a guard this year, this offseason. So another target that they could end up going through.

Starting point is 00:21:20 The big question with him is going to be where does he go? Because he has those injury concerns. He doesn't necessarily have top round tape. After the combat, a lot of people were slotting in the second round. Some people were saying he could even go in the first. I don't really see that. But he's probably going to go day two. And those would be the teams that I think would target.

Starting point is 00:21:38 And teams that have traditionally looked for those big athletic guys. And most of those teams already have an established starter or two, so they don't necessarily have already have an established starter or two. So they don't necessarily have to have him jump in right away. Him on the lions that feels unfair, but that is very fitting. I didn't even think about that. But yeah, him next to school would be something nice. So coming up in a moment, guys, we're going to talk about some players who scored maybe lower than we expected, but I think there's

Starting point is 00:22:05 a lot of context to that and I think they still, their tape at least fits with the Colts pretty well. The Armada player of the week is brought to you by our friends over at Nissan and the all new 2025 Nissan Armada. Each week we're taking a look at our draft prospects to pick one guy that stands apart. The guy we believe showcased the strength and power needed to push the Colts forward as we look ahead to next season.

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Starting point is 00:23:00 just like you can in the all new Nissan Armada or any of their outstanding vehicles. Take the Nissan Armada, Rogue or Pathfinder and go find your next big adventure. Shop nissanusa.com. Alright, so we always, I feel like every year there's some guys that we really really like and then we see what their testing scores are and we kind of grimace a little bit but you know I think teams are not always looking at athletic testing as the the chief uh decider there and tape is always king so these guys have really good tape not the greatest scores but I think they still could be pretty good fits with the Colts. One guy we talk about on here a lot is Tyler Booker from Alabama.

Starting point is 00:23:48 So you watch his tape and you probably don't expect him to be like one of those guys that's going to test crazy, but his tape is undeniable. And I think, I mean, he's still got to go like top 35 top 40 even despite the athletic testing. But yeah, the 3.68 is not great. Now, I still think he goes in the first round. We haven't had a first round player with a sub five or as since 2019. I think we had two of them.

Starting point is 00:24:16 But you know, we don't get that very often. I still think he goes in the first round. He's got good enough tape. The question is gonna be where. The Colts are not a team that I really would consider jumping on. It would be surprising if be where. The Colts are not a team that I really would consider jumping on. It would be surprising if they did. I don't think it would be a bad thing. Again, his tape is very good. It would just be a little out of character considering, like I said,

Starting point is 00:24:33 they've got one of the most athletic offensive lines in the NFL and have for nearly more than half a decade. So it would just be a little out of character with what they've done on the offensive line. But he has a lot of really good tape. The question for me with him is he is heavy-footed. He tested like he's pretty heavy-footed. If you have a scheme that requires a guy to pull across the line very often, are you going to be able to trust him with being able to do that and get out in front of your speedy or running backs?

Starting point is 00:24:59 Or are you expecting him to just be a mauler at the line? If you just need a mauler at the line, cool, do that. He's a great player. He'll give you exactly what you need with that. But if you're trying to get somebody who's going to be able to make it out into space, crossing the line and get out in front of your speedy running back, I don't know that he's the guy to do that. So it just becomes what team is going to be looking for him, what type of offensive line is going to be looking for a guy like that. Very talented player though. Yeah, I think he is someone who because of what he projects to be like, it's hard to shoo him away from any offensive line, but he's not exactly the one for one replacement for a guy like Wilfries

Starting point is 00:25:38 who could get out and move a little bit. He's pretty intriguing on the less and certainly an option. I think for the Coltsts if they trade back. Next guy is now this one, I think, is probably because of injury, because it makes no sense whatsoever. Javier Restrepo from Miami. He did say afterwards that he had an injury he was dealing with. He ran really poorly. The 40 there, the pro day. But his tape, I mean, he is a guy that gets open. He knows how to he senses, you know, the gaps in coverage pretty well. So that I think that's a really intriguing guy.

Starting point is 00:26:13 You just don't see it with smaller receivers like that very often. We can talk about Tess Johnson as well. Who didn't run a very good 40 compared to what you would have expected from him. But guys like Restrepo and Tez Johnson, do you just see these as like outliers and like this is not what you're seeing on tape? I think people had questions about Restrepo's speed to begin with, whether or not he was injured at his at his pro date.

Starting point is 00:26:38 Some some scouts at pro days do record injuries of players, and the scout that recorded Miami's data did report injuries, Restrepo did not have an injury listed. Doesn't mean that he didn't have an injury, it just means that it wasn't listed. It would be odd that it wasn't and everybody else's was, but maybe he didn't mention it to that particular scout. There's a lot of reasons that it could be, but I find that a little bit odd. He isn't a fast guy anyway. He doesn't win because of his speed. To me, when you have a guy like him,

Starting point is 00:27:09 the question doesn't become, is he fast enough to be a burner in the NFL? The question is just, is he fast enough to play in the NFL? We have examples of guys that ran in the four sevens that still did well in the NFL. Not many, but we do have them. We have none of guys that ran in the four eights, which is where he ran. So if it was an injury, if that's truly what it was, and he comes into the NFL and runs around just fine, has no issues, beaten cornerbacks with speed, then it's not a problem. We don't have to worry about it. We can say, yeah, he probably was injured. We can

Starting point is 00:27:40 move on from that. But from a value perspective, that's pretty risky to take a risk on a guy. Not just because of the speed, but it's because of injury. Injuries are also red flags. People have to remember that. It's not just, oh, it excuses the poor testing. That's a different red flag. So you gotta take that into consideration. He does have elite tier agility testing.

Starting point is 00:28:03 Some other players who didn't score that well on the end for overall RAS, but still found success. Guys like Cooper Cup, you know, they still made were able to make it because they won with that kind of elite agility and quickness. That's that's how Restrepo wins. So maybe he finds a role like that in the NFL. The question with him is just going to be how big of an outlier that that speed really is. the question with him is just going to be how big of an outlier that that speed really is. Now to the point of finding a role in the NFL, I think this next guy is pretty intriguing. J.J. Pegus, who you know, knows tackle, but there's talk of fullback even. I think he was asked to work out there briefly. So again, not a great Raz 482 and we talked about, you know, with those tackles,

Starting point is 00:28:43 there's a lot of context that goes there. But that's got to be pretty interesting, right? Like a guy who you'd never you probably didn't think he was going to work out of this world, work out of this world anyways. But to the point where he might even change positions to find utility somewhere else, that's kind of intriguing, right? Yeah, we've seen that quite a bit. Actually, people never really consider that, but we don't have a whole lot of true fullbacks in the NFL. Most of the fullbacks that we have in the NFL are converted from a different position.

Starting point is 00:29:13 My Lions had the last two that they've had have been converted from different positions. Their current one was a linebacker. You know, we've had a couple of defensive tackles that got converted over to fullbacks. So it happens fairly routinely. The problem with him is going to be We've had a couple of defensive tackles that got converted over to fullback. So it happens fairly routinely. The problem with him is gonna be

Starting point is 00:29:28 if he does come in as a nose tackle, he'd be a small nose tackle. He's gonna have a bigger learning curve to take on that position than a lot of other guys would who were a bit more in shape for this particular role. So he wouldn't come in immediately day one as a nose tackle. He'll get pushed around in that kind of a role. But if you give him a year, he's able to put on a little bit more weight. He's got more tape in that area than other positions. Maybe that's what you're doing

Starting point is 00:29:55 with him. You're just developing him there and trying to find a role for him that fits. But without that elite tier athleticism, a lot of teams aren't going to view him as an internal pass rusher. They're still going to view him as an internal pass rusher. They're still going to view him as that run defender type of guy. A lot of guys with lower scores. That's what they can kind of pigeonholed into anyway. So for him, that might just be the expected curve of time that you have before you're actually getting a whole lot out of it. It might be a little longer.

Starting point is 00:30:19 Yeah, those those guys are always just fun regardless, because it's like, OK, well, like you mentioned with nose tackle, like it's probably not going to work out. He's going to get pushed around a bit. So it's like, what can we do with you here? And if he finds another role, I think that'd be pretty cool. This I'll give you one more. And I almost have a theory on this one. So Malachi Starks 5.29, but I don't think anyone disputes that he should be considered one of if not the top

Starting point is 00:30:46 safeties available. He's got versatility. He's got good tape. Like he's had better tape before than what 24 showed, but nonetheless, like a really good prospect. So again, five, five to nine, he's not the biggest guy in the world and he's not like the most explosive either. But when it comes to safeties, I find that there are so many good safeties that do not test well. And I don't know why that is, but safety for some reason just has so many standouts who leave you wanting more with their pre-draft testing.

Starting point is 00:31:20 And I have almost found myself disregarding what their, as long as they're not like egregious Almost disregarding what their pre draft scores are. Do you see any sort of correlation with like safeties in their testing scores? So free safety specifically is what we're doing because it's the exact opposite with strong safety Yeah, the guys that play next to the line those tend to be those top-tier athletes They also don't tend to get drafted as high as free safeties do. We do have quite a few free safeties who didn't test all that. Well, it has one of the lower correlations to success in the NFL from the metrics that we've looked at.

Starting point is 00:31:55 The thing about Starz, the only thing that would make me give any kind of a pause to that is he has kind of the reverse athletic profile from what you'd expect of the other guys that end up with a lower score but still find success. A lot of those guys will have a really like a poor 40 but they'll have a really strong 10 yard split. He has the opposite. He has a great 40 and a pretty bad 10 yard split and they'll usually have either elite tier explosiveness or elite tier agility one or the, and he's got neither. So he doesn't have any of the, you only need two of those three things

Starting point is 00:32:29 to be that type of safety that we've seen before, and he's got none of them. I don't know if that matters. This is purely a mathematical consideration. There's just that it's a little weird that he's got a profile that's like the opposite of that. But it doesn't mean he's gonna be bad by any stretch of the imagination free safeties have they have they become successful? Safeties because of their understanding of the football field their ability to read defenses and they're building to close and he has that It might not show up as explosiveness

Starting point is 00:32:59 It might not show up as agility, but he's got long speed and maybe that's all it is with him It's just he gives gives himself enough of a runway and he knows where he's supposed to be and he can get there. And if that's all he needs to do to be a successful back safety in the NFL, great, he's got that. You don't need to worry about it. You know, we've seen him on tape do quite a lot of really good things.

Starting point is 00:33:21 Cool. Not everybody has to have that, you know, top tier marks across the board. If you're if you're scoring how you should for where you're successful, then that's that's good enough. Yeah, I think another part of it with him too is like, where do teams see him? Like do they think he's a nickel or where do they want to play? He obviously has the versatility.

Starting point is 00:33:42 So he's an interesting one, because I really don't know where he's going to go. Could be around 12 could be somewhere in the top 40. Like people seem very, very split on him. And obviously, I think if you have the elite athletic profile, that would help people figure out better how they feel about him. But he's he's definitely one of the more polarizing ones for sure. But thank you so much for being on here. You're obviously a great guest for Colts fans to want to listen to. You guys, he's Math Bomb on social media, also Raz.Football. Go down to Rabbit Hole,

Starting point is 00:34:15 do your research on past Colts, look at it now and see which ones you think are going to be Colts by the end of next weekend. Yeah, be at Kent. Thanks so much for joining us again. Appreciate me on that. Thank you. Absolutely. And guys, thank you all for making us your first listen of the day. Now for your second listen, check out locked on NFL draft with Damien Parson and Keith Sanchez. Now that our season is over, get the latest draft rankings, rumors, and news every day.

Starting point is 00:34:41 Find locked on NFL draft on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. And remember, if you guys want to become Locked on Colts insiders, check out the link in our show notes. Follow everybody on social media. Again, follow Kent on there as well. We appreciate you guys for being with us and we will see you guys tomorrow.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts LOVE High-RAS Players; Talking 2025 NFL Draft w/ Kent Lee Platte

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