Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Mock Draft Monday: Team Lands Star Safety, Linebacker, Tight End

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

It's Mock Draft Monday, as the guys fix the Indianapolis Colts quickly in three rounds. Find out how the Colts land new stars at safety, linebacker, and tight end! Did you like Jake or Zach's mock best? Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

It's Mock Draft Monday and we're going to fix this Indianapolis Colts team in three rounds today. 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. And today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.

Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets with your first $5 bet wins. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd and draft nerd of HorseshoeHuddle.com. My partner, Jake Arthur, is our credentialed Crocs on the ground for the site. Was our credentialed Crocs down there at Mobile for the Senior Bowl this year. And we'll also be out there for the Combine here next week, right, Jake? Yeah, next week.

It is next week, man. Yeah, next week for the Combine. So it's draft season. You guys know we love the draft. So why not do a little mock draft Monday for you all? And Jake and I are going to do our thing that we did last year where we do like dueling mock drafts here on the show. Now, we're not going to run the simulator here, so we're not going to have you guys

pick along with us. But Jake and I played around with, I did the pro football focus simulator. Jake, did you do pro football focus simulator jake i did you do pro football focus as well no the draft simulator that i use is right up here baby right between the ears okay jake doing the inside sources that's our boots on the ground right there he's in the inside he knows where the draft's gonna go uh so jake jake officially picked for the colts in this one i did the pro football focus simulator. And we are doing our dueling mock drafts here. We're doing rounds one through three. So in segment one, we have round one,

segment two, we have round two and segment three, round three, any mock trades or any even players that we take here obviously are not official. We don't know who's going to be on the board or what offers are going to be there. It's all for fun. So you guys uh chastise us or agree with us in in the comment section there but jake let's kick it off with round one i cheated like i always do and i traded back you stuck with the pick at 14 and you did not take tyler warren so while i get my pitchfork ready let me know who you took at pick 14 for this mock draft monday Now in this scenario, Tyler Warren is gone. He's off the board. I mean, this is a awesome prospect. And just like last year, you know, the Colts had Brock Bauer sniped right in front of them. Brock Bowers was obviously incredibly successful,

incredibly productive, broke rookie receiving records left and right. So I'm going to go ahead and step out on a limb and say Tyler Warren is going to be gone by the time the Colts are picking. But with that, a position that somehow, despite kind of being its counterpart, is not totally loved yet is safety. So I go with Georgia safety Malachi Starks. Really, really like this guy. He's got pretty much all the traits that make me fall in love with safety prospects aheadachi Starks. Really, really like this guy. He's got pretty much all the traits that make me fall in love with safety prospects ahead of the draft. Really high football IQ,

very smart player. Because of that, he can be moved around a bit. You see him, you know, within a game, you see him deep in the box, in the slot, out wide. You see him moved around everywhere. There are really not a lot of holes in this guy's game uh he's got good size you know he's like 6'1 205 decent decent size there uh very willing tackler uh he's not like a thumper in the box but he'll come up and bring a guy down in the backfield because he's very quick at processing things. And we know under this Lou Anarumo defense, the Colts are going to need a really good, really smart free safety. Nick Cross is going to be doing his thing in the box, a really productive tackler.

His strong suit is keeping things in front of him. You don't want Nick Cross running through all zones of the field. So let him do his thing, keeping things ahead of him. Let Starks be your deep safety and see a broader view of the field. Again, very smart player. I think this is exactly what the Colts need in the secondary. Yeah, Malachi Starks feels like one of the weirdest prospects in this draft because no one's really talking about him when he's like a consensus top 15 guy for most people. Because I think people are just kind of bored of him he's been doing it for so

long in the college level that we've been ready for him yeah multi-year starter at georgia and you know it's not that he's never really taken this big jump in college because he's always been pretty good in college so it's almost like everyone's gonna kind of bored of malachi starks but he's just a solid, good high upside player that I think makes your Colts defense so much better from day one. I think you would actually want to be a little bit more diverse with your two safety roles.

If you take someone like Starks, because I'd like to have them in the box a little bit more, but I do like the fit. I like just getting a playmaking safety on, on defense. And I think that's what Malachi Starks is. So, I mean, look, if the Colts stay at 14, Tyler Warren or Malachi Starks are my dream. That's who I would take there. In my scenario for my mock draft, both those players were gone. And look, I know I'm going to say the awful words here, but I traded back. I know

everyone is mad about tradebacks because you think the blue chip prospects, you got to take them at 14. But honestly, there's maybe like the blue chip prospects, you got to take them at 14. But honestly, there's maybe like six blue chip prospects in this draft. And if you don't, if they if they go in front of you, what can you do? So I traded back in my mock draft. I traded back with the Broncos. Again, I didn't go super in depth with this tradeback. It was just for the Broncos third this year and the Broncos third next year.

Again, you could play with actual trades and stuff like that in reality. So the Colts moved back to number 20 in my mock draft and we took Alabama linebacker, Jihad Campbell. Last year, he had 89 tackles, eight sacks according to Pro Football Focus, an interception, and the most important stat in the whole entire world, only a 5% missed tackle rate.

That's what we're looking for with linebackers here with the Colts, the lowest missed tackle rate possible. But Jahad Campbell, I think, is a fantastic player. And I think the cool thing with him is he's not really a guy that you can just put as an off-ball linebacker and say, okay, he's just a generic off-ball linebacker. He's more of that defensive weapon. He's more of a guy who you can rush off the edge on third downs

and and we see this with Louie Anarumo and his system they go to these bare fronts and they go to these diverse five-man defensive fronts where you have an off-ball linebacker at defensive end standing up I do think that's where Jahad Walker or Jahad Campbell would really fit in this defense you can have him in coverage over the middle he He's a good coverage player, had the interception last year and a couple pass breakups. And you can just use him as a stunter and a blitzer as well on third downs. Very, very good player there. Also not an undersized linebacker. I know the Colts have traditionally under Chris Ballard liked the 220, 225, 230 pound linebacker. Jahad Campbell was roughly, apparently, like 245-250 pounds last year, but he moved like a smaller linebacker.

Big-time thumper, big-time run defender, very athletic player, good tackler. I think he's just everything the Colts kind of need next to a player like Zyre Franklin. He's consistent, he's reliable, and he can give you some juice as a pass rusher and as some defensive weapon so look if you're moving back in this class and you're picking among like that second or third tier of players in the first round I think taking a shot on a guy like Jihad Campbell just works you know just get a playmaker on defense I really came down to Jihad Campbell or Jalen Walker from Georgia both those offball playmaking linebackers that can rush the

passer a little bit. I think one of those type of weapons in this Lou Anarumo defense would just be a fantastic fit. Yeah, I like that a lot. And one of the cool things this year is with Lou Anarumo being the new defensive coordinator, I think it opens things up for us a bit more. You know, with Gus Bradley, you kind of had to pigeonhole guys. You needed very specific things. But these multi-talented guys, you know, kind of a diet Micah Parsons type with Jihad here, you know, he's on early downs and stuff. He's going to do some of that traditional off-ball stuff.

But I do keep hearing the bare fronts mentioned over and over from Lou Anarumo, whether it's people in the NFL or just, you know people observing film like what he's done with the bangles like this guy will get diverse and mix it up with the fronts and that's when you bring in that linebacker to put him on the line and you can still have cider franklin and jalen carlisle back there like you can do so many things with your linebacker group when you have a guy like Jihad Campbell there. So I like that a lot. I love that you mentioned his size as well, because it's great to have those multi-talented guys like a Josh Uche from Michigan a few years back, who's very undersized. And guess what? He was very small and it's just been fine in the NFL,

but you got a guy that's 240, 250. Suddenly, you know, he's got a little more juice and has some longevity to him and is able to actually do some of the things in the NFL that you saw on film him doing in the SEC. So I like that a lot. Really good pick there by you. Yeah. And another thing too, with Campbell is just that the thumping ability to the Colts have not had a linebacker that can actually take on blocks at all from offensive linemen. And even in this scheme, they're going to have more two-gapping from the defensive tackles, which frees up the linebackers. But if they have to take on a fullback or a pulling guard,

a guy like Campbell can engage that and survive. Unlike what we saw with EJ Speed and with Zyra Franklin last year, those guys are getting washed out. I think a guy like Campbell can take those on and still survive and make a play in the run game. So Campbell just fits really well for me. I really like what he could do in this defense. Maybe it's not the perfect defensive scheme fit for him in terms of just his ability to maximize the NFL, but he does fit this Colts scheme in a good way and gives them a playmaker. So I took Jahad Campbell at pick 20 in the first round of this mock draft Monday, and Jake took safety Malachi Starks. Now coming up, we're going to jump to round two. Do we both

go with the big need in round two, or do we switch it up and just go best player available? We're going to jump to round two in just a second. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started, and there's no better place to get in on all that action than FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. With FanDuel, you can place live bets throughout the game, so even if you miss the opening tip-off or you want to bet on a fourth quarter comeback, you can stay in on the action. And if you're looking for a bigger payout, then you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay. Personally, I like using FanDuel a lot for their live betting feature because it keeps every moment of the game exciting.

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So the Colts, we've addressed a couple, you know, pretty crucial needs early on. But the good news about the Colts is kind of lowly. You know, best player available is quite fitting. And kind of no matter what you pick, it's not going to hurt him whatsoever uh so with that said you know you went linebacker in the first round what do you got for us in round two yeah i'm going with a cornerback that just fits everything i love about corners and it burns me a lot this type of corner but i'm feeling it with this one i i just like this film a good bit and that is florida state cornerback azariah thomas uh the senior

bowl guy so jake you got to see him up there in person only allowed 17 catches last season and 354 coverage snaps that's some uh rocchia sin numbers from his his famous season a couple years don't say that that's going to turn people off right away it will but azariah uh he had an interception of five pass breakups last year allowed zero touchdowns and coverage as well and when i say just my type of corner it's it's the type that's like six to 195 to 200 pounds who can turn and run uh you can get physical at the line that's just my type of corner uh you know it's the juju brent's type but i think azaria is a bit faster um and the way that i kind of described his game to Jake when we were talking about it pre-show was you kind of get the best of both worlds with Jalen Jones and Juju Brents in a guy like Azaria Thomas, where this is a guy where he's going to be able to take away one side of the field like a Jalen Jones does.

He's able to be physical and just technically sound. But like a Juju Brents, he's massive. He's massive. He can be physical. He can be, you know, all those things you want out of your big corner. And, you know, a friend of the show, Ben Boris, at Colts Film Room there on Twitter, did put out a tweet not too long ago that Lou Anarumo likes those six-foot-plus

corners that are over 190 pounds. Those have basically been the guys who start for him on the outside and they also run in like the four fours four threes obviously the combine hasn't happened yet but i expect thomas to run like in the low four fours to high four threes just based off what i saw on film we'll see if he if he hits that but i think it'll be at least low four fours for him so he's just that big physical athletic corner. And he's only 20 years old. He's going to be 21 this first year. Get another young corner in there with Jalen Jones, bring in another outside vet as well. And then you have a really good cornerback room that on a room

that looked really weak last year on paper, you have a really good cornerback room on paper. So this is kind of like rectifying the Juju Brents miss in a way because you're taking another corner in round two. But it's just another type I like. I think he just fits this scheme really well. He absolutely does. Perfect Louie Anarumo cornerback here. And like I said to you before the show, this is definitely the oops, sorry about the Juju Brents thing pick here. He checks so many of the boxes that Juju does. He's big,

long, willing tackler, which the Colts need that from the cornerback group so much. He's physical, which will go great with the boost and man coverage. Something I always like in my cornerbacks is for them to be aggressive when the ball is in the air. Some cornerbacks, I mean, it's their position, but they're so passive when the ball gets to them. Not he wants to get the ball, at least wants to break it up. And I really like what I saw from him down in Mobile was very competitive, had some really good reps, I think, against Tez Johnson from Oregon.

Tez Johnson, the very small tank Dell type corner. So that guy is going to be one of the most blazing receivers in this draft. And he had some really good battles with them down there at the senior bowl. So I really liked what I saw from him. If you throw a ball against him against there or along the sideline, it's not going to be complete. He's, he's definitely one of those guys that is going to use his body to box guys out.

So I'm a really big fan of him. Like you mentioned, there's the track record. Guys threw against him in college, and it did not go well. I also think the playmaking, too, is underrated with him. He just never got targeted in college. I mean, look, Florida State was awful last season, so you could just throw it at everybody else. Look, in a season where they were one of the worst teams in college football, Florida State,

he only allowed 17 catches and no receiving touchdowns. Clearly, he was not the problem with that defense last season. Yeah, and that's on the heels of, you know, he played on a defense that had Jared Verse and Braden Fisk last year. So, I mean, if he was going to come out last year, you know, he probably would have had a lot more fanfare because it was kind of a loaded group. But no, that guy is really good. Uh, moving along to my next pick. So we all know tight end has got to happen at some point. And for that, another guy I really, really liked down at the senior bowl was LSU tight end, Mason Taylor, the son of hall of famer,

Jason Taylor, the nephew of linebacker hall of famer, Zach Thomas. So this dude has got NFL bloodlines through and through his whole family is NFL hall of famers, basically. So I really like what I see from him. He is like six,

five to 50. So he's got the size you're looking for and a tight end. Moves really, really well. Has a good route tree. Is fluid in and out of his breaks. Does not drop the ball at all either. And I was reading up on him more before the show. And Brian Kelly, who is the biggest hater, no matter if he is your coach or not really you know Taylor endeared himself to Brian Kelly as a true freshman he was getting on the field in late game situations as a true freshman very smart player uh has that football IQ you know that we we all fell in love with that with Josh Downs as a rookie and it's something that made him able to contribute right away. Mason Taylor's got the same exact thing.

So this is a guy who he's already a pretty good blocker on, you know, out and get on the move and in the passing game. He's not necessarily got the chops quite yet for you to just park him on the line and be an inline blocker, but that's not really a huge part of the NFL game right now. Anyways, your star tight end is not someone who you're just going to sit there as the sixth lineman all day. So he can get the job done for what he would be asked to do as a blocker in the NFL right now, but he's already a very, very good pass catcher as a tight end at a position that can take so long for guys to acclimate and

some of them never do I think Taylor could contribute right away you know we've seen Brock Bauer Sam Laporta we've seen these guys be able to hit the ground running and I mean Taylor's gonna be a second or third round pick but I think he'll be able to contribute pretty immediately yeah and you know everyone's kind of looking for that bona fide number one tight end for the colts in this draft like a guy who can not only be a pass catcher but can also block have that full package at tight end for the colts and i think outside of warren and loveland i do think he's kind of the best fit in this draft class to be that all-around tight end like there's a tight end I took in the third round of my mock draft, which people,

I think people like him more than your guy here, than Taylor. But for me personally, I'd have Taylor over him. And I think Taylor has better potential to be a number one guy. So I like Taylor in round two. Again, maybe not the sexiest pick, but that's certainly a guy where I see what you're going for. I see the full body of work, and I see the full game that he can have. And I think from day one, he can just step in and be your number one tight end. Maybe not be like Brock Bowers, but he can be a consistent guy in both the run and the pass game,

which the Colts just certainly didn't have last year. Yeah, absolutely. He's someone who, you know, with the Colts, it's very up in the air what they're going to do in free agency. If they strike out on what they want to do in free agency at tight end. Again, Taylor is not, he's not Will Mallory who can only run routes and catch the ball. You know, that's how Mallory's kind of never really cracked the lineup consistently.

He's not just strictly a blocker like your Mo Alleycox type who you hope occasionally can can get you a conversion this is someone who has utility and can be a three down player pretty quickly and we all know that Shane Steichen really could use that in his offense and that's maybe why we've never seen Shane's offenses reach their potential so far to this point. But if you get him a tight end who doesn't have to be taken off the field in this situation or that one,

like maybe this thing can work and look like a functional consistent unit. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Now coming up guys, we're going to go into round three. Now look, these round three players, they're flawed, but we love them despite their flaws. that's why they're here in round three so we're going to take some swings with round three coming up on our mock draft monday all righty locked on colts every day as we are back with mock draft monday just to recap real

quick and for in round one i traded back to pick 20 took al took Alabama linebacker Jahad Campbell to solve the whole next Desire Franklin. And then I took cornerback Azar Rie Thomas, a cornerback for Florida State. I have been practicing that name all week. I will get it by draft time. Azar Rie Thomas from Florida State to just lock up that cornerback room. And then Jake in his mock draft Monday took Georgia safety Malachi Starks in round one. He stuck at pick 14 and then he took LSU tight end Mason Taylor in round two. So now we're going into round three. Jake has one pick. I have two picks because I like to cheat. I'm just so good at this cheating thing when it comes to the mock

draft Mondays here. So we'll let Jake go first because he's only got one pick. Which route did you go here in round three, Jake? Because look, you took the two biggest needs to start off. You went tight end and safety. There's a lot of different directions you could go in round three. Yeah, it was really hard not to get a defensive lineman to this point or really an offensive lineman. This straps pretty rich near the top in the first couple of days at both positions. But there's just someone who really, I think fits the Colts like a glove,

no matter if it was Bradley or Anna Rumo, that's Oregon linebacker, Jeffrey Bossa. When I watched this guy. So when I'm watching linebackers right now for the Colts specifically, I'm doing it with Zyra Franklin in mind. He is going to be the Mike linebacker. A lot of people don't want that. A lot of people are on board with it. It's

going to happen. Unless for some reason he's a part of a trade, Zyre is going to be your Mike in 2025. So I want someone who compliments him very well. I already like Jalen Carlisle, but competition is the key here. And Bassa is someone who I watched and I was like, oh, God, he he covers up what Franklin lacks so well. And he's got that's the same leadership qualities that Franklin does as well. So in terms of mentality and just like what they want to accomplish on the field, I think those guys would be great partners in crime. Both very vocal leaders, but Bossa has so much range. He moves so well in space. He's got really good coverage instincts because he is a former safety as well.

So you kind of got that in your back pocket. Between him and Carlisle, you're really going to hit big on one of the two, I feel. He's not necessarily someone I would want to be the mike uh because i think he's already got a decent frame but his you know he was a safety at one point for a reason uh so his play strength isn't like awesome but if you park him at will in a four three defense like this or in your nickel packages whatever the guy's gonna go out there and make plays. Very rangy, fast, great instincts. You know, what strength and power he does have, he uses it. I just wouldn't love seeing him get washed up in the trenches all the time

at my linebacker. Like, you know, I don't want him gummed up in the works a bit. But you get that guy out there in space, and he is a big-time playmaker. Yeah. Now, I have to break it to you, though, Jake. He only had 31-inch arms at the Senior Bowl. I don't care. I love my T-Rex King.

Chris Ballard's going to – Listen to me right now. This is like year nine of Ballard. Is this year nine going into it with Ballard? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Homie, something ain't working. Linebacker's fine, though. Linebackers have been fine. Linebackers have been fine.

Linebackers have been great. That's very true. But what you and I say, we're not going to be wrong on this one. There have been some swings and misses by the Colts front office on this one. So I like what we like as well. Yeah. No, I like Bosa, though. I think he could be a good sub linebacker in year one,

and then you can have him grow to maybe a bigger role after that. And look, this is going to be a scheme that asks a lot out of the linebackers with their eyes and their coverage instincts. And outside of maybe Carlisle, I don't know if we have a guy on the team that can really do that in the system. So a guy like Bossa can come in and be that former safety that can be like a sub player in the box that you bring in on third downs and can be an efficient player for you so yeah i love the fit there i think uh round three is a perfect spot for him especially those t-rex

arms he can't go any higher with those t-rex arms uh but i do love jeffrey bossa and a senior bowl guy though so what he lacks in an arm length he makes up. And a senior bowl guy, though. So what he lacks in arm length, he makes up for it in senior bowl. That's the Chris Ballard specialty right there. So Jeffrey Bosa in round three to round out your mock draft Monday, Jake. Now with my two picks, we're going to go with some fan favorites here. First off, we're going with tight end Harold Fannin from Bowling Green. I know Colts fans love this guy, not as much as Tyler Warren, but Colts fans do like him a good bit. And I understand why people love him.

Almost 1,600 yards receiving last year, 10 touchdowns. Also was a pretty good run blocker in college too. Had a 75.2 run block grade according to Pro Football Focus. And it's kind of crazy to think of a player like this going in round three. But when we talk about round three, we talk about the flawed, talented players. And with Fannin, you have this guy who's so productive, who's also a willing blocker and a good blocker. So it's like, why is he falling this far? Well, the physique is a little bit smaller for a tight end. We're talking like 230s. And I think Jake even said something before we recorded that he heard somewhere that he was in the 220s last year in college, right?

Yeah. Yeah, 220s last season in college. That's just not going to cut it in the NFL. So he's got to up the size a good bit. And also, I think even for his size, he is kind of a wonky mover on film. It worked at Bowling Green. Don't get me wrong. I love it.

It worked at Bowling Green. Will it work in the NFL in terms of separating? We'll see. I think he's a little bit stiff. He's explosive, but I do think he's a little bit stiff as a route runner. So there are some flaws when it comes to Harold Fannin, but it's hard to knock the production from what he was doing in college. And also, I just love how willing he is as a blocker. Like this isn't a kylan granson thing where he's small and a bad blocker this is a thing where like yeah he's kind of small but he's a pretty darn good blocker and it even translated well into the senior bowl game in practice where he was driving guys off the line he looked like the best blocking tight end in that event so i'm willing to take a shot on a guy like fannin in round three if he's there for the colts third round pick and in this

trade back scenario i got an extra pick uh to take an extra shot in round three. I'm taking that all day with Fannin and we'll see what we can do with that. If it doesn't work out, doesn't work out. But that production profile, the athleticism in terms of like the explosiveness and the run block willingness, I'm taking that all day in round three. So Harold Fannin is one of my picks in round three. And then we got to shout out my boy Felipe Costa down in Brazil. He is a locked on everyday listener. This is his guy I'm taking here in round three.

Andrew Makuba, safety from Texas. Now, the reason why he's falling to round three, why Makuba's falling to round three is he is a bit small. I think he was listed last year at like six foot, like 190. I think that's a very fake listing. According to colleges, I think it might be sub six foot and like sub 190. And that's a bit small for a safety. But when you watch the film, you see a guy with five interceptions last year, six pass breakups. He is just coming downhill.

He is just a rocket. You know, he plays 100 miles per hour, an absolute playmaker, doesn't shy up on any hits. I know it's a little concerning for a small safety, but, you know, I'm not going to say like it's like Bob Sanders, but that's kind of what Bob Sanders was like in terms of like smaller safety, but like flying downhill and making those big plays. And I think the Colts just need a playmaker at safety. You know, Nick Cross, I think,

showed some good things as a tackler, showed some good things in the box last year. And then the glimpses we got of Julian Blackman over the last couple of years have been pretty good, but they need a true playmaker next to Nick Cross back there. And Makuba, for being a smaller guy and a guy who really only broke out this past season after he transferred to Texas, I see a playmaker. I see

that playmaking ability. So yeah, he might be a little bit small, but Chris Ballard has shown the tendency in the past to draft a little bit smaller at safety. I mean, Julian Blackman was not the biggest safety by any means in his draft year. So I think a guy like Makuba, if he's there in round three, you look at the production in college, you look at just the way he plays the game, and I'm a big fan of that fit. Just give me a playmaker who can make plays on the ball and create turnovers.

Give me another guy like that on this defense, and let's roll from there. Yeah, starting with Fan, and I like that one. Obviously kind of polarizing you know incredibly productive and i'm surprised you didn't point out the fact that he's only like 20 years old so yeah you got a ton of room to grow for this kid i dropped the young guys i like him at like 20 21 when it comes to draft prospects i had to put when it comes to draft prospects so that was going to be a weird clip but There you go. Draft prospects there. Yeah. Azaria.

Azaria. Azaria. Azaria, Thomas, and Harold Fannin, and Jahad Campbell. Those are all guys who are, like, 20 years old. Yeah. A lot of room here. Yeah, and they don't have to start from day one. Just get them in, develop them, and go from there.

Look, Jalen Jones was, like, 20 when the Colts drafted him. Look how good he's been. Richardson as well. Yeah. that worked out a certain way so fannon obviously super productive i think as long as he can get separation that will translate to the nfl in some way um i do like his tenacity and he has the right mentality as a blocker so like as a kylan granson type of blocker where you get him out on the move kind of H back type stuff that could work but again not a guy that you're going to park on the line I mean putting someone from Western Kentucky on a poster is not going to you're not going to put CJ Mosley

on a poster yeah in that same way so but I like that he's a willing blocker like he'll have some utility in that direction but you're right like his his frame is exactly why he might find himself later on day two with makuba cannot think of the name for the life of me but you probably will remember it the washington drafted a guy late a handful years maybe like 2012 really undersized safety who was like a bullet just a violent bullet like that cannot remember his name from from virginia tech he had that bad Texas A&M I think Washington took a guy from Texas A&M in 2012 oh gosh you're making me go back to high school here very undersized safety he I think he at least lasted his first contract in the nfl but

okay we'll have to look after the reports in here okay we'll have to look at because i keep thinking kai sean jared who looked like a stud for washington and he busted his neck in year one um but yeah those undersized safeties that fly around man maybe they don't last super long but like just get a playmaker in here it was kind of like this too for a little bit remember i mean yeah julian black was like that now those guys are here for a good time not a long time yeah they can maybe get you something in uh in their first contract good special teams player nonetheless i'm sure yeah yeah but i just think the colts need playmakers on defense in this draft uh and that's kind of what we were going for here.

Like Bossa, like who you took, Bossa, and Malachi Starks. Maybe not the perfect Chris Ballard fits, but playmakers. Jahad Campbell and Makuba, like those are playmakers on defense. Last year, eight sacks for Campbell, five interceptions for Makuba. Like bring me the difference makers. Bring me guys who aren't just going to get, this is going to sound like a shot here on a player, but it's really not because the player that it sounds like a shot at

had a ton of turnovers. But I don't need 200 tackles and nothing else. You know, I want a bunch of turnovers and stuff. It's not Zyra Franklin's shot. Zyra Franklin had a ton of turnovers too. But like aside from Zyra Franklin, the Colts need somebody else who can create turnovers in big plays and really i mean even an outside corner last year it was what womack had two picks and and jones had two picks and that was it in one game

yeah in one game exactly exactly what we said would happen he had the two picks against caleb williams i said you know he's never had a pick before i won't again no more picks after that right so like just give me playmakers on this defense man that's really what i'm looking for so that's my goal in this draft for the colts that's what we did here on mock draft monday you guys let us know in the comment section who do you think won this again i know i kind of cheated so i'll have an unfair advantage because i had four picks to jake's three next time we'll let jake trade back and i'll take just the three picks to make it even. But let us know in the comments

section who won this mock draft Monday and let us know what you would do come draft day. As of right now, mid-February pre-combine, let us know. We want to thank you guys for making Locked On Culture your first listen today and every day. Next go find Locked On NFL. First, the madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL

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