Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -4/28- Colts Selection of Malik Hooker Drawing Mixed Reviews From Fan Base

Episode Date: April 28, 2017

Despite Hooker being largely regarded as a top 10 talent in one of the deepest defensive drafts in quite some time, the #Colts fan base appears to have had others in mind for the 15th overall selection. "No prospect is ever a complete work of art" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Dainley, and we have seen the Indianapolis Colts' first round pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. And it does happen to be Malik Hooker, his safety out of Ohio State. I am ecstatic with this pick. I think that when you anytime, I mean, just to start this off the right way, I just don't think that you can get any luckier really than getting the top 10 NFL talent out of this draft.

This draft specifically with all the talent on the board between the defense, between the, I mean, the running backs, the tight ends, the talent that came into this draft. And we get Malik Hooker out of the 15th overall pick. I mean, first and foremost, the draft started off a little crazy anyways. The Bears trade up with the 49ers, go one pick, leverage several picks, at least three I think it was, to get Mitch Trubisky. Solomon Thomas comes off the board, Fournette to the Jaguars. That's going to be interesting for our defense. Corey Davis goes to the Titans. Again, interesting for our defense. Adams goes to the Juars. That's going to be interesting for our defense. Corey Davis goes to the Titans. Again, interesting for our defense. Adams goes to the Jets. Mike Williams to the Chargers.

McCaffrey to the Panthers. John Ross to the Bengals. Mahomes goes to the Chiefs. Lattimore to the Saints. Deshaun Watson to the Texans. Sasan Reddick to the Cardinals. And Derek Barnett to the Eagles. And then we're all sitting there like, you know, probably after the 10th pick or so thinking, man, there is a ton of talent left on the board. A lot of people were thrown around Jonathan Allen. I mean, I even had maybe some thoughts of OJ Howard actually come into fruition, thinking Jared Davis in the back of my head, possibly because obviously, you know, there was a situation obviously going on with Reuben Foster. He was sliding and sliding and sliding. We know that there's something going on there, at least.

And at the very moment, the Browns just picked David Njoku at 29 overall. So we don't know that Foster's not into the first round as of right now. But look, hey, I got to get some sleep sometime. I couldn't be up all night doing this. So I decided to come down and get this out. But when we look at it, I think Malik Hooker is a fantastic pick. The majority of the people agree with this. They love it. He's, like I said, a top 10 talent. I think that you could definitely make the case that he's one of the top two safeties in this draft, depending on exactly what you're looking for. He's been long compared to an Ed

Reid type safety. And I agree with that from what I've seen of him. He's not a Bob Sanders type, a guy that I know have known for a while, contacted me on Twitter and said something about, you know, he kind of reminded him of when the Colts went for Sanders and then it kind of changed the complexion of the defense. And I agree with him that a safety can change the complexion of the defense, but he's not a Bob Sanders-type safety. And a lot of people were knocking on his tackling or lack of tackling or whatever. And you know what? That might be true.

I mean, look, when it comes down to this, we nitpick the heck out of these guys, right? I mean, we're talking even just through our podcasts over the past several weeks, we're going through these guys, and I don't like this about him. I don't like this about him. I like this. I don't like this. You know, even, I mean, just for an example, off the top of my head, when I was talking about Cordray Tankersley the other day, I was talking about he's fantastic in coverage. I want him to be more physical though, coming up in run support. This is similar to a Malik Hooker type argument in that regard. He's fantastic in coverage. The dude can go sideline to sideline, play single high, play two high, doesn't matter

either way. He's extremely intelligent back there reading coverages, reading play with play recognition and so on and so forth. But he's not a huge guy in run support. The Colts do have a guy named Clayton Gethers though who's pretty good in run support. So maybe that's kind of the thinking right there. You know, with TJ Green back there and Darius Butler being re-signed, a lot of questions were coming my way immediately after the pick, of course. And they were talking about, you know, what does this mean for a guy like TJ Green as you go to corner? No, I don't think he goes to corner. Could they? I mean, yeah, I suppose they could, but that's his biggest issue is his coverage is awful.

He couldn't cover tight ends up the seam. I don't know how he's going to be expected to cover a cornerback. I mean, unless he's going to be playing in the slot, which I still don't see being beneficial to him. That's not his skill set as far as I'm concerned. And then what actually happens with Darius Butler now, he's re-signed presumably as a safety coming back this year, but now does he play a little more in that slot? He had lost a step last year. It wasn't a great thing for him. He didn't look great in coverage last year. I mean, they put him on the outside and he gets beat pretty bad. That's definitely not his ideal spot. They put him in the slot. He's lost a step. He's not covering quite as well as he had in the past. So I don't really know what's

going on as far as how that all shakes out. But look, the Colts got a fantastic safety out of it. We should not be worried about, I mean, right now, what's going to happen to a 30-plus-year-old safety who came back ultimately as a bridge until the Colts could get another safety or T.J. Green could develop. And right now, Chris Bauer is like, look, I'm not waiting for you to develop. I'm not waiting for you to be a bridge gap guy. I'm wanting talent now on this defense, and he's going to get that. There are some injury concerns that come with Hooker as well.

He did have surgery, I believe, in the offseason. But, I mean, yes, that bothers me too. I'm not going to play it off because I've been critical of other guys who have had some issues with health as well. So I'm not going to just absolutely bypass any of the injury issues that have come with that. That's not a sexy part of it to me at all. But I would think as thorough as Ballard has been in the past and

as thorough as he is now and as thorough as the Colts organization actually pretty much is as a group, that that is going to be an issue that has either been confirmed by their doctors as that it's something they will pass. It's not a deal breaker, obviously. If it was, he would have been Reuben Foster and he would still not be picked. In fact, the Steelers just picked TJ Watt now at 30th overall. That's a pretty good fit for them. He's a guy that I thought maybe the Colts might try to snag up in the second round if he was still around. Obviously, he is not. But as we go through this, I mean, after the Colts pick there, we did see Marlon Humphrey, who I was really a big fan of, go to

the Ravens. I really like Jonathan Allen, too. Huge, huge talent there at the defensive end, that three tech. Going to be a huge issue, three or five tech. I mean, the guy can move around. Adoree Jackson, some people like him, and most of them like him more than I do, but he's got a lot of really cool aspects to his game that, you know, if developed correctly, he could be something special, actually. OJ Howard did go to the Bucs. That's a huge get for them. Garrett Bowles went to the Broncos. I think that was kind of, you know, almost a second nature call there because everybody had been mocking Garrett Bowles to the Broncos for the most part. Jared Davis ended up going to the Lions. Charles Harris to the Dolphins at 22. Evan Ingram to the Giants at 23. Gary and Conley did stay in

the first round, which I was really kind of adamant about last night. If you guys heard that conversation, that part of it, myself, George, Jake, and Rick all talked about that. And I still thought that people were doing their due diligence and that Conley was still going the first round. Sure enough, we see tweets yesterday, which is today actually for me, that Conley is probably going to still go in the first round. He took a lie detector test, they said, on NFL Network for a team, and he passed it, and they felt very comfortable with it, and the Raiders scooped him up. I don't know how Jabril Peppers is in the first round. He went to the Browns. No surprise, really, for me. I think Browns fans are happy. I don't understand how they can be happy with that. I

just think that's too much. Now, the only way I can really go through it in my own head is outside of the character issues and stuff with Johnny Menzel Johnny Menzel was like kind of a a weird version of a quarterback as far as I was concerned never never a guy that I thought was going to ever be any amount to anything Peppers is kind of that way here. I mean, you're going to have to really try to find a spot for him outside of a return guy and spot starter at safety. I just don't see that he, he might be great. I don't know. I just didn't see enough of him to be consistent at any of the positions on defense. I think he's probably a better running back than he is a defender, but it's the Browns. I'm not going to lose sleep over that. The Falcons actually traded up to get Tack McKinley. And if you guys heard him on TV, he was pretty excited.

You know, dropped the GD and the F-bomb all in about 30 seconds with a picture of his grandma on his arm. Kind of strange, but he's got a really cool story. I mean, if you guys didn't catch on to that, what the issue was, he was on hard times as a young a youngster and uh basically was uh came from nothing more or less and his grandma did say that you know she wanted him to play d1 he ended up having to go to a juco i believe and they ended up finding some issues with his transcript or something like that that allowed him to go D1, and he went D1, and you guys,

you know, now he's picked in the first round at 26 overall of the Falcons. They traded up to get him. Hopefully they can holster his mouth and pursue some of that energy into his body and his skills and stuff in Atlanta, because the dude's got a crazy motor. Tredavious White went to the Bills. That's really good for them. Not only that, but they end up getting that pick as a result of trading down. I think that's a fantastic value for them. Good job for the Bills there. Taco Charlton goes to the Cowboys. I don't know why they want him.

I'm just not a fan of him, you know, whatever. David Njoku then goes to the Browns, just a few picks after they take Jabril Peppers. That's big for them. They just got to find somebody to get him the ball. Like I said, TJ Watt went to the Steelers. Now Reuben Foster has jumped off the board to the 49ers at 31 overall. The Seahawks traded out to the 49ers after they had already traded out from the Falcons. So now the Saints basically left on the board with the final pick of the night there at 32. But looking at what the Colts are seeing here, we have Hooker. There's still a ton

of talent left on the board. I mean, if you look at just NFL.com's ranking system, they had Malik Hooker as their sixth overall prospect ranked at a 6.7 above Jamal Adams' safety from LSU. A little bit taller than Adams and a little bit lighter. And like I said, the dude flies to the ball. A lot of people comparing him to Ed Reed. I would also say that that is something that Ballard obviously is interested in, is trying to flip the turnover differential into the Colts favor on defense that's been their issue in the past not being able to pick I mean last year was really bad they didn't they couldn't have anybody even the opportunities that they had to pick the ball off they weren't getting them a lot of drop passes their ball skills were kind of coming out

to play but if you look at who's left on the board now, at least by NFL's grading system, you have Dalvin Cook, which I just don't see the Colts going after him. Malik McDowell, that's a possibility in the second round. We don't know. Ryan Ramsey from Wisconsin. Forrest Lamp, that's a possibility for the Colts as well. Caleb Brantley and Cam Robinson will round out the rest of the top group there. But when you get a little bit further down, you've got Joe Mixon.

Tim Williams is still on the board, absolute pure edge rusher, at least for now. Zach Cunningham, Alvin Kamara, Gerald Everett. Then you get to Tyus Bowser, who would be awful exciting there. Pat Alfline, a center that can play the guard as well. Sidney Jones then. Now, I mean, that presents up a couple things there. Him and Jordan Wills will be next in line as far as just the bulk rating system there.

But Chris Wormley and Ryan Anderson all there right behind. There's a ton of talent guys left on the board. The Colts are going to get some significant talent here. So let's not get all excited about what is going on with everything else. And Ryan Ramsey has now gone to the Saints at 32 overall. So that ends the first round and there's a ton of talent, tons of it guys left on the board. Don't get yourselves all bent out of shape about what happened in the first round. If you don't like the pick, don't like the pick, but I love the pick. It's a top 10 talent to the Colts and the Colts don't have much top 10 talent on that defense, right? His durability could be scary to some

people because he only played one full season. I get that. That's, I mean, look, they're looking into everything on this guy. If falls through it falls through bad first round pick let's say the worst case scenario the hooker ends up being a guy who can't stay healthy can't stay on the field we still got a second and a third round pick here tomorrow or today depending on when you're listening to this that the Colts are going to have a top another you know great talent out of this draft this is exciting exciting, guys. This is a phenomenal draft, and we're seeing this. We're seeing how deep it is. And remember, we talked about it several times now, actually, of how some of this is going to surprise some people. Some of this is going to

make people think, wow, what is going on in this draft? I felt that way going into the Colts pick almost. I had no idea who they'd pick. I really wasn't expecting Hooker, but when what is going on in this draft? I felt that way going into the Colts pick almost. I had no idea who they'd pick. I really wasn't expecting Hooker, but when I saw him on the board, I thought, man, I mean, you kind of got to go with him or you got to go with Jonathan Allen. I actually can't say that I didn't expect him to pick Jonathan Allen. I kind of did, but what are we going to do with that, right? What actually happens here going forward? We don't know, but look, it's exciting, guys. We got another two picks tomorrow, and then on Saturday, we've got four more picks. So kick back, relax. The Colts do have first round safety from Ohio State Malik Hooker.

It's exciting. Enjoy it. Celebrate. The Colts got a good talent a really good talent uh ball hawk guys a guy who's got seven interceptions last season he put together uh almost 75 total tackles last year in 13 games 43 solo tackles he's not considered to be a super great tackler but like I said Clayton Gathers is there for that the Colts are going to be upgrading and have upgraded through free agency in their tackling department, if you will. Jonathan Bostic, big hitter. Sean Spence, solid tackler. Sheard, Simon. I mean, playmakers? No, not really. Solid, good tackling defenders? Yes, very much so. Jonathan Hankins even. So look at it and think of it that way. The Colts are looking to stop the run with their front seven and they want to make plays with their back four and their secondary. So think about it that way. Don't get yourself bent out of shape.

If you're going to tweet me with this dude sucks or whatever, save your breath, take a nap. I don't want to hear it. I watched this dude on tape, and he's a phenomenal talent, and he's going to be great. The only thing that's going to hold him back is if for some reason the dude ends up getting hurt a couple different times or otherwise. Otherwise, this is a great pick for the Indianapolis Colts. This is a top-ten talent, like I said, compared to Ed Reed. I think you could reasonably also compare him to Eric Berry in Kansas City. I

think Bauer probably sees a little bit of that with him as far as playmaking ability. And that's what the whole issue is. That's what he is. The Colts don't go safety here if he's not on the board, for sure. I mean, I don't see that happening at all. So think about it that way. If he wasn't their top rated guy still left on the board, he's not going to the Colts. Colts are in the process of acquiring the best talent available. They did that. I'm happy with it. You guys should be too. It's exciting. Like I said, we've got two more picks tomorrow, today, whatever happens on Friday. We've got two more picks. Look for it to be exciting. Look for the Colts to make some more exciting news and I'll be back here right with you guys tomorrow to go through the pick and a

quick run through of the draft in the way that it kind of shook out as well like I did tonight I think we should be excited about the pick as a fan base I think that this is going to be a phenomenal acquisition for the Colts going forward for that secondary. Like I said, you're trying to turn these guys into playmakers. If the Colts get another secondary guy, a cornerback, look for it to be of the same makeup. I mean, look for it to possibly be a little more physical and run, support if it's on the edges. But if it's a nickel guy, look for it to be a playmaker. Look for it. I mean, this mindset here, if you're going to go with a guy like Millie Cooker,

other than the best player available role here, I mean, maybe a Tease Tabor is a guy that you go with and try to put him in a nickel role or something like that. I mean, we just don't know. They want to make playmakers, and that's kind of the guy that I see as a playmaker there. I think Tease Tabor is kind of a playmaker type role. But there's a lot of guys left on the board, a lot of good corners, a ton of good corners, a lot of good edge guys still around. So don't get discouraged with any of that. Be excited. The Colts are going to have some real talent

in the building this year. So thank you guys all for joining me. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Be here for another recap of rounds two and three. And then Saturday, I'll be going down to Jake's house and we'll be watching the entire remainder of the draft from rounds four through seven at his place. We'll be reporting doing a podcast from his house, Casa de Arthur. And we'll hook you guys up with a little bit more of a rundown and kind of maybe analyze some of these picks one by one. So thank you guys for joining me. I'll talk to you all tomorrow right here on Locked on Colts.

You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day.