Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 5/24/19: Parris Campbell deep dive with Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors

Episode Date: May 24, 2019

On today's episode, we dive deep into Parris Campbell's career at Ohio State with Buckeyes beat writer Dan Hope.Campbell is blowing away Colts staffers during rookie minicamp and OTAs, but how did it go in Columbus? Hope answers all the questions surrounding the Colts' No. 59 overall pick, including his utilization within Urban Meyer's spread offense.Indianapolis' final second-round pick is garnering a lot of buzz not only locally, but nationally as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome into Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today, as always, we have our host, Evan Sidery, and we're back with our next part of our 360 series for our rookies. And now we're focusing on maybe the most hyped-up rookie of this class, Paris Campbell, Wiresiever, Ohio State, who has taken 59th overall by the Annapolis Colts. And we are joined by Dan Hope, senior reporter for 11 Warriors here to talk more about Paris Campbell. How are you doing today, Dan? I'm doing well. How are you? Doing great. Thanks for coming on.

Really appreciate it. And I wanted to really dive in on Paris Campbell with you for the next 10, 15 minutes, just talking about really from the very beginning with Paris Campbell. What really intrigued me the more I looked into him, Dan, was he was only 16 when he went to Ohio State at first. He enrolled early. He was a very young high school senior.

Just what was that recruiting process like for Paris Campbell with Urban Meyer? Because, I mean, it took him a little bit because I know we'll get to probably later with his drop issues a couple years ago but it seemed like he really matured in that program at a really young age yeah I met it that is a good point he was very young uh abnormally young uh for a player when he first arrived at Ohio State so So I think when you look at his career, you definitely saw a lot of maturation for him. You know, as somebody who came in as a 16-year-old, didn't play much his first couple years at Ohio State, and then just really groomed, really developed to by the time he was in his fourth and fifth year at Ohio State, he was a team captain,

he was a team leader, he was viewed as one of the most mature and reliable players on the team. So I think that was an example of someone who, you know, his parents had a lot of trust in Urban Meyer, had a lot of trust in Ohioio state's coaching staff uh you know sending him to school that early uh they felt that ohio state was a program uh that could help him uh grow up and and become a man and i think that's exactly what happened at ohio state uh just just watching his development uh not only as a player on the field uh but as a person off the field. He's someone who really grew up and really, by the end of his career, had a ton of respect from everyone within the program. What really also interested me when I look more to Paris Campbell

and his high school career was he was actually a running back at St. Mary's High School in Akron, and he eventually transitioned to wide receiver Ohio State. How long did it take, I mean, from your vantage point, watching Paris Campbell, that adjustment period for him to go from running back to wide receiver because he was recruited as an athlete, so to say, but there has to be some sort of adjustment period there. Yeah, you know, I really think it was a career-long adjustment.

I really think that if you look back at this past season, I think it was by far his best season as a receiver in terms of his ability to play the receiver position, running routes and catching passes down the field. I think this past season, his senior year was by far his best year in that regard. So I think it was, you could see definitely earlier in his career, you could see this is a guy who's fast, who's got physical tools, but he just wasn't natural catching the football. He just wasn't natural running routes. But you could see in his last couple years, he really makes some big strides in those areas and starts to develop into more of a receiver. And yet, you still see the running back elements of his

game. He's still a guy, they used a lot, a lot of short passes to him. They also used him on some sweeps and some different creative ways to get the ball in his hands. And so, you know, I think there were both pros and cons to that. I think, you know, it did take him, you know, really, I think his entire career to really develop into a great receiver for them. But you saw it in some of the big plays that he was able to make that that ability he had running the ball helped him and put him in some positions to make big plays for them in some creative ways. When you think of slot receivers, Dan, you usually think of like the West Welker, Damian,

Amendola types are like 5'8", 5'9", but Paris Campbell is a solid 6'. Do you think that's going to be an advantage for him in the next little because he's going to immediately walk into that starting slot receiver role in Indianapolis, 4'3", 1'2", at 6'12". I feel like adding those two pieces together, it's a pretty rare skill set. Yeah, I mean, he's definitely bigger than you expect for that slot receiver. You know, he's not a little guy. He's a guy who's got a good build to him. Again, I think going back to that playing running back,

he has a running back-like build to him. And then, of course, as as you mentioned that elite speed you know i think a lot of times people talk about uh slot receivers and they'll kind of look at that uh quicker than fast kind of guy that's not paris campbell paris campbell this is an elite speed kind of guy a straight line speed kind of guy uh and a guy that if he gets out in the open field uh you'd see it at ohio state if he if he got out in the open field, you see it at Ohio State, if he got out in the open field, you most likely weren't going to catch him. Obviously, in the NFL, you're going to have more defensive backs who are capable of running with him.

But even still, you mentioned the four-free-one, he's going to be one of the fastest players in the league. Yeah, that's for sure. And especially his size at six foot, it's really exciting. I think in the Colts offense, for sure that Frank Rice is going to scan up some really beautiful stuff from Paris Campbell over the next couple of years. But I wanted to ask your opinion, Dan, if you had to pick up one Paris Campbell moment that really popped out to you

covering him the last couple of years, which one stands out to you? I hadn't really given that any thought, to be honest. But I can just remember just a couple plays just watching him. You know, I can't even remember the opponent off the top of my head, but I just remember one game where he got the ball, it was on a sweep, and he gets out going up along the sideline, and he turned the corner, and he was just – he's gone. And it was a 60 or 65 yard touchdown,

with nothing but open space in front of him. And then he just ran away from everybody. And that was the kind of speed that we saw from Paris Campbell over, over the years that, you know, if he got the ball in his hand and there was, there was green grass in front of him, he could, he could really run away from everybody. And so I think we saw these past front of him, he could really run away from everybody. And so I think we saw over these past couple years just how fast he was,

just how elite an athlete he was in that regard. And I think that was the thing that really stood out was just, you know, that ability to make a big play as well as just his growth as a leader and just how respected he was by his teammates, by his coaches, the way that people talked about him and his impact that he made on the program. I think he's going to bring a lot of qualities that are going to be very desirable to Indianapolis. Today's show is brought to you in part by Hotels.com. Don't hate like your friend's trip.

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Were you surprised by his usage role at Ohio State, where it was mostly just bubble screens and maybe some slants and drag routes and really never had the chance to go deep that much, albeit maybe a couple of times here and there. Well, I think that was just his role in the offense and the reality that they had a lot of talent at receiver position the last couple of years. They had Terry McLaurin, who was a third-round pick. They had guys like K.J. Hill and Austin Mack and Benjamin Victor, who could be NFL draft pick next year. So

I think, you know, they have three different wide receiver positions that they play. They had a six-man rotation the last two years. They brought everybody back last year from the year before. So they kind of had, you know, two guys at each position rotating. And Campbell's role was to play that H-back role. They never really moved him from that role because they didn't need to. And I think that was the role in Ohio State's offense that best suited his skill set in part because of what we already talked about, the running back ability and the ability to use him in some different ways than just being a traditional receiver. So I think the role that he played in Ohio State's offense was effective and was the one that best fit his skill set. But I think what's interesting is, I know, you know, talking to Brian Hartline, the wide receivers coach at Ohio State, he had talked about working with

Harris Campbell and working with other guys who play that position about teaching them how to play those routes, not only so that they'd be prepared if they needed to play outside at Ohio State, but also so that they'd be prepared for the next level. And I think the fact that he did what he did at rookie minicamp shows you that he was taught to play those outside routes he he learned he practiced playing those abilities even though he didn't use them in a game he was taught how to do them and the fact that he was able to go into indianapolis and show that in literally his first practices as a colt i think is a testament to the way that he was coached at Ohio State to learn those things, even if he didn't necessarily get asked to use them in a game.

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This is probably a curious comp because I know you've covered both these guys the last two years, but do you think Paris Campbell is more along the lines of a Curtis Samuel type, or how would you really split the difference between those two prospects? Those guys are really fast. They're pretty similar in height, too. Do you think Paris Campbell has more upside than the guy Curtis Samuel because they're pretty much the same usage in their offense under Urban Meyer.

Yeah, I mean, I think they're very similar, and I think even the draft position reflects that, both being second-round picks. I think Samuel has more upside in terms of his shiftiness, in terms of being used as a runner. I think he's a little more dynamic in that regard in terms of making people miss. You know, that's not really Paris' game. But I think Paris is a little bit stronger.

I think Paris is a little bit bigger. I think he's probably a better blocker than Curtis Samuel was. So I think their games are similar. I think they're a little bit different in terms of, you know, the little things that they do. But I think they're pretty comparable in terms of, you know, just being, you know, that H-back and Ohio State's offense. Obviously, for both of them, the trait that really stands out is their speed.

And, you know, some of it now becomes going to the NFL, it's kind of, you know, how do you sit within an offense? I think the Panthers are still kind of figuring out how to use Curtis Stamley within their offense. You know, if he can go into Indianapolis and they've got a good plan for him and they can really find a role that works for him right away, then he might be more productive just by being in what might be a better fit for him. Yeah, let me ask you about that figure to close out the show, Dan.

Were you surprised first off that he fell to 59 and second off, how do you like the fit in Indianapolis? Because I feel like on the surface there, the coach like Frank Reich can really scheme guys open. It seems like a perfect fit on the surface. Yeah, I mean, I thought there was a chance he'd go a little bit earlier, but I wasn't shocked. I think, you know, second round was where I figured he would go.

I think if he had fallen out of the second round, I would have been a little bit surprised. But I think late second round, I thought that was about his realm, and I definitely thought the Colts were a team. I thought whether him or Terry McLaurin, I thought there was a chance that they would end up drafting one of the two Ohio statewide receivers. So not a surprising fit for me in terms of, you know,

the team that drafted him. I know that he had visited them before the draft, and they had shown some interest in him. I think, you know, that was, I know that, you know, he had, you know, visited them before the draft and they had shown some interest in him. So I think that, you know, that was one of the teams that kind of stood out as a potential fit for him. And I think it is a good fit for him. You know, I think you go into a team that, you know, of course, you know, you've got T.Y. Hilton there, you've got Devin Funchess, but I think there's going to be an opportunity for him to go in and contribute right away. And, you know, with a coach who's going to run, you know, a pass first offense and Frank Reich and a good quarterback there and Andrew Luck. I think those are good tools for a guy coming in to have a chance to succeed right away.

So I think it's a good fit for him. Obviously, just a few hours down the road from Columbus, not too far from his family who lives up in Akron. So I think it is a good fit for him. And, you know, I would expect him to succeed there.