Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - PROSPECT SPOTLIGHT: De'Zhaun Stribling Has Traits to Fill Indianapolis Colts' Apparent WR Needs

Starting point is 00:00:00 Now Colts fans, but wide receiver might just become a massive need here in the coming days. But the good news is Zach has someone for us who is kind of a perfect fit for this team. And it's probably not going to cost premium assets to get them either. 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 00:00:32 Welcome to Locked-on Colts, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network out there. I am Jake Arthur, your Indianapolis Colts beatwriter for Roundtable Sports, joined by the architect of the indie draft guide, Zach Hicks. If you haven't checked it out yet, we're going to have it in our show notes, but go ahead and get your pre-order of the indie draft guide now. One of the guys that we're obviously going to talk a great deal about today, but also within that draft guide,

Starting point is 00:01:01 is a receiver who might just be filling an immediate need for the Colt Sack. We are talking about Deshawns straddling from Ole Miss. And I've got to be honest with you, I kind of struggle to see why this guy isn't a little more highly rated. You watch this tape and you see the explosiveness, the playmaking ability. He's got great size, 6-2-107 with 436 speed.

Starting point is 00:01:26 His jumps are great to, 36-inch vertical, 10-7 broad. you see yards after catch ability, you see the ability to win 50-50 balls and use his body around the boundary. This guy should be available to the Colts like in the earliest to mid-round. But tell us about him as a player and where the real value is there with him.

Starting point is 00:01:51 Yeah, no, DeJohn Stribling is a player who I've been very high on throughout this draft process and even going back into the season last year watching a lot of those Ole Miss games with Trinidad Chambliss as their quarterback, making that run in the playoff, especially post-lane Kiffin, was very fun to watch as a fan.

Starting point is 00:02:07 And Stribbling just always stood out to me as just this NFL-ready receiver that does so many things that I think an NFL coach will absolutely love. And he reminds me a lot of Trey Harris, who came out, I believe last year from Ole Miss as well, Harris just being, again, that sturdy, good blocking, good hands, reliable receiver.

Starting point is 00:02:27 I see a lot of those same traits in DeJon. on stribbling, probably with a little bit more juice as well, though, when it comes to stripling. So just to take you back on his college journey at this point, he started his career at Washington State. And one big thing that I really like to look at with receivers in particular is how long did it take them to get their feet off the ground at the college level? I think that's very indicative of how good you're going to be in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:02:51 And I see with a player like stribling, you know, immediately at age 18, he had over 400 yards receiving. He followed it up at age 19 with over 600 yards receiving. So again, in his 18 and 19-year-old seasons, he combined for over 1,000 yards at Washington State as a 19-year-old. As a sophomore, he led Washington State in pretty much every single major category as a receiver. And he was able to parlay that into a transfer to Oklahoma State. And after missing his first year with Oklahoma State due to an injury, he emerged in 2024 as their top receiver, 882 yards receiving, and then top two on the team in receptions and touchdowns as well.

Starting point is 00:03:26 So he transferred up yet again, went to the SEC to all. Ole Miss. And lo and behold, his first year of the team, he gets over 800 yards receiving on only 55 receptions. So he didn't even develop that much chemistry with Chambliss because there were other established guys in that room, but still over 800 yards receiving for a team that was able to make that run into the playoffs. So everywhere he's gone, he's been productive. I know he's been a bit of a mercenary here at the college level, but he's shown the ability to adapt and be productive at every location. And it's not like he kept transferring down to get more playing time, right? He goes from Washington State, a team that is in a lost conference right

Starting point is 00:04:04 now at the Pac-12, goes to Oklahoma State a little bit more competitive at the Big 12, and then jumps up to the SEC. So it's that continual climb with where he's playing, and production followed him in each and every one of those places. When you look at his film, though, like if we're looking at this purely from the scouting eye, the first thing that stands out is I think he has incredible speed on film. for anybody who was shocked by his 40 time because he is like a bigger receiver over 200 pounds, turn on any game. I think it was Georgia in the regular season that he played against where he took a screen and turned the corner on that Georgia defense and took it over 60 yards for a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:04:42 And you're watching this. Like again, he's flying by Georgia defenders with ease, like long striding past these guys. And I remember just when I turned on that film, it was like, okay, this is like a guy who has next level NFL speed. that wide receiver. So the speed really pops out, but also, again, just the, just the ability to play the receiver position at such a developed level.

Starting point is 00:05:03 He only ranks behind Zachariah Branch and Skyler Bell among notable receivers in this draft and yards after catch per target with 7.3 yards after catch. Also notable with that is Branch, I think his average depth of target was like 3.2 yards, where a player like Stribling's average depth of target was 9.3 yards.

Starting point is 00:05:21 So he's catching around the first down marker and creating after the, catch very reliable past catcher as well only a 4% drop rate in college in his career according to pf including just one drop last year which i think is the lowest among draft eligible receivers in this class in their final season at college and also he's just he's just a gnarly blocker i love the potential that he brings as a blocker you can bring him in line you can have him stock block on the outside and he can be very productive in that way so i just see an nfl caliber receiver here from The route running from the contested catch ability over the middle of the field to the reliability where

Starting point is 00:06:00 he just doesn't drop balls. He can create after the catch. He's almost kind of like if Omar Cooper Jr. is making this jump into round one and you miss out on him, I feel like this is a great consolation prize. Okay. Yeah. Later in the draft where, again, you get the yards after catch, you get the speed, you get the reliability and the good hands.

Starting point is 00:06:18 You just don't get it maybe at the same level as Omar Cooper Jr., but you still get it at a very good level. So I see a player who's going to be. be extremely, like have extreme utility for an NFL offense. I think he brings a lot to the table. And I think he's going to be a coach's dream when he gets to the next level. So I don't think you can replace Alec Pierce with just one player. I think you've got to replace him in the aggregate. So adding a quality player like Dejaun Stribling and I'll say in the next segment where you can get him, adding a quality player like this is one step forward to potentially replacing the

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Starting point is 00:09:51 Now, obviously, this is a school that's got kind of a long history recently of turning out some productive wide receivers. Now, let's look at this from a Colts angle, though, and how Stribling fits in here. It's multi-layered now, Zach, when it comes to why the Colts might need receiver help. So just go back to October. You traded away Ad. Mitchell, who was like this really impressive developmental guy who had, who was perhaps going to be talented enough to be your top receiver one day. You know, height, weight, speed, wiggle, like, he kind of had the whole package. But then, you know, Michael Pittman Jr., we know at $29 million that cap hit,

Starting point is 00:10:33 the Colts could trade or cut him if they don't come to some sort of contract agreement with him. And then Alec Pierce looks like he's going to be testing the open market. So really, you've lost one of these guys already in Mitchell. Pierce may be out the door as well. Pittman, his best days are behind him, and he may not be there either. So you kind of need a guy that's the whole package. So I see stribling. He's got kind of that size and bulk of Pittman and the toughness there, the blocking of

Starting point is 00:11:05 Pittman and Pierce as well. And then some of the explosiveness of Pierce and Mitchell. And then you even look at like Ashton Doolan, I think he has a lot of the same profile and traits as he does as well. So I think a guy like stribling would fit the Colts very, very well beyond just the fact that they need bodies. I think he specifically would be a good match for them. But like I mentioned at the top, I'm really not sure why he's not considered like a pretty early round guy. So where could the Colts get him?

Starting point is 00:11:35 Yeah, I mean, ideally if the Colts were able to bring back Pierce and then they can move on from Pittman, I think he's just the ideal Pittman replacement just at a lower level. You know, he brings a lot of the same elements that Pittman brings just with a lot more juice and creation after the catch, then Pittman can just provide at this point in his career. So I think he would be just perfect if that's the course they go. But even if the course is losing Pierce and running it back with Pittman at his crazy dollar amount, which seems potentially on the table at this point with how everything is going, again, I think stribling can be part of the solution because without Alec Pierce,

Starting point is 00:12:12 you really have to fully pivot this offense to more of the, like lean even hard. harder into the play action and yard after catch thing that they were building last year because you're not going to have that guy you can take the top off the defense at such a scary level that opens up the middle of the field like the Colts had last season. So I think you've got to get guys who can create after the catch guys that can operate well in limited space and create extra space for themselves. I think a player like Stribbling can do that. And then I think you know, you're going to need a compliment to this. So maybe that is a duel. And maybe that's another guy you draft that can run over the top because.

Starting point is 00:12:48 you're not going to just replace Pierce with one player. But I think stribling is just part of that overall aggregate to replace the production lost in the offense. So I wouldn't expect him to come in here and generate 1,000 yards of offense, or I guess if you count the past interference yards, too, that Pierce generated. It's like 1,300 yards of offense that he created last year. I wouldn't expect stribling to do that. But if he can give you four or 500 yards as a spot starter for you,

Starting point is 00:13:14 that could go a long way into replicating that production that was lost in potentially losing Pierce. So in terms of overall draft range, like you mentioned, Jake, the draft can be a bit weird in terms of where guys go. I think once you get out of that round one range, anything is on the table in terms of reaches, in terms of falls. So I think anywhere between like round three to five makes sense for stribling for the pros for him. Again, he's a height weight speed guy who is productive everywhere he went. And I think NFL teams are going to like that. It interviews really well. Seems like a consonant professional in terms of what's against him. Not the most fluid, not the super separator.

Starting point is 00:13:51 He was kind of a mercenary in college, and we saw a team like the Colts haven't really valued that in the past. So we'll see how much they value a player like stribling. But overall, in terms of fit, like I mentioned, does a lot of things that Pittman Jr. can do at a younger and more explosive rate can be part of the solution in this Colts wide receiver room and just add another capable body that can be a coach's dream in the offense. So again, three to five.

Starting point is 00:14:18 range. I think he's especially intriguing if they lose Pitman and keep Pierce. But even if they lose Pierce and keep Pittman, I still think adding a layer of this quality to the offense makes a lot of sense. Yeah, without a doubt. We're going to talk more about that actually later today, guys.

Starting point is 00:14:34 With the news coming from the horse's mouth, Alec Pierce, that he's going to be probably testing the market. We're going to talk more about Pierce, the Colts approach, and for agency, and just the Colts wide receiver room in general. what adjustments might need to be made going into, into 2026 the season and this very important

Starting point is 00:14:54 offseason. But that is all we've got for this episode featuring Stribling right now. Thanks again for tuning into our bonus episode. Make sure you subscribe to our show so that you get all the latest episodes. If you don't already, follow at Locked on Colts at Jake Arthur NFL and at Zach Hicks 2 on social media. If you never miss an episode, then remember that the Every Day or Club is built just for you. Get locked on Colts all. audio ad free plus members only Discord access and more. And actually until March 15th right now, we're running a special where you get a month free. If you use the code free agency, all caps, no spaces.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - PROSPECT SPOTLIGHT: De'Zhaun Stribling Has Traits to Fill Indianapolis Colts' Apparent WR Needs

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