Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Recapping rounds 2-7 of the Colts' 2021 draft

Episode Date: May 3, 2021

On today's special weekend episode, Evan is joined by Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed to recap the Indianapolis Colts' draft rounds 2-7. After starting with a bang drafting Kwity Paye at No. 21 overall, Indy doubled-down on defensive linemen at No. 54 with Vanderbilt's Dayo Odeyingbo. Even with a torn Achilles in the pre-draft process, the Colts coveted Odeyingbo with a first-round grade.Entering into Day 3, the Colts began with drafting SMU tight end Kylen Granson at No. 127. Granson is the highest drafted tight end for Indy since 2012 (Dwayne Allen + Coby Fleener). A great fit within the Frank Reich offense, Granson is a more athletic version of Trey Burton. It's been confirmed that Granson will play an immediate role for Indy in 2021, so what should we expect?Closing out the draft, Indy made some surprise picks. Sam Ehlinger will compete with Jacob Eason to be the QB2 behind Carson Wentz. Also, adding some more depth at DB and WR was very necessary.All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed episode recapping everything the Colts did with their final six picks of the 2021 NFL Draft! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back into the latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Sedry, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. To recap everything for the Annapolis Colts past round one of the 2021 NFL Draft, start with a bang, Stephen. I mean, a huge stunner, that quitty pace, slip of 21.

He actually got into town in Indy on Saturday for the first time, met the coaching staff, Chris Bowden and Frank Reich. Still a huge home run pick the Colts started with. I'm still buzzing about that quiance, Stephen, that the Colts have quiddipea at 21. Day two and day three for the Colts brought some interesting questions, though, because left tackle, as of this moment, Stephen, is still not filled. We'll cover that later in the show.

But the next two picks for the Colts in the draft, Dio Odbango out of Vanderbilt, the edge rusher, interior defensive lineman, who the Colts felt was a first-round player before he tore his Achilles in the pre-draft process. And from a player I've watched on tape, Stu, and a very, very good athlete and looks like a more explosive, longer version of Danico Autry, going into Kylan Granson as well, the tight end of SMU, the first time the Colts have drafted a tight end that high,

I believe, Stu, it's in Dallas Clark. It's been a SMU, the first time Colton drafted a tight end that high, I believe, students, in Dallas-Clark. It's been a very long time since Colton drafted a tight end, especially in the fourth round or lower. Then going into the rest of the picks, Sean Davis, a safety out of Florida, and then as well a surprise pick, Sam Ellinger, quarterback out of Texas, who we're going to dive into later on the show, and then Michael Strack, a wide receiver out of Charleston, West Virginia,

and then as well to close it out, the whole NFL draft, you got Will Fries, the offensive guard out of Penn State with our final pick. Steven, how are you doing tonight here as the NFL draft is officially over for the Annapolis Colts? They traded back once late in the sixth round and got us two seventh-round picks in the process, finished with seven total picks. How are you feeling tonight after the draft is finished, and what's your overall thoughts on this draft now? Hey, Evan. I'm feeling good about the draft.

I know that we all kind of had a little bit of a head-scratch moment there in round two with Dale Dangbo. But as a whole, I'm pretty excited about the draft. I think that they got, at least with those first three picks, some guys that will, you know, Quidipe and Conley Granson will be able to play right away. And then if Dio ends up being everything that the Colts think he can be, then that's an absolute steal to get in there at 54.

You know, he's got that length. He's got that, if he's able to return to form, he's got that explosiveness that you just don't really see. And you saw on his tape, he would just do some things that guys his size shouldn't be able to do in terms of athleticism and agility so I you know as a whole I'm pretty excited about it I think that there's obviously some some pretty big questions uh to answer for this team and my hope is that they've got a plan and you know Chris

Ballard with his binders he's he's probably got like plans upon plans uh on what to do I'm not sure anybody really expected them uh to get out of round two without having a tackle. And I don't think Chris Ballard thought that he would be getting out of round two without a tackle. That's kind of the crazy part of it is it seemed from everything that he was doing, everything that he said afterwards, that they were probably looking to take Dylan Radins at 54. And then Tennessee obviously took him at 53. But now I think in

three separate occasions, or at least two separate occasions, he said, you know, the guy that, you know, guys that they wanted uh they were targeting a couple of them went right before him in his roundup uh tonight he said you know a guy we liked uh went right before us and so that that tells me that that was dylan radins there with tennessee and i still i mean if we're i know we're talking about the Colts, but I don't understand the pick by Tennessee there for Radins. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me in terms of a team-building standpoint. But it would have been a great pick for the Colts because they need a left tackle.

But for the Titans, they don't – they didn't need a left tackle. They needed a right tackle. And that's not Dylan Radins. But for the Colts as a whole, though, once you've got Quidipe, like the whole draft is pretty much you're just adding, you know, onto this amazing thing that you've built right there with Quidipe at 21. So as a whole, I'm really excited. They've got some interesting prospects later on in the draft.

And we'll see how they work, see how they go. Let's hit on just going down chronological order here. Dio Odango out of Vanderbilt. I'm going to have to say his name wrong a lot, I imagine, but I'm just going to call him Dio. But out of Vanderbilt. And he's a guy who, quite honestly, Stephen, I did not watch much of in the pre-draft process

because I just didn't think, like, I don't know for some reason, he just never came to me as a guy that legitimately – I usually watch a lot of the guys in like the top 100 prospects, and I didn't really hear much buzz at all about Dio. But when you go back and look at his overall profile and just his tape as well, team captain for Vanderbilt, he had very long arms. If he would have tested the pro day, probably would have been very athletic.

He tore his Achilles in the pre-draft process before he went to the Senior Bowl. So he probably might have been a first or second-round pick anyways if he would have been very athletic he tore his Achilles in the pre-draft process before he went to the senior bowl so he probably might have might have been a first or second round pick anyways if he would have been healthy for the senior bowl but six foot five 275 pounds 35 and a quarter inch arms that's actually longer than DeForest Buckner's an 86 and three-eighths inch wingspan Steven which is in the 99th percentile for edge rushers and it's the longest according to mockdraftable.com's database for any defensive linemen in their entire history. 86 and 3-8 inch wingspan is the longest in their entire database, which goes back to 1999. So over the last 22 years, Dio has the longest arms of any defensive lineman. And that really just seems like a Chris Bauer guy to me. Turn on the tape,

just very productive too. In eight games this year, he had eight tackles for loss, five and a half sacks, 32 total tackles. And the year prior in 2019, 45 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, a sack and a half all in 12 games. Very productive. And like Chris Bauer mentioned, the Colts staff thought he was one of the most disruptive guys on tape this past year in 2020. And then Morocco Brown, after he spoke to the media today, saying that, as he calls him, Hurricane Dio,

that he's a guy who just couldn't pass up there at 54. They had a first-round ground on him. And he's someone to me, like, he did a lot of his damage, Stephen, inside at Vanderbilt. He was lined up a lot in the D'Nico Autry role as a strong set defensive end. But you can also kick him inside on pass downs. And he did a lot of damage there. He seems like, to me, eventually a guy who's going to be in that Autry role.

But surprisingly enough, Stephen, with their second-round pick, a key pick with them, obviously with the left tackle knee, like you mentioned, go with a guy who more like a nut's going to be a redshirt in 2021 because Chris Bauer mentioned he rushed back Kamoku Ture too fast this past year with his injury with his ankle. I know it's different than the Achilles, but Achilles is even more serious than that. So I imagine that dial is probably going to be out the whole rookie season unless he comes back for a playoff run,

which I'd be surprised they put him in at that point with all the cohesion they'd have in place at that point. But I think, honestly, looking at the tape, looking at the measurables, looking at the character and the captain for Dio and his length as well, insane length for a guy his size, he does check really every Colts box. And once he's fully healthy with his Achilles I mean I can't imagine having Dio and Buckner inside disrupting the passing lanes and having maybe Ture and Pei on the outside yeah and that's what the Colts I think that's what us fans need to

understand is that with this pick with Dio Odengbo, it's Odengbo. I've got to keep reminding myself that because I'm going to mess this up a lot too. But with Odengbo, the thing for him and what we need to understand as fans is that Chris Ballard and the Colts are looking at this from kind of a overview perspective saying, okay, well we could go to the microscopic view and say, okay, well, what is he going to do for us this year? Well, obviously not much, or if he does, it's not going to be until October or November. And that's on a very aggressive treatment plan.

And he's able to respond very, very well. They're looking at three years down the road or they're looking at next year and they see, okay, well, what's looking at three years down the road, or they're looking at next year. And they see, okay, well, what's going on next year, next year, Taekwon Lewis is an unrestricted free agent. Kamoko Ture is an unrestricted free agent. Al-Khadi Mohammed is an unrestricted free agent. Isaac Rochelle, unrestricted free agent. They've got a lot of guys that are going to become unrestricted free agents next year, and they need to start building up that pipeline with guys. And if Dio is as good as they believe he is, and he can come back from this injury,

and given the ability of the Colts medical staff, you've got to think that he was, they ran this through them and said, hey, look, we think he's going to be able to come back to the level that he was at before. Because if they didn't, then this guy would have been medically pulled from their board. So the fact that he was still on there and that he was ranked so high to where that they felt more comfortable taking him than saying going for an offensive tackle like a Spencer Brown or potentially trading back, it tells you a lot about how they feel about him.

He's got that length. Like you mentioned, it's freakish for a defensive and defensive tackle to have the length that he does, which, as we all know, Chris Ballard really values certain traits, and that happens to be one of the big ones, especially on defense. When it comes to what he can do, Morocco Brown talked about this, and when he nicknamed the human hurricane, it's because he can move all over and just causes disruption

no matter where he goes. And so, like I think you mentioned just a minute ago, a lot of the most disruptive times that – or disruptive things that he did while at vanderbilt was when he was in that defensive tackle position and that's a role where i mean you think about it you you've got you know deforest buckner and dio and and quitty pay and then hopefully ben van agoo or kamoka ture ends up coming out and that's your like kind of like mass car package kind of like what the the new york giants used to run um back when they beat the patriots in the super bowl and dio fits that

he fits that like justin tuck style defensive end where he can go play defense end for a little bit he's got enough enough moves enough explosiveness um the crazy length and then he can drop down to play that three technique um right there at at the three technique defensive tackle and be able to rush the passer. If he's able to return, this is an absolute steal of a pick here for the Colts. The problem is that's a big if. If he can't, then it's a major bust for Ballard. I think that he's probably going to hit. I think he's going to come back. I know, again, I'm a huge fan myself, so I want him to come back and be fully healthy. But Kelly's injuries are tough they they usually are the ones that really kind of destroy a player's

explosive traits and not many players have been able to come back from it and been the same player prior to the injury so my hope is that he's able to come back and still make a difference um even if he's at you know 90 of what he was. He'll still be a solid pick there in the second round. And when you look at when he was picked and what was available, the next best offensive tackle available, I think, was Spencer Brown, who went several picks later. I think he was in the third round. You know, Brady Christensen, I think, was right around there as well. And there was a

significant drop off from what Chris Ballard said between Dio D'Angelo and the next round of offensive tackles. So they stuck to their board and they did what they think they could, they should do and go with what they thought was the best player. And Jim Irsay, I think, made the comment of how excited he was that they were able to get two really, really good explosive defensive ends. And he hasn't had these kinds of defensive ends since like Franey and Mathis. And so it's just the Colts are really high on these guys. And obviously, Quidipe is the gem of this draft, and he should be. But if Dayo Odengbo can come out and really get healthy

and prove that he's worth this pick, then the Colts, I think they got a steal based just on tape and what he can do. But again, that's a big if. Last point here on Dayo before we dive into Kylan Granson, the first tight end the Colts have drafted in a very long time this high in the fourth round at 127. But on Dio real quickly, like Quidipe, a great player in rush defense as well. Like you mentioned, could slide inside and out just like Quidipe can.

I feel like, honestly, Stephen, drafting Dio and having him register is kind of a two-parter for you. But I honestly think like Dio looks like a three-down guy to me, just like Quidipe. So if he's fully healthy in 2022, like Pei, I just don't see him calling out the field that much. And I think this also gives the Colts an opportunity with him probably taking mostly a redshirt year in 2021.

If he truly is a three-down guy like Quidipe on the opposite side of him, this is a year where they're really going to sink or swim against a Kamoko Ture, Tyquan Lewis, and Ben Bannego. Because Lewis and Ture are in contract years. Bannego's in a prove-it year where he could really going to sink or swing against a Kamoko Ture, Taekwon Lewis, and Ben Banigou because Lewis and Ture are in contract years. Banigou's going to prove a year where he could easily be cut after this year if he doesn't do well. With Dio being out in the meantime, that gives them really a true trial run by fire here to see what they have

in Ture, Lewis, and Banigou. Yeah, and that was really echoed by Chris Ballard after day two in his press conference where somebody asked him specifically, and I don't remember which beat writer it was, but they asked him about Justin Houston. And Chris Ballard said, look, we like Justin, said all the positive things about him, and said, but the room's looking pretty full right now. And so that tells me they don't plan to bring Justin Houston back. And in doing that, that means they't plan to bring Justin Houston back. And in doing that,

that means they're going to give these guys snaps. And I really want to see Taequann Lewis play. It's going to be sink or swim for him this year to see if he can really step into the Dinko Autry role. And I hope that they're able to give Kamoka Ture the time he needs to come back. It sounds like he's going to be fully healthy in June, which is in front of whenever they need him to be, which is great. And I'm perplexed with how the Colts have handled Ben Vanigou because he's got such explosive traits. They just seem like they haven't given him a chance. And that's really frustrating because he has talent. He's got the ability. And it just seems like the coaching staff or there's something going on there

where they just aren't giving him the opportunity. And I think if they gave him that chance, gave him that opportunity, he would really shine. And so I do think that this is a prove-it year for all three of those defensive ends. And they're going to get that chance. They're going to be able to earn it.

And my hope is that they go through and and Ben Banigou, Kamua Peture, and Taequann Lewis all play very very well because ultimately what the best thing for the Colts is that they've got too many guys to where they can't pay them they're able to walk but they still get huge paychecks somewhere else so then the Colts can get a comp pick and a compensatory pick in that next year's draft. So, you know, it's a good problem to have when you've got too many good players. But this is a big year for them. And I think that Chris Ballard and Frank Ray are totally committed to letting these guys play it out and see if they can earn their snaps. And they're going to give these young guys a chance to play, and I think that's the best thing for them.

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Again, text DRAFT 231231 to get the latest and great products over at Nugenix. I totally agree with you there. And it's a big year, obviously, for guys like Banu Guterre and Lewis. And they're going to be getting a lot of snaps this year. Opposite, Quidi Pei. He's going to be a day one plug-and-play starter here after taking him in round one. Adding in Dio Odengbo in round two is going to be a guy to watch out for

down the line. It could really be – the Colts' foursome on the defensive line could already be locked in long-term standings for the starters. Quidipe, Gerber, Stewart, DeForest, Buckner, and Dio Odengbo, if all goes well for them, that's a really fearsome foursome on the defensive line for the Colts. But let's dive into the next pick starting off day three, which was SMU Titan Kylan Granson, who went above Brevin Jordan,

the Miami Titan who we thought would be a fit there. But comparing head-to-head, Kylan Granson and Brevin Jordan, Granson's a completely different level of athlete than Brevin Jordan. I think his RAS score, Kylan Granson's in the high sevens. Brevin Jordan was around like 5.3. You see the quick explosive burst from a guy like Kyle and Grant. He was only 6'1.5", around the same size as Trey Burton, but he's really a souped-up version of Trey Burton.

Nearly identical measurables, but really just a lot more speed and explosive from Grant. And a guy can really take the seam off the defense. You can line him in line, line him in the slot, even line him at fullback in the backfield at times on some RPOs. You can get really creative with them. It seems like to me just the characters off the charts of Colin Granton, too, did well at the senior bowl down there.

From my standpoint, like, it really does seem like to me, like, Bauer hinted at Kevin Rogers, the VP of player personnel, told me today when asked about Granton that it seems to me that he's a player that's going to be sticking right into that Trey Burton role as their move tight end. Obviously, it could be a lot of Jack Doolam, Molly Cox this year, but Kylan Granson is someone who I think could be probably these two picks, Quiddie Paye and Kylan Granson, are going to be the heavy contributors for rookies this year. I agree. I mean, the comp is Trey Burton. It's pretty spot on, too. Like, if you look at the numbers and the things that they had put up going into their rookie years, like, Granson's basically a slightly shorter, heavier, more explosive version of Trey Burton.

And he's a perfect fit for Frank Gregg's offense and what they want to do. So I'm really excited about it. And I think it's interesting, though though because I think you're absolutely right Quidipe and and Kylan Granson are going to be the two rookies that you expect to really contribute here in this first year and there's somebody by the name of Shiel Capadia who put out a tweet that said 52 of 255 drafted players last year logged at least 500 snaps. So that's about 20% of drafted players at the NFL had prominent roles as rookies. So that's what we need to understand is a lot of these guys aren't going to be able to be huge players this year, and especially on a team for the Colts that have a

pretty good roster just in general so guys like Kylie Granton and Quiddie Paye are obviously going to be the ones that get a lot of playing time maybe Sean Davis to a point the the safety from Florida that they took with their next pick but But the Colts, these guys are going to get an opportunity to play these first couple ones, but don't expect everybody to be immediate contributors. And that's what we have to understand. Colleen Granson, I think, is a perfect fit in the Colts' offense. He's smooth. He's explosive.

He had similar numbers in terms of, I think, yard per catch as Kyle Pitts. As everybody knows, that's the number four overall pick, and it's probably a little bit soon to say he's a Hall of Famer, but that's where everybody put him, at least to start his NFL career. So good luck, Kyle Pitts. Your par is already set really, really high. But I think he's got the ability to reach it. Collin Granson had the similar explosiveness in terms of the yards per catch. I think he was only like a yard behind Kyle Pitts. So that's pretty darn good.

He's a mismatch nightmare if you can get him. He's got such great hands. He's able to separate in space from linebackers if they try to cover him that way. So I really think that Granson's kind of that perfect fit for the Colts offense and what they want to do. It also allows him to run more like two back sets because he'll be able to go in and be a little bit of a blocker and just kind of get in the way more than anything else. But it's going to force the defenses to match up to the Colts and the Colts are going to be able to take advantage of that by having Granson in there. Yeah, Granson is going to be seeing immediate playing time for the Colts and in that Trey Burton role, I think he's going to do very well.

Just really quickly from the overview from Lance Zerline, who actually had him as a round five pick, went here at round four, 127. On Granson, quote, matchup tight end with acceleration athletes and create passing windows and make noise with his yard touch for catch. He's a little light into getting breaks, so a scheme that allows him to keep straying throughout the route is preferable. While he offers playing potential, the hand-eye coordination looked a bit shaky as a pass catcher. Granson doesn't have the strength to do much blocking near the line of scrimmage, which limits how he can be used, but he might be functional enough

in the slot. He has day-three potential and intriguing upside in the right scheme. In the Frank Gregg scheme, Stephen, we just talked about Trey Burton, who at one point last season, like early on, we were getting forced at Trey Burton. Frank Gregg just talked about Trey Burton, who at one point last season, like early on, like we were getting forced at Trey Burton. Like Frank Reich loves himself some Trey Burton. I think in that Cleveland Browns game that lay loss, I think he had 10 targets in that game or something along those lines. Like in the first like six to eight weeks of the season,

we got a lot of Trey Burton before they went more so into like three wide receiver looks and a lot of that. But if Kylan Granson is a better athlete, which he is based on the numbers to a Trey Burton, it seemed like he only had really one bad game last year with drops, which was against Cincinnati. And Granson and the Colts both said today that drops is not an issue for him. It seems like to me that he could be a guy day one that if he earns Frank Reich's trust, he could be a guy that could also earn Carson Wentz's trust,

maybe get around like 30 to 40 caps next year. Yeah, and that's all they really want from that role as a rookie. You've still got Malali Cox. You've still got Jack Doyle. What they want is that third tight end, that Trey Burton-style tight end, and Kyle Granson fits that to a T. So I think that that's a perfect fit in terms of what they look for in their tight end

and what he brings. It really is just a great fit for Granson and for Frank Reich's offense. Let's dive into the fifth-round pick now, Stephen, which is Sean Davis, the safety out of Florida. He wasn't able to put up a RAS score because he didn't test, but he did put up a couple numbers in the vertical and the broad jump, which is in the 95th-plus percentile. And only he and Caden Stearns, who went in the third round of the Broncos,

put up – the only two guys who put up plus those numbers in those categories this year for safeties. So very athletic safety. No surprise to the culture. I think they're an elite athlete there for the position. But, Stephen, how excited are you to look forward to the Sean Davis versus Sean Davis training camp battle for that third safety spot? I'm looking forward to it.

I would imagine Matt Taylor for the announcer for the Colts, probably not looking forward to it. Although I guess it's pretty easy. All he has to do is safety. Sean Taylor makes the tackle. Sean Taylor, he, he's a really good fit for the system. It's something that you and I have talked about before is a sneaky position that we thought the Colts might look at in this draft is a safety position because they do like to run a lot of three safety sets. They like to have just Darius Leonard and Bobby Okereke out there as linebackers have an extra DB as kind of their base style defense.

I know it's not the traditional base defense, but it's the one that the Colts play a lot. And so having another safety that's versatile because Davis is a good hitter. He's a good run defender. And he's able to make plays on the balls in space. So you feel pretty confident in him in this system. good run defender, and he's able to make plays on the balls in space. So you feel pretty confident in him in this system, and it gives the Colts another option. It pretty much probably closes the door on Malik Hooker as if that wasn't already pretty closed.

But Sean Davis, I think, is a really great fit for this defense, just the style of play that he brings and what he can do. Yeah, I think, too, with Sean Davis out of Florida, just reading his overview here from Lance Zerline, who projected in the fifth round, of course, win the fifth round, so it's a good one from Lance there. But, quote, hard-hitting safety whose size, toughness, and urgent demeanor will be appealing for NFL teams looking to add some attitude on the back end. While he certainly embraced the role of an

enforcer when coming forward as a striker, too often his efforts will hit road bumps due to a lack of discipline with coming to balance and squaring wrapping his target. If a team can correct this issue, he has plenty of value run support. Davis moves with fluidity and some explosiveness, but he has average instincts and anticipation to shake courage and attack throws. He's ranged over the top in two deep sets and can play interchangeably in the box. His aggressiveness and versatility should create an opportunity as a good backup and eventual starter who adds a great special teams value. That sounds like a Colts player to me, like a defensive back that can play both inside and out. Duke is a great tackler. He's very aggressive too, and

he contributes on special teams. Like, Sean Davis might be a surprise player on this list, Stephen, who actually contributes a lot next year. Yeah, he'll definitely get snaps in terms of special teams. When you get that kind of explosiveness, that kind of athleticism, that's kind of some of those guys that you really want on special teams. But that's also somebody that you want to try to get in and get him some snaps on defense to see if he really is that answer is that third safety that gives you a little bit more of an upgrade over somebody like a George Odom or, you know,

a Roland Milligan who's coming back. I think that Davis is, should be a solid contributor for the Colts, at least in spots. So they're going to give him some snaps, see if he can grow as a player. And I think he'll get every opportunity to earn that third safety role. Well, I think it'd be a really fun opportunity to like Davis played free safety and strong safety, but one underrated aspect here is that if he does turn to be the third safety

for this Colts team, you can play inside and out. I really want to see more next year and beyond just because we saw flashes last year. We didn't have the safety depth to do this for the Colts, but getting Julian Blackman actually more so towards the line of scrimmage too. Like we saw that play made on Derrick Henry in Tennessee where he just like was a bazooka in there. Like this could allow like anyone they draft,

like a Sean Davis, like this could allow also more versatility for Matt Eberflus to kind of move Julian Blackman or like Kenny Moore, where it could be like that chess piece. Yeah, it's the fun thing with the Colts is they could literally take any of their safeties and feel comfortable putting them in the box with Julian Blackman, Kyrie Willis, now Sean Davis. Any of those three guys you feel

good about it if they're the ones that are going to be up. Because I mean, shoot, when you, when we had Milly Cooker back there, it was one of those situations where you didn't always want him. Like he was a center fielder in terms of the safety position. You didn't want him necessarily going up and run support. And so with these three guys that they have now, any one of them you feel comfortable going in and knifing through and going and taking on Derrick Henry or any other running

back you go up against. And do you feel confident that they're, if not going to take them down, they're at least going to slow them up so the rest of the defense can get there? Let's go to the most surprising pick now, Stan, of the Colts 2021 NFL draft. Sam Ellinger, the quarterback out of Texas. The Colts just drafted Jacob Eason in the fourth round last year. Of course, Phillip Rivers is gone, and is Carson Wentz as the franchise quarterback. But drafting Sam Ellinger here after trading back in the New Orleans Saints, moved back around 12 spots, got an additional seventh-round pick.

We'll go over the seventh-round picks here in a minute. But what an interesting pick this was to get Sam Ellinger the quarterback out of Texas at the sixth round because the 218th overall pick I this these are guys you're kind of taking dark throws on anyways but it's really interesting to me like Sam Ellinger was the pick here because I think he checks like more boxes to me than Jacob Eason does I know Eason has the traits and everything like that and has the arm, but just based off the moxie, the toughness, the character traits, the multiple-time team captain at Texas, this was a guy Frank Rick would really love to have in that quarterback room. Yeah, and it's interesting because Chris Ballard, the way

that he described Ellinger was more so he's just got that it factor that you just don't teach you they can't teach he's just got it and it's hard to define what that it is it's just he's got it and that's that's really hard hard for us as as analysts and as fans to try to understand all right well well what do you mean mean? Like he's average. He's got, you know, average arm strength, arm talent. He doesn't have great velocity. He's tough.

He shows good leadership, and he's got some mobility. But as a whole, he's not somebody that you really want as your primary backup quarterback. You know, I feel far more comfortable with Jacob Eason that you really want as your primary backup quarterback. I feel far more comfortable with Jacob Eason just because of the sheer arm talent that he's got. But I feel like Ellinger just doesn't have that type of talent. Now, Ellinger, I imagine, is probably a little bit tougher, a little bit more mobile um, you know,

a little bit more mobile than, than Jacob Eason. Um, but at the same time, it's the, he, he gives him an option. He gives him another camp arm. And I think that he'll end up being the third quarterback. And I think the Colts will carry three quarterbacks, especially if they continue with the, uh, protocols that they had in place last year where you're able to bring up two extra players as long as they're offensive linemen from the practice spots you can go ahead and keep them these guys on on your roster throughout the entire season I think it's not

a bad idea to keep him on the roster he's you know a good leader it's something that you look for in quarterbacks is sometimes they just they have something about them that you can't teach. And this is – Allinger apparently is a leader. I was puzzled by it, to be honest. I really wasn't a huge fan of the pick. I thought that the Colts should have stayed there at 206 rather than trade back, even though I know they got two picks from the New Orleans Saints in that trade. But you had Landon Young and the offensive tackle from Kentucky, and you had Stone Forsythe,

the offensive tackle from Florida. I thought both of those could have been really, you know, good developmental prospects there. But the Colts seem to have faith in Ellinger and that he's going to be able to be a solid backup. The tough part, too, is once you get in the sixth and seventh round, it really is all dart throws. There's a reason guys are available here um and so would you know guys like young or forsyth been the players that make the even make the roster who knows um you know same thing with ellinger you don't know if he's gonna make the roster but

you know secretly i have there's like my my joke conspiracy theory is that they drafted another quarterback so then they've got two on the roster that they feel okay about with jacob eason and santa langer so then they can put carson wentz on the pup list and let him sit out for six weeks so they can guarantee themselves that first round pick next year year in that Eagles trade. Now, it's obviously just a joke, guys. Don't take that too seriously. But it would be funny if that actually were the case. Colts fans, Bilt Bar is the best-tasting protein bar ever. They have 18 amazing flavors.

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For a free quote where your purchase while supplies last, go to BiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKED15 and you get 15% off your next order of Bilt Bars. Again, use promo code LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-A-D-1-5, for 15% off at BiltBar.com. Yeah, it kind of opens the door to me, Stephen. Just like in Philadelphia, they always carry three quarterbacks. Maybe Frank Rick prefers to have three quarterbacks in the room there just to bounce ideas off and have two multiple guys.

Eason likes dripping traits. Ellinger is dripping character and dripping that colts kind of blue blue star mentality that i think really could like mesh well together in the quarterback room but really quickly the profile here from from lands their line on sam ellinger who projected to go in the sixth or seventh round highly talented dual threat quarterback from the austin area who put together a four-saw but somewhat unspectacular years at texas they don't come much tougher than ellen garth the position and his intangibles are as good as you could ask for he's a very average passer but can deliver most throws a good enough accuracy and velocity to hit the open target he doesn't have a plus arm and can struggle to fit throws into tight windows or make big completions throwing on the

move his deep accuracy is a step below average but he's fairly effective throwing with anticipation on intermediate routes. He's not an explosive runner, although he gets tough yards on consistent bases as a scrambler and on called runs. His 2019 tape is a better study of his potential, but career backup looks to be his ceiling. And the comparable they have for NFL.com on him is actually Tim Tebow. So that's kind of our group there. It could be like Tim Tebow 2.0.

I mean, I could see it with the way he runs it, but interesting that the Colts add another quarterback into their quarterback room. He might be a guy to stash in the practice squad next year. If not, he's going to be their third quarterback, I imagine. I think Easton will beat him out in a training camp that was due to that arm steal. But let's go into our next final few picks here.

The first pick in the seventh round, a guy who I never heard of before they made this pick, Michael Strachan, I believe I'm saying that right, the wide receiver out of Charleston, this pick, Michael Strachan. I believe I'm saying that right. The wide receiver out of Charleston, West Virginia. Dripping traits, too, Stu. And 6'5", 230 pounds, 20 bench press reps, 4'5", 40 at his size, nearly a 37-inch vertical, a sub-7'3 cone for a guy his size as well.

I think he had like a 9.3 RAS score as well. Just an elite athlete for a position. One of the best RAS scorers for any wideout in this year's draft. Speaking of Darth Ruse, even here in the sixth, seventh round, like this is almost like screaming like Desmond Patman last year. A guy just really on the board and elite athlete for the position. Just try to mold him. And that's what they're going to try to do here. The 6'5", turn 35, turn 30 pound Michael Strachan. Yeah, it's interesting with Strachan and I'm going to try to do are the 6'5", 230-pound Michael Strachan. Yeah, it's interesting with Strachan, and I'm going to go ahead and go with the same pronunciation as Strachan just to make it easy because I don't know how to say it either.

One of the interesting things about him, obviously he's got that size, strength, speed. He's got those explosive traits. He's a physical freak, and he's just, he's a prototypical but developmental X receiver. He's that outside guy that really can stretch the field. Now, I thought it was interesting because if you listen to this scouts, scouts eye view kind of thing where the Colts allow a couple of scouts to be able to talk to, to the media and answer questions. The scout that found this guy said the same thing. He's like, never heard, never really heard of him.

You know, never really, you know, didn't go to any of his games, but straight straight and came to the West Virginia pro day. And he's out of university of Charleston and came to the West Virginia Pro Day after his season was canceled. And came, showed up, was in incredible shape, ran some great times, showed that he's more polished as a route runner than what people give him credit for, that he'd clearly been working on his craft. So it's really interesting because it shows that he's got that kind of character that the Colts look for guys that are self-motivated that want to want to be the best.

And Chris Ballard talked about this is sometimes they're, you know, they're or might not have been Ballard, but sometimes guys get knocked down and they're you know they're um or it might not have been ballard um but sometimes guys get knocked down and they're not not the best and you got to have guys on your roster that when they get knocked down that they're going to work hard so they don't ever feel that again um and they're they work hard and they're going to be self-motivated. And that's kind of what you get with Strakin here is that type of player. It's also interesting because he's got that verticality. So he can go just down the field, and it's something that we've talked about before

that the Colts really needed to address. When we talked about the Colts and those types of players, we had actually pegged Simi Fahoku out of Stanford Joshua Meter baby out of Illinois um this is the same mold of player um as those guys he's just a physical freak 6'5 225 he's had two great years at Charleston. He thrived off of downfield vertical throws, but he was able to show in that West Virginia Pro Day that that wasn't just what he was about. He just wasn't about the streaks or the post routes. It was more than that.

And so I'm excited for him to see how he can develop. I think he might be, like you said, that similar to the Desmond Patman role, where they go ahead and try to stash him and try to start working him up. But he's got an opportunity, or he'll have every opportunity, to earn a roster spot. And he's got such an intriguing set of traits. I think he might be one of the heavier wide receivers, but he's also one of the heavier wide receivers, but he's also one of the taller wide receivers in this class. So he's got a real opportunity though, to, to earn

some playing time here at the Colts, if he can keep, keep working and he'll get his opportunity. Again, Colts look at this more as like two to three years down the road kind of deal. And I had a buddy who knows the smaller schools. He texted me right after this pick. He's like, man, that dude is going to be good. And I honestly have not watched a whole lot on him other than little clips that I see here and there. He's like, man, he's big. He's going to be good. And I was like, all right, well, you know, and this is a guy that I, I, I trust with it. And so I'm excited for it. For, for this guy, I'm big wide receiver person myself. So I'm always

excited when they take wide receiver and especially one with traits like this. Yeah. And the Colts already have six wideouts in their roster. You have T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman, Paris Campbell, Zach Paschal, Desmond Patman, Ashton Doolin. I think he's probably battling for that WR6 spot with Doolin in camp. I think the first five guys are pretty much locked in. Maybe Patman more so is a guy you keep stashing, but I think I'm pretty excited for what he could do and maybe a little bit of a role next year.

But I think Stracken, too, on special teams, Steven, like with a freak athlete like that, he's a guy to me, like he could be an elite gunner too. Like you could think of him like in that kind of role that I could be a gunner. Or if you want to long-term, like I don't want to blow your mind here, Steven,

but I went and put Mike Stracken spider web, a mock draftable at tight end. And his number one comp was Kyle Pitts. That's, you know, that could be, it's interesting because some of these bigger wide receivers, if you don't want them to necessarily like bigger, tougher wide receivers that you've got here,

I think it's a really good idea to try to mold them a little bit more into tight ends because you can take advantage of that mismatch and if you're wanting to run like 13 personnel and you want to have three tight ends on the field then what if you have one of those it's just like a giant wide receiver like i think it's a really good i think it's a really good comp uh think it's a really good comp. And I, it's, it's interesting because sometimes you see these freak athletes that come out of these smaller schools, but they dominated for years at that level. And I, you know, you, you see it like with Randy Moss at Marshall,

like he just crushed it, you know, you see it like with Randy Moss at Marshall, like he just crushed it, you know, year in, year out there. Not saying that this guy's going to be that kind of level. Please don't take it that way for anybody that's listening. But when you see that consistency and you see these attributes and you see this willingness, this desire, this drive, this internal motivation that this guy clearly has, it makes you kind of, you know, you feel like maybe this could be, you know, somebody that could work out. Terrell Owens was another one where like, just self-motivated. Terrell Owens, he was just a self-motivated guy that just crushed it at a

small school. Jerry Rice, same way. Like now those guys were a little bit smaller. They didn't have quite the traits that, that straight, I'm going to mess up this name so much straight straight hand does, but it's definitely just like an interesting comp. And I really like the idea of moving a wide receiver that's 6'5", almost 230, and moving him over to tight end. And Trey Burton, for example, I believe is like 6'1", 220-something. Yeah, he was 6'2", 224. So it's not as if he wouldn't – like Strachan wouldn't be able to move to be a tight end.

So I think it's an interesting comp, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Colts had thought about that. Yeah, certainly fun possibilities there. But let's dive into our final pick here of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Colts covering rounds two through seven today. Going to Will Fries, the tackle, swing tackle, offensive guard for Penn State. He's probably going to be playing offensive guard in the NFL

with his lack of arm length. This is, to me, I know Colts fans were relieved to at least see one offensive line pick here, but with Fries, he's a guy, to me, with the shorter arms. He really struggled on the outside edge. It sounds like he got benched midseason for Penn State. Then he moved to guard and did a lot better there. He was a starter at right guard for the final six games of the season

when Penn State did really well. I think this is just more interior depth where he could kick outside and pinch, but Frize as an athlete at guard was a 9.3 RAS score. So this could be a guy like Danny Pinter last year where you could probably pinch him inside and he could play three or four positions for you. Yeah, it sounds like this is, that's kind of what they were planning to do with fries is,

is to drop him inside. It doesn't seem like he's going to be one that is going to stay out on the, on the outside. Like you said, he's got those shorter arms. He's, he's not that prototypical size for a left tackle or for an offensive tackle, but he did do well inside. Ballard mentioned the number of starts that he had at Penn State, and so he likes the toughness of Fries. But, again, once you get to seventh round,

you just hope these guys make the roster. And then if they win a starting job, they're able to contribute and not let anybody down. But yeah, I just don't see him as a left tackle. And I think it's interesting because during that press conference today, after the draft, there was talk about, you know, there were left tackles, but they weren't like, how many of them are going to stay left tackles because there weren't the prototypical, but like you had the three,

like three or four that were prototypical left tackles and like Sewell and Slater and Derrissaw, you know, you know, Radins potentially. You had guys that could have been just straight left tackles, but who knows? Like Radins not even going to be a left tackle his first year. He's going to be a right tackle. And so you've got these guys that only a handful of guys that are like prototypical left tackles. And Chris Ballard pointed that out.

He's like, look, I'm not going to reach for a guy that I'm going to come in and I don't know that he's going to be able to play at left tackle. And so I think it's interesting because he made that comment tonight when they were all kind of going over all the draft picks, but the Colts seem to really like Will Fries. And I think he's going to be good interior depth. He's going to be able to possibly push Kolinsky for that starting spot on the right side. And yeah, I think he's going to be more so a depth piece than anything else.

Last one here for you, Steven, just recapping the draft as a whole, and then looking ahead to the big question now, which is left tackle. I know the Colts are hyping up Sam Tevey, Steven, but I'd be shocked at this point if the Colts are not, or they've already not been in contact throughout this whole process with the guys like Eric Fisher, Alejandro Villanueva, Russell Okung.

I'd be shocked, Steven, if one of those guys is not signed within the next couple weeks to a one-year deal because I just can't see the Colts buying themselves into Sam Tevey being their starter next year or moving Quentin Nelson outside to left tackle. I think at this point they have one of those guys in mind, and they've been having them in mind this whole time. Yeah, I think once they left round two, round three,

and didn't have a left tackle – basically once they left day two and didn't have a left tackle, I think that they started reaching out to guys. Villanueva makes a lot of sense. Especially after this weekend, once they don't count against comp calculation because there's rumors

that he was going to sign with Baltimore. For a guy like that to sign with Baltimore, he wants to be a left tackle. He wants to be paid like a left tackle. Baltimore, you've got Ryan Stanley coming back. Villanueva is going to be a right tackle. You've got Russell Okun out there who's got the ties back to Seattle with a Dodds. You've got Eric Fisher is still available, but he's coming off similarly an Achilles tear.

And I don't know how serious that is or how that rehab's coming. You've got some different options. I think there was one more that I definitely forgot. But yeah, you've got different options there in free agency. I think they're going to bring in a veteran. I don't feel like they're going to be comfortable with Lane Holden or Tevi or Davenport being their primary plan, a left tackle. But when you've got four quality starters in the offensive line,

if your left tackle, even though it's your most important position, if your left tackle isn't quite up to snuff with the rest of the four, you've still got a pretty solid offensive line. It just means that you're going to have to, you know, shade that tight end over on that left side a little bit more often than maybe you'd like or have that running back be over there to chip. I think the Colts are going to be fine. I think Chris Ballard's got a plan. I think that the left tackle position is probably going to – they're going to probably bring in a veteran there to fill in

for at least the next year or two and then hope that next year they'll be able to get a left tackle either in free agency or through the draft. Steven, looking at just recapping this whole draft as a whole, Quiddie Paye at 21, Dio, Dengbo at 54, Kylan Granson is their future move tight end at 127. Then you take some hits on the dartboard in the rounds five through seven. Sean Davis, a very athletic pick out of Florida.

Sam Ellinger to add some more competition to the quarterback room with Jacob Eason. And you have Michael Strack in the wide receiver. Potential tight end. I'm not going to rule that out after seeing his athletic profile at the top of the seventh round. And you also have Will Ferraz, a backup offensive guard out of Penn State. How would you instant reaction grade the NFL draft for the Colts? I'm not going to throw out any hyperbolic reactions here, but I feel like a lot of Colts fans, just quite honestly,

students there overreacting to the weird day two, day three for the Colts really didn't address a lot of, I would say, picks they wanted to get from the Twitter side of things just because you got quitty pay at 21. I'm still buzzing about getting quitty pay, and I think Colts fans should be too because getting that guy to start off your draft in 2021 who could really take this defense from a great defense,

the top 10 one in 2020, to a possible top five elite defense in 2021 if he hits, that could be a really fun pick. And then all the rest of these guys here are just cherries on top of him. Yeah, I think a lot of Colts fans are putting our own personal bias into what they did in the draft, what the team did in the draft, and we're not taking into account the whole. Quidipe is, I mean, that's an A-plus pick right there because he shouldn't have been there at 21. The Colts obviously had offers to move back, but said they weren't to the liking. They weren't to what the Colts would offers to move back, but said they weren't to the liking.

They weren't to what the Colts would need to move back. Obviously took Quidipe, and I don't think they're going to even look back and never regret turning down those offers. I think Quidipe's that good. I think the big question mark, as with everybody else, is a dang bell. And if he develops and he comes back from his injury and goes back to his pre-injury form, I think nobody's going to be talking about the fact that they didn't take a left tackle. And the other thing to consider is at that time,

the Colts had a couple of tackles that they were targeting, and it was probably Sam Cosme, somebody that we've talked about and Dylan Radins. And the fact is, you know, Washington took them to a head and then Tennessee took Radins right in front of us. So at that point, you got to trade up at least four spots and you don't have a lot of draft capital. So the Colts were kind of, you know, up at least four spots and you don't have a lot of draft capital.

So the Colts were kind of, you know, unfortunately the Carson Wentz trade hampered what they could do. But again, I'd much rather have Carson Wentz than whatever the other option was for the Colts in this situation. So I look at this draft and I say, look look I got potentially two elite edge rushers of starting quarterback in Carson Wentz and then a move tight end that's going to be able to fill in spot replace Trey Burton and be a more consistent more explosive version of Trey Burton and then you've got a safety that is able to play all over and you've got a wide receiver slash tight end that you feel is an athletic freak. And if he can develop, will be an absolute steal.

And if this guy is self-motivated like he seems, like I said, the chance of him hitting is much higher than other seventh round picks. And then Allinger, a little bit of a head scratcher, freeze, you know, it's, it's a depth position. So overall I I'm happy with the draft. Um, I don't like giving, you know, grades because I think grades are kind of silly. Um, and so I I'd say I'd be happy with the draft and And I think that they did a really good job given the talent that was available when they were picking. And that's got to be the consideration is you've got to be able to understand that what they were looking at when they picked and the players that they took in that situation, that's what matters. And they didn't't reach they didn't go and take some crazy pick

that made absolutely zero sense every one of these picks made sense given their roster given how they grade players given what we know about the Colts and how they do they evaluate talent every single one of these players fits what they do so far. Most of the time they've hit on their draft picks. So I give them the benefit of the doubt. Would I have loved a left tackle? I mean, sure, but where would you have taken them at this point? You couldn't have given them, you don't want to pass up Quidipe. You couldn't have gotten one in round two, unless you traded a bunch of draft capital to move up.

And the Colts just didn't have that this year um and so you're looking at the fourth round and at that point they're developmental tackles anyway so I don't mind the fact they didn't take a tackle I'm assuming that they've got some other plans other than Sam Tevey um as their short-term option there at the position but overall I really like the draft. I think once you get Quidipe, everything else is just kind of cherries on top. Steven, always enjoy having you on, man. This is fun having you on this weekend for the NFL draft. And Colts fans always enjoy providing insight for you.

Thanks for tuning in throughout draft week. And we're not going to be stopping here on Locked on Colts. We do not have an off-season here on the show. So we're going to be having Steven on, a lot of other guests on throughout the off-season, the tide over throughout the Colts off-season until have an offseason here on the show, so we're going to be having Steven on, a lot of other guests on throughout the offseason, the Tide over throughout the Colts offseason until we reach preseason football, training camp, regular season. It's going to be a lot of fun here throughout the offseason here on Locked on Colts. So Colts fans,

go ahead and follow Steven already on Twitter at NiceReadSteve. Go listen to his podcast as well over on Stampede Blue. Steven, appreciate your time tonight. Thanks, Evan. Have a good one.