Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - SLEEPERS: Dark Horse Players the Indianapolis Colts Could Take in the 2026 NFL Draft
Episode Date: April 8, 2026The Indianapolis Colts tend to make a couple of surprise picks each year in the NFL Draft. Which players might turn some heads in 2026? The 2026 Indy Draft Guide is now here! 170+ write-ups on the ...2026 NFL Draft class, plus how each player fits the Colts, and an in-depth dive into Chris Ballard's draft history and usage of draft picks. Pre-order below: https://draftguide.gumroad.com/l/indy26 EVERYDAYER CLUB If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub TEXT WITH JAKE AND ZACH Join the Locked On Colts insider program to text with Jake and Zach, ask any questions you have, and get updates on news and rumors from the Colts' facility, locker rooms, stadium, and practice field! https://joinsubtext.com/c/lockedoncolts Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake's written work on roundtable.io/sports/nfl/colts/ and Zach's on si.com/nfl/colts/, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just five dollars and get two hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if their first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Jake and I continue our conversation about potential sleeper picks for the Indianapolis Colts on day two of the draft.
And he's looking at a Shrine Bowl superstar with that Colts second or third round pick.
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.
Welcome to Locked on Colts.
I'm Zach Hicks.
That's Jake Arthur.
And today we are continuing our conversation.
about sleeper picks that could be in play for the Colts in that rounds two to four range.
And this was inspired, obviously, by the selection of Justin Wally in round three last year.
Jake and I were kicking ourselves for not even somewhat entertaining the idea of corner that early after they signed Mooney Ward and free agency.
So this year we're going to make sure that we at least throw out some more names.
So Jake and I are going through some players that we like at non-hyper positions of need like wide receiver edge and linebacker.
that could make sense in the earlier parts of this draft for the Indianapolis Colts.
We went through, I want to say six players in total yesterday.
We're going to continue it with six more players today before we get onto a different topic on tomorrow's show.
And I kind of teased in the opening there, but we're going to kick it off with Jake yet again
because he has been smitten with this Shrine Bowl superstar for most of the offseason here.
And that is Darrell Jackson Jr., the defensive tackle from Florida State.
I'm going to say right now, Jake, you know how much I love side.
on my defensive tackles. You've already won me over with this selection because it's just how big he is and how long his arms are.
But win over the rest of the Colts fan base with Darrell Jackson Jr. a guy who, again, was so good at the Shrine Bowl, he got that call up to Senior Bowl.
And you got to see him down there as our boots on the ground for a day or two down in Mobile as well.
Yeah. You've been looking for a big boy to back up Grover Stewart for a while. And this guy is over 6-5, 315 pounds.
over 34-inch arms closer to 35-inch arms, 11-inch hands.
I remember reading somewhere that, like, his arms and hands measured among the biggest
for, like, defensive tackles at the combine in X amount of time.
So the dude checks every measurement box.
He's huge.
He's got an interesting background.
So he didn't start playing football until he's, like, a junior in high school.
And he's the nephew of former Super Bowl MVP, Dexter Jackson from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
who killed the Raiders
than that one Super Bowl thing. It was like 2001,
2002. So
he is fresh to football,
but has a pretty successful
uncle who also went
to Florida State. He started his career
in Maryland and then went to Miami
and then ultimately transferred
to Florida State over his
last few years.
He would have been a four-year starter in
college if not for, he didn't get the
waiver to play immediately
after transferring. So he
would have been a four-year starter otherwise. So tons of experience, luckily, for a guy that needs it,
for being so young to the sport of football, he moves really well for a guy that big. And of course,
you still have to learn how to use your length to your advantage, like when you're that new to the game.
But he's quick. I think he's got pretty quick feet, and he's a little slithery. He knows how to, like,
make himself smaller to get through narrow gaps in the line and everything.
So he's very interesting.
He has the power to go along with that length.
That's super enticing.
Now, he's like a third round projection.
But, you know, with a guy like Caleb Banks slipping down a little bit because of the injuries, like,
I find him very enticing and wouldn't be shocked at the team like at the bottom of the second called his name.
Yeah.
And I think the interesting part of him is there are some good athletic traits with him.
But that's not, it's not like Caleb Banks, right?
where Pakela Banks, if he was able to test, like, actually this offseason, incredible athlete, right?
And some of these other guys, incredible athletes.
Darrell Jackson Jr. projects more is that zero or one tech with his length and his strength being able to hold at the point of attack,
stack and shed and be a great run defender and maybe give you some push on passing downs,
but you're going to get that value early on.
But in an NFL, that's running the football so much nowadays, you have to have waves of defensive linemen that can defend the run at a high level.
Like we saw a couple years ago what it looked like with Taven Brian as your backup nose tackle.
And even Eric Johnson as the primary backup nose tackle.
It got cleaned up a little bit with Neville Gallimore last year, but it still wasn't exactly where you want to see.
So keep adding big bodies to the interior.
And Darrell Jackson, Jr., like, I'm in, man.
Like, I'm in.
Like I think defense of tackles, even though he's, like you said, he's a little bit younger to the sport, he is a bit of an older player.
I think he's like 23.
I think he's turning 24 this year.
but defense of tackles we see that they usually hit their peak a little bit later than most positions in the league.
Usually it's in like their older 20s is when they hit their peak.
So by the time as rookie contract end, you'll probably get him hitting his best football.
And then you can potentially have that long term replacement for Rover Stewart.
So again, if they took a defensive tackle in round three, I'm sure people would be shocked.
But I like Darrell Jackson Jr.
I think, yeah, it never hurts to just keep adding stuff to the trenches.
and I think to get a high-level run defender and powerful player,
I wouldn't hate it whatsoever.
Yeah, and I think his timeline matches up pretty well with the Colts,
like, because they obviously don't need him to start right now,
and he's got plenty to learn.
Like, obviously a guy that big, he needs to play with better pad level.
And with that kind of length and strength,
like, he needs some fine-tune.
Like, I think when he gets it, he'll hit, like, right away.
Not to say, like, he'll be an immediate hit in the NFL.
but once he understands the tools in his belt that he actually has,
I think he'll be pretty successful.
But it's going to take a little time.
Like, defense handles take a while to marinate a little bit.
So, yeah, I think you'd be a great pick by them in the third round.
Not one they necessarily need, but, I mean, you got to load up in the trenches.
Now, we're going pretty much the opposite of trenches for you.
Who do you got for us next?
Yeah, all three of my choices today are going to be corners just because I love watching
corners.
You can ever have enough corners.
And if the Colts are going to surprise, it'll probably be a corner because Chris Ballard has spent a lot of draft capital at corner the last couple years.
But I'm going to Arizona State with Keith Abney the second, a guy who can play inside and out.
You know, not the best like traitsy kind of guy, but he reminds me a lot of Justin Wallet last year, right?
And maybe that's a bit redundant.
But having guys who are just battle tested, gritty, kind of like bulk, not bulky, but like a bit thicker on the chest and like solid.
like compared to like some of these corners that we're seeing nowadays and just plays kind of like
a safety at the corner position that can play slot and outside.
Abney's a guy who I just find very fun to watch on film.
I think he's got great zone eyes.
I think he breaks on the football really well, gets those past breakups.
A lot of ball production, especially just knocking ball away from man.
And what do we see last year with the Colts cornerback room in particular?
They struggled to force incompletions.
Like you would have a lot of these situations where because the Colts are blitzing or because
they're playing man and the ball is off target.
it, you could have these balls be incomplete and have like low completion percentage against,
but I want to see corners actually making plays on the football this next season.
A healthy sauce gardener would help.
A healthy Justin Wally would help.
If you get anything out of Mooney Ward, that'll help.
But a player like Keith Abney, I think fits into that very well.
There would be some issues in man coverage.
And I wonder if he could just be like a very ideal like slot corner and waiting that you
get out there as your fourth corner in some sets and, you know, work them on the field.
but I do think he kind of projects very similarly to a Justin Wally in the sense of just an NFL
ready like he carries himself like a pro he was a leader of that defense I saw I think it was in
the Brugler's Dean Brugler's the beast whatever where they said that he was like a respected
leader of that defense the last couple years that's viewed very highly I just think that he would
be a great player to add to your room just a pro's pro and it makes a lot of plays on the football
maybe you don't get like a star out of him but you know I keep going back to like
the Kari Willis level of impact in that third to fourth round, right?
Where you just get a league average to above league average starter.
And that is so valuable for a team that was rolling out corners, you know,
that coming off the couch last season.
So a third round corner wouldn't wow anybody would be another shock.
But Keith Abney just fits so much of what they like in terms of his smarts,
his ability to make plays in the football.
And one of my favorites in the class to watch on film for sure.
I know a lot of people like him even in the second round.
Like Abney, Abney as a slot guy, has gotten kind of a lot of love.
He's not a name you hear a lot about, but when I do hear it, it's people like, you know,
I really like Keith Abney.
You know, he's a good second round option.
So for the Colts, I do think they have some stuff to get sorted out in the corner room
that's just going to kind of take care of itself after this year.
Like, you know, Kenny Moore and Mooney Ward, you kind of wonder what their future is beyond this year.
So then where does Justin Wally factor into that?
Does he play outside?
Does he play inside?
you have a guy, like you said, with that same kind of position flexibility.
So it makes the Colts decisions a lot easier if they have two guys so you could put in multiple spots.
So, yeah, I like guys that can play inside and are still physical.
And you know me, I do not like passive defensive backs whatsoever.
Yeah.
Even if you get burned, make a play on the ball.
Like just do something.
Like I hate when guys are just out there to cover, you know, like try and make a play.
And Abney definitely fits the description of a guy who goes out there and actively tries hard on every play.
So I'm into it.
Yeah, especially I think his run defense is pretty good too.
There are some mistackles, but a lot of like a lot of defensive back, especially corner run defense,
a lot of it comes down to want to.
And he certainly wants to.
So I will take that any day of the week.
So Keith Abney the second out of Arizona State.
I really like, again, he's not a guy I'm banging the table for in this class for the Colts
because they have so many other needs.
But if the Colts took them, I'd be like, all right, cool, we got a good player out of this.
I'm not complaining.
Coming up, though, we're going to transition to more corners for me.
And Jake, I think, is going to take us to maybe the tight end room, maybe the safety room.
I think we're probably going to go back to safety with Jake.
But we'll let him lead off the second segment here in just a second.
This episode is sponsored by Better Health.
Financial stress is something that a lot of people are carrying right now, yours truly included.
And it's not just about numbers.
it can affect your sleep, your relationships, and your overall mental health and ways that just build up over time.
And the reality is, struggling with money doesn't mean you failed.
Sometimes it just means that you haven't found the right kind of support yet.
It's definitely something I've thought about.
There's been, you know, a couple of times over the last few years as an independent contractor,
someone who's kind of self-employed, has to figure out their own taxes and everything.
Tax season isn't always kind to people like us.
And that can be, that's very, very stressful.
And it can have you turn into things like therapy.
But therapy isn't just about like financial advice and everything.
You know, that's what you have an accountant for.
Therapy can be about working through the stress that comes from it, the anxiety, the emotions that come with it all.
And with over 30,000 licensed therapists and more than six million people served, BetterHelp makes it easier to get matched and start focusing on what you need.
When life feels overwhelming, therapy can help.
Sign up and get 10% off at Better Help.
That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash locked-on.
All right, welcome back, everybody, and don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for our audio ad-free
and access to a group chat with Zach, me, and other listeners of the show.
Just tap the link in our show notes or go to Lockdowncultz.com to join in on all the fun.
We are continuing basically the episode yesterday where we talk about kind of sleeper picks for the Colts.
The Colts don't necessarily need these positions in the round two to four range,
but we know the Colts will just go based off their board.
So these players make a lot of sense.
So I will steal the red carpet here entering segment two.
This is a player I like quite a bit,
and I wonder what his best fit is in the NFL.
It's Kansas State Safety, VJ Payne.
So I did the safeties in the Indie draft guide.
Also link in our show notes.
Good plug there.
There you go. Good job. You read the script well there, Jake. Oh, yeah. This dude's Tracey. So, like, he caught my attention down in Mobile. I feel like I only talk about senior role players. Like, when you've seen someone in person, it's just kind of different. So six foot three, over 200 pounds. He is, he plays free safety quite a bit. I mean, he's lined up in a lot of different spots. Over 1100 career snaps in the box, 553 at free, a lot more free lately, 489 in the slot as well.
Did you say his name real quick?
Sorry, did you say his name to start with VJ Payne?
VJ Payne, yeah.
Okay, I didn't know if you said his name, so I just want to get that back out there for...
I do that a lot.
I think I said his name, but I do do that a lot.
It might just be me not paying attention, but VJ Payne from Kansas State.
Just to put that out there real quick.
Now you can continue, Jake.
Of course.
No, but this is a tracy guy again.
Six foot three over 200 pounds, three-year starter and a team captain.
Just a ton of experience, 52 career games.
So, like, it's a well, it's a well,
travel back. You know what I mean? And the Colts really like to take players, especially later in the
draft, who have played a lot of snaps. That's how they get so many players who are able to contribute
quickly on day two, day three. It's because they've played a ton of football. VJ. Payne certainly
fits that. So he's kind of got a free safety's build, but definitely a strong safety's mentality.
I have here that he embraces physicality and he's going to come down hill to blow up a run or a
screen. I think he has really good instincts for where the ball is going in front of them.
He takes really good angles as well. Eyes and feet, they act in concert. That's not always
something that defensive backs have. Very fluid hips as well. It changes direction. So good feet,
good hips, you know, good eyes. Like I like a guy like that. But you wonder, are you almost
wasting a guy with that, those, that frame and traits at free safety? Or, you.
strong safety if you want to. Like if he was going to play strong safety all the time,
I'd probably want him to put on a little bit of bulk. But you got a guy like that.
He's very traitzy. Would you maybe want to move him to boundary corner?
You know, I know that's something you've talked about a little bit. And Chris Ballard has
tried to do that before. He tried to salvage what was left of T.J. Green when he got to
Indianapolis, Chris Ballard did, and move him to outside corner. Turns out he could not play
corner or safety. He tried it with Marvell Tell.
And Marvell Tell was on his way to being a nice player going from safety to corner,
but he opted for the COVID year where he didn't play.
And that just never got back to himself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
DJ Payne could be his next role of the dice of this.
And that's not to say I don't like him at safety.
I do.
You can take him in like the fourth round as a safety.
But like, you know, if you're looking to really maximize the value of a guy like that,
I know the Colts have tried to turn these guys into corners before.
Yeah.
I'm so intrigued by the, the,
the traits because everything about the testing tells me like this could be a corner the six three 200 pounds
uh under seven three cone uh explosive numbers as well long long arms uh but he's physical and he
he does play well around the box so part of me keeps coming back to like a slot corner type like a big
slot like the you know we're seeing teams around the league put safeties in the slot and
and then worry yeah emin warre obviously and Kyle hamilton played some slot as well uh buda baker
plays a lot of slot. Jalen Petrie, I would say, has like that, that safety mentality playing in the
slot. So I'm just intrigued by him. I do think he's going to need to bulk up unless he's playing
outside corner, whether he's playing in the slot or playing strong safety. I want to see him bulk up a little
bit, but really intrigued by him. And I think he's a project worth taking on. What's the, what's the meme,
whatever, of like the broken record player sitting out in someone's thing where it's like broken,
but could be fun to fix sort of like. It doesn't work, but it doesn't work, but.
It could be fun to fix.
Right, right.
It's kind of like that where it's like the flashes are awesome.
You want to get to a place where like it's consistent,
but it could be really fun to fix.
It could be really fun to fix because if you are able to get that thing working,
you can make some beautiful music.
So VJ Payne, I'm really intrigued by the profile there.
I'm sticking with Corner, obviously.
And I'm going to go to Texas A&M with this next one.
Will Lee.
I think his stock is more in like that round four range.
Could be in round three, but probably round four.
tested pretty well over six foot close to 200 pounds competitive player a lot of man coverage reps
last year at texas a and m for a very hit or miss type of production uh but he's a guy that i'm
intrigued by because one the colts played so much man coverage last year and if you're looking
for a man coverage corner in this draft outside of like mansore delane and a couple of these
top guys it's really hard to find that guy that thrives in man coverage like keith abney we were
just talking about was a little bit more hit or miss in man coverage.
So you really have to go down to Will Lee out of Texas A&N to find that guy with that
experience and skill set to play well in man with the long arms, with the press technique
to really disrupt and get in receiver's faces.
I think he has this like nasty mentality to his game or he he thumps as a corner.
He defends the run really well.
And like I mentioned in press coverage, he really beats the crap out of receivers.
But the issue with him is, you know, it's kind of like a shot at Rocky Cine.
again in a way where
Rockyason got beat a lot down the field and got beat
with penalties down the field as well.
That's where we saw some issues with Will Lee last year.
I think he had seven games with a 20-yard reception allowed against him
in that game.
So there are issues, right, that are making him be more of a third or a fourth-round guy
rather than a top 50 guy.
But I like the height, weight speed.
I like some of the traits.
I like the experience and that there is that press coverage experience
that he has.
It's just a bit of work in progress.
More of a guy where you're like,
let's throw him at the bottom of our corner depth chart.
It's probably going to be better than some of the undrafted free agents we threw out there last year.
But he has the physicality, he has the willingness to be there.
Can we just get his hands a little bit cleaner?
It's like we've said a lot of times on this podcast, Jake,
taming the gunslinger instead of trying to bring out aggressiveness out of a conservative player,
we're trying to tame the gunslinger who's a little bit too aggressive and too grabby
and too, you know, a little bit too aggressive.
So I would take my chances with that profile.
And heck, even when I said like it's like the second shot at Rockiesin,
Rackeson did have that one really good year with the Colts in 2020, I believe is what it was,
2020, when they went to the playoffs.
So, yeah, it could be something like that.
I like Willie.
I don't love Willie, but I do like him in like that round four range just to bolster your
cornerback depth.
And again, experience in man coverage is hard to find in this draft.
And he has a lot of experience.
And I think there's some good mirroring skills there, too,
if he can just calm down and get his head a little bit right in terms of, you know,
not panicking when the ball's in the air.
Yeah, I think if you can find a corner that gives you a reason to like push Jonathan Edwards
and Cameron Mitchell and again, like gives you a reason to upgrade and over, you know, Cam Taylor
Britt.
Like, does Cam Taylor Brett have to make the Colts roster?
No, but like will he probably because of Lou Aniromo?
Sure.
But you get a guy like this, a physical guy like this with some athletic traits and, you know,
suddenly you get a reason to go with the young guy.
Right, exactly.
Coming up, though, we're going to continue this conversation.
I believe Jake and I are both going to the cornerback room to close this out.
So if the Colts are going to surprise with a corner,
Jake and I have you guys covered to make sure that we've talked about it.
So again, coming up, we're going to talk about even more corners in the 2026 NFL draft.
All right, Jake, the floor is yours here to close out today's episode.
And lo and behold, you went to the senior bowl for a player?
That's crazy with this.
I know, right?
We're sticking with the state of Texas and corners.
But no, I know we're beating this horse to death here with corners, but just think about it with last year.
So Mooney Ward is kind of banged up in training camp.
Julius Brent and Jalen Jones both suffer like pretty serious hamstring poles.
You trade for Mackay Blackman.
Justin Wally goes down.
You bring in Xavier and Howard.
You cut Juju Brent's.
who else did they wind up
Sam Wolmack they cut
Yeah they cut Sam Wilmack
You bring in Mike Hilton as well
So this isn't just us saying like
Hey a cornerback might be cool to bring it
Like the Colts keep continually telling us
With their actions that corner is like
One of Lou Anorumo's most critical positions
Like I don't want to say more than edge
But there's not just edge guys
Falling off trees there
But if they're fine
If they find playable corners, they'll go get them.
They keep doing it.
So the guy I'm going with, again, sticking to the state of Texas in a corner,
Charles Demings from Stephen F. Austin.
So this is another height, weight, speed guy.
Maybe not the weight so much.
But he's 6-1-193, run a 4-4-140, kind of a physical guy.
Just probably adequate to average length here.
You're looking at 32-inch arms.
Over 10-inch hands, though.
32-inch arms is above average for,
That's good.
That's pretty good.
Pretty good.
42 inch vertical and 11 foot broads.
This dude can get up.
He's got some explosive scores there.
His 4-4-1 is kind of married with a 1.55 10-yard split.
So that's pretty.
It makes a lot of sense there.
But very experienced player with a lot of ball production as well.
So as a true freshman, he played in 11 games and then became a starter the next year.
So he's a three-year starter.
And so let's see.
Yeah, so in his last two years, a couple picks, 24, four interceptions in his final year.
He's an all-conference player as a small school guy.
But yeah, he's able to change direction pretty well.
If I remember correctly, I came away impressed with his on-field workout during the combine as well,
especially, you know, the change of direction stuff, the gauntlet, all that.
So this is a small school guy that I like is like a, I don't know, he's probably fourth or fifth round guy, I would imagine.
I would hope they don't address corner much earlier than that.
But if they do, this is a guy that I like quite a bit.
I could see Lou Aniromo taking a liking to him,
experienced player with the height and the physicality,
the ball production, and the speed.
Like there's just not much not to like about a guy like this.
Yeah, and that's kind of what Lu Anirmo likes, right?
The guy with the long arms, the taller frame,
and very, very athletic to be able to turn and run in their man-coverage system.
That's why they liked Jonathan Edwards so much last year
why he's stuck on the roster.
So this could be just kind of a higher shot at that similar archetype that
Jonathan Edwards brought them last year.
So I'm intrigued.
And look, hey,
the last time the Colts went super small school at Corner,
they got Kenny Moore.
So, I mean,
we're not complaining,
right?
Obviously about Kenny Moore and his career with the Colts.
I'm sticking with Corner here.
And while your corner does kind of fit Lou Ann Remote to a T,
mine doesn't very well.
Mine doesn't fit him very much.
But I just really like the film.
and his best fit might not be with the Colts,
but I just want to make sure that I'm on record talking about him.
And it is Hezekiah Massis from Cal,
one of the better corners in college football last year with his ball production.
I believe he had six interceptions for Cal.
He was an All-American last season.
First team, all-ACC.
It kind of came out of nowhere because he didn't have a ton of ball production
until this past season.
But when you watch the film,
these interceptions and these past breakups are not coming on, like,
overthrowing balls or tit passes.
They are coming from him having incredible zone eyes.
Just the overall feel he has in zone coverage to read routes, identify route distribution
and route spacing and know like, hey, with the way these two receivers are, I'm expecting
a high low here.
So let me beat the quarterback in this way.
With the way that these two receivers are lined up, I'm in quarters coverage.
Let me overplay the outside route and then break on the inside route and get that interception.
There were multiple interceptions where he's making plays like that.
And it is jarring to see a player with that kind of heady ability on film.
I know he's a bit of an older player.
So maybe that kind of contributed to it.
Just him seeing the ball so much and in playing so much football.
But I think in zone coverage, it's hard to find a better player in this draft
outside of like those first ground guys because he is just so smart and so savvy.
Now the issues on why I don't know if he's going to fit the Colts is he's a little skinny.
The tackling is not great.
He throws his body in there, but it doesn't really get the running back down to the ground very often.
And then in man coverage, I think he does a lot of borderline illegal things to make sure that he's getting a hand on the football.
Because he's not super athletic, right?
He's athletic, but he's not like a high, high level athletes.
So you'll see a lot of these like where guys are breaking across his face, he will use his offhand to like pull himself in front of the guy.
And like, you know, there are there is a lot of grabby to it.
In the NFL, you're going to get hit with some penalties with that.
You're not always going to get hit with penalties,
so you will make some plays in the football,
but he will be penalized a bit this next season.
But I think he projects really well into his own defensive scheme.
The Colts, even though they ran a lot of man last year,
it was still almost 70% zone on this team.
So they still run a lot of zone coverage.
So I think there is utility in a player like him with the Colts.
I just think there's probably more utility with him going to, like,
you know, a Robert Salah type defense.
or something a little bit more stagnant of a defense.
But I just love the zone eyes so much.
Just his ability to read route combinations.
I think it was such a mundane play,
but I remember watching him against Oregon State or somebody
where they motioned a receiver to his side
and the receiver was in cheap motion.
And the way that the motion was coming,
you could tell that receiver was just getting a running start
to block him and it was going to be a wide receiver screen.
And he read it perfectly and met the screen,
like the guy who was getting the ball on the screen
at the catch point, knocked the ball away, and got the pass breakup.
And it's just little plays like that where it's like being able to,
when you're like not this super athletic guy, being able to identify things before they happen
can give you that extra snap of second that you need to make plays in the football.
And that's why he was an All-American last year at Cal University.
So again, I don't know if the Colts are going to love him.
I love him a lot.
I think he's a really good player.
And the indie draft guy, we had a fifth on him.
I'd be fine taking him in the fourth just because he's,
reminds me so much of Cordell Flot, who just got paid big by the Titans and free agency,
I think he can be a really productive NFL player. He just, you know, there are some things he's
going to have to learn to overcome. And I don't know if that'll be an indie, but Hezekiah
Massis from Cal, ball production, the eyes that you're looking for, very, very excited about
his potential in the NFL. If we're going with names, like go from Hezekiah Massis, I'll throw
out there, Ephesians, Prysock. Right, right. Yeah. And,
And Ephusion's prize stock is also another one just to throw up in here.
It's just the height weight speed guy you're looking for.
And I remember it was a what was that?
No ball production really.
Yeah, the Walking Dead thing or whatever.
It's like, what's that.
What is that?
That's kind of what it was like watching him at the combine.
It was like, like, six four, like 200, or like six four like 180 something or 190 something.
It was like, what is that?
He's got an interesting frame, yeah.
But I never hate taking shots like that.
So at Corner, I think the Colts could add multiple different types of guys,
height weight speed guys, zone cover guys, special teamers.
Like we saw last year that you can never add enough corners.
So if that's the theme of this episode is like it never hurts to look at cornerback.
I think that's a big thing to take away with just any draft with the Indianapolis Colts.
Yeah, I'm kind of curious what they'll do with like safety too.
Because I think they're about to start having some turnover there.
Yeah.
And they've lost some special teams prowess this offseason.
And so you got to replace, obviously, Nick Cross, but like Rodney Thomas, Daniel Scott's coming off.
You know, he was hurt again.
And he's been on the roster the whole time, right?
So like this technically he will be entering his final year of his contract.
I don't know how any of that works when you've been as hurt as he's been.
But yeah, like, they've got some stuff to replace their safety as well.
And then we've talked about guys, especially in a Lou Anurumo defense, where that line of definition,
between safety and corner can kind of get blurred sometimes.
So especially when you factor in special teams, guys.
So I do think, like, they'll probably keep adding defensive backs,
even though they're probably good there, but they'll probably keep going.
Yeah, I think out of the 82 draft picks that Ballard has made in his time with the Colts,
19 of them have been defensive backs.
So he takes a lot of defensive backs in his career.
He averages almost over two defensive backs draft, right?
because he's had nine drafts, I believe, or 10 drafts.
This is your 10. Yeah, this is your 10.
So I think in nine drafts, he's had over, so over two defensive backs drafted per
draft.
If the Colts were able to add more selections than this one, like I think they're going
to be able to do with some tradebacks.
I think they'll be adding some more defensive backs one way or another.
Thank you all.
Thank you all for tuning in to Locked on Colts.
We'll be back yet again tomorrow.
So make sure you subscribe and follow Locked on Colts and get all your latest episodes.
And if you don't already, make sure you're following out Lockedon Colts at Jake
Arthur and the NFL and at Zach Hicks 2 all on social media.
And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you.
Get us ad free plus members only Discord access and much more.
Head to LockdownCultz.com to join the club.
And for those of you on video, we send you to the first ever national NBA channel 24-7 national NBA channel over on YouTube.
So on audio, make sure you check out the next listen at Locked on NFL Draft with our guys, Damien and Keith.
Thank you all for tuning in.
We'll catch you guys back here tomorrow after.
noon.
