Very quick draft thoughts
 

For anyone else living in central Indiana: what a shitty day to host a cookout, huh? Swear, the last two I've hosted have been that day it randomly snowed 2 inches a few weeks back, and today. I'm cursed.

Anyway, my thoughts really quick...


1. I don't pretend to be a draft scout or have scouted hours of film on every player. I hope no one here does either, and takes with a grain of salt anything anyone who isn't scouting year-round has to say.

2. I really like the philosophy of this draft class. For players, I'm going to speak more in terms of skillsets, projections and roster fits than talent. But overall, I think the philosophy was clear: Ballard saw that KC tape and said "we are not nearly athletic enough over the MOF, and we are not nearly physical enough on the boundary to challenge slants etc."

The picks, then, followed a philosophy of: get more athletic at the second level, and give the defense more multiplicity. Where Colts were often forced into soft zone vs top-tier passers last year, I believe they saw the QBs due up this year and said: we have got to get more multiple in our looks.

This draft should evolve Ebeflus' playbook. In theory, Colts should be able to play more man where they want, and should have a lot more options for nickel/dime packages, and matching up against athletic TEs.

3. Rock Ya-Sin is a particularly interesting pick. He played almost exclusively in man, and needs to learn zone. I bet Desir has one boundary CB locked down, Moore has the nickel CB spot, and Wilson/Ya-Sin fight it out at the opposite CB spot. I love the heat this puts on Wilson. Colts are either gonna get the best version of Quincy Wilson, or quickly discover it's time to move on.

I think Colts will benefit from Moore moving in full-time to slot role. He was playing more & more of that down the stretch as Wilson regained coaches' trust outside, but now there's almost no reason to play Moore on the boundary, where he's average-below average and, to a larger point, negated as a blitzing option.

(To be clear, this should read: I think Kenny Moore is a baller and top-5 slot corner in the game. Allowing him to remain home there is GOOD news!)

4. Ben Banogu clearly a pick in the spirit of multiplicity. I'm not sure what to make of his designed role, and I'm not sure the Colts know the specifics yet either. Bet we see him in a few different spots and packages in camp, and they see what they have. Good news for Banogu is: he's not exactly filling legendary shoes at SAM, and Colts are typically in nickel anyway, where I don't think Banogu has a huge role unless he finds a spot at DE in nickel.

5. Parris Campbell is a lights-out pick. I don't expect a 1,000-yard receiver, but he opens up so much of the mesh offense that couldn't be unlocked with Pascal et al last year. The jet sweeps that went to Rogers and Pascal last year? Yeah, those belong to Campbell now. The drag routes to Ryan Grant? That's Campbell now. This is gonna be fun with a coaching staff that knows how to use him (as I still maintain Phillip Dorsett could/should have been...)

6. I'm most intrigued by Bobby Okereke of anyone. After the KC game, I asked on here if it would be crazy for IND to try to upgrade from Anthony Walker. I like Walker and think he's a productive player! But he was a MAJOR liability vs KC.

Not calling Okereke a Day 1 starter, but with that athleticism and wingspan, he has some real potential to be a nuisance over MOF. I love getting more athletic at MIKE when Darius Leonard is your WILL.

7. I do think a big ripple effect of these LB selections in general is: the DL now has more pressure to stop the run from the interior. Margus Hunt was exceptional there in 2018; can he do it again (and stay healthy) in 2019? I wouldn't discount the ask this places on DL. I don't think the Colts necessarily got more physical at LB (but to be clear: I'd trade physicality for athleticism any day in today's NFL, if it's either/or!)

8. The Khari Willis pick was odd. He doesn't fit any of the athletic profile Ballard insists upon. Ballard seemed to emphasize his intelligence more than anything. You figure Ballard had to see something special to not only move up 20 spots, but also to ignore the athletic traits he insists upon. Time will tell, but I'm skeptical when people trumpet a player as smart/intense/hard-working and not productive or athletic.

9. I'm sure Tell gets that look at CB, but Ballard's presser confirmed what I thought: he's a CB/S hybrid and the larger point is that he's available as a big nickel to slide inside and match up against TEs. Think he and Wilson battle it out in that package, with Rock/Desir on the outside. But also wouldn't be surprised if it's primarily a special teams year for Tell (and Willis for that matter.)

10. EJ Speed? Sure. Why not? I'm just being redundant in my points about multiplicity at this point. I do think this year was a bit of an effort to buffer against short-term plans if Darius Leonard would ever miss some time, because they woulda been screwed if that happened last year.

11. Sounds like DE is the look for Gerri Green. I have no strong opinions. They needed DL. Drafted one.

12. And no strong opinions about the OL drafted other than to say they needed to push both Le'Raven Clark and Evan Boehm specifically, so I'm glad they drafted to do that. Would imagine Barton and Patterson are roster longshots, but any competition for Clark/Boehm is good. Both need to be pushed more, because both are the two most important backups on the OL.

13. I still have major pass rush questions, but I think this draft showed us the FO has a lot of faith in Turay and Lewis in particular.

14. I do wish someone had been drafted to push Funchess at the X receiver position. Campbell is a slot WR. You could argue Cain pushes Funchess, but man, I just hate placing high hopes on a receiver returning from ACL surgery, who won't be ready until Jul-Aug, whose game is predicated on speed, who has never played a NFL regular season snap. I want Cain to return healthy and be good! But it's a tall order asking him to push Funchess with all those hurdles to clear.

Feels like Harmon coulda been that guy? I don't know. I just don't like Funchess skating into the role, especially on a 1-year deal.

15. Was mildly surprised Colts didn't draft a QB. I guess they really just wanna carry 2, which I get. But this is Brissett's last year in IND, so I thought there was a decent chance they'd be looking to start developing someone to replace when he walks. (I still hope he's traded so the return is more immediate than a 2021 comp pick...)

16. I'm glad Colts didn't draft a RB. Woulda been silly this year. I do wonder if they woulda taken Josh Jacobs if he was on the board. We'll never know. But they have too many skillsets from their current roster to justify a pick.

17. Reading between the lines: I think 2020 is the Colts' all-in year. I still think they're good this year, definitely a playoff team. But I think they were still risk-averse this year. I think their locker room is so cemented by 2020 that they take more of a risk on someone.

Holder just tweeted that the Colts are working on signing QB Chad Kelly, Mr. Irrelevant from 2 years ago. The Colts were in on UDFA QB Jake Dolegala but pulled out of negotiations and said that the Kelly talks were getting closer to done.


https://twitter.com/HolderStephen/st...27013765918720

GBB if you grillin for a group of Colts Fans You day is awesome

I think BB is the steal of this draft for the Colts. Best pick we made IMO which probably makes him a bust. Sorry BB

Nah, I’m skeptical on Banogu so that means he’s bound for Canton. :D

Great write-up as always, GB.

Ballard during their post draft presser said that Banogu is going to be a DE. They said he was tried at other positions but they feel he's best at DE for them.

Ballard also mentioned how much they loved Willis. He siad they almost picked him in the 3rd round, that's how much they loved him. Basically he said the more film they watched on him, the more they fell in love with the kid, and they liked his intelligence and leadership. So while we may not like or understand the pick, the staff clearly REALLY liked this kid's film along with his character.

Ballard also mentioned during the presser about the team taking chances on guys with character issues, and he said basically what GBB is thinking, that they need to establish a strong locker room before taking a chance on any of those guys, that way if they do take a chance, that the locker room is strong enough to be able to handle it and not affect them negatively. He said he will be willing to take a shot here and there, but has to be the right guy.

I really like the Parris and Rock picks. I think those kids are going to be playmakers.

I will say this about the Willis pick; the guys on Sirius XM (Jim Miller i think) were raving about the pick. They were saying how the TE's at the senior bowl had high praise for Willis because they could n't get open against him.

Travis Kelce negater?

He said that about Green, FYI, not Banogu. Banogu is a SAM, but the idea is that Banogu/Okereke/Speed/Leonard/Walker can all play pretty interchangeably.

Oh ok, thanks. I missed that he was talking about Green there then.

Oh yeah, and FWIW, Kiper gave the Colts the only A grade of the draft. Maybe for once he will be right about something?

I don't like when the media likes the Colts drafts. They liked most of Grigson's drafts, hated last year's draft, and hated most of Polian's good drafts. That doesn't mean this year's draft is bad, but it makes me nervous.