Colts draft S A.J. Haulcy - Round 3, Pick 78

[Colts And Orioles]

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Colts' Safety A.J. Haulcy Expected to Start

(By Connor Byrne)

https://www.profootballrumors.com/20...ected-to-start



The Colts added safety Camryn Bynum in free-agency in 2025, but they lost his running mate when Nick Cross left on the open market this year. It now appears that the Colts will rely on a rookie to replace Cross in 2026 ...... 3rd-round draft pick A.J. Haulcy is the clear favorite to start alongside Bynum, according to Stephen Holder of ESPN.

A few weeks before the draft, it appeared that the Colts were preparing to stage a safety battle consisting of 2 inexpensive free agent pickups ...... Jonathan Owens and Juanyeh Thomas ...... and 2025 7th-rounder Hunter Wohler. But when Haulcy was still on the board at No. 78 overall, Colts GM Chris Ballard couldn’t pass on the former New Mexico, Houston and LSU standout. The decision looks promising so far, as Haulcy has gotten the vast majority of 1st-team work in practice and impressed Colts coaches, per Holder.

Haulcy, a ball-hawk who earned the nickname “Mr. Give Me That” in high school, joined the Colts with significant college experience on his resume. He combined to play 48 games in 4 years for 3 different schools, including 12 in his lone LSU season in 2025. The 6-foot, 215-pounder, who collected between 74 and 98 tackles in each season, ended his college career with 19 passes defensed, 10 INT's and four forced fumbles. Haulcy picked up a 1st-team All-America nod and 1st-team All-SEC honors at LSU, where he racked up 88 tackles, four PD's and three INT's.

Along with posting excellent production in college, Haulcy showed off valuable versatility. The majority of his snaps came at free-safety, but he also amassed over 1,000 as a box-safety and just under 300 in the slot. In that way, he is similar to Cross, who lined up all over the Colts’ defense during his 4-year run with the team.

Last season, his 2nd as a full-time starter, Cross played 551 snaps as a box-safety, 279 at free-safety, 150 in the slot, and 102 around the line of scrimmage. He gave the Colts a productive chess piece, one they had interest in extending before free-agency, but parlayed that into a raise in Washington on a 2-year, $14M deal. Several weeks after losing Cross to the Commanders, the Colts may have drafted an ideal replacement in Haulcy.

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