Hey there Colts’ fans! Here are my initial thoughts on the Colts 2025 draft class:

1.14 TE Tyler Warren of Penn State (grade: A) This was about as big of a no-brainer as one could have imagined. The Colts have been linked with Warren since early in the draft discussions; he was the most popular pick among mock drafters, being placed in Indy in more than half of the mock drafts I have seen. He fits a big team need, as there has not been a tight end to top 500 yards for this squad since 2018, and he was a 1-year wonder for the Colts, As a Colts fan, I was hoping that either he or Loveland would make it to #14. Warren is definitely more of an offensive threat in my eyes, so this was the desired outcome for round 1 – getting an impact player. Warren immediately becomes a starter and will be the first real offensive weapon at tight end for the Colts since his fellow #44 Dallas Clark roamed the turf here. Warren is often compared to Travis Kelce stylistically – a tremendous mismatch as receiver and an underrated blocker. He does not have to be Kelce for this to be a win; if he is even 80% of Dallas Clark, this was an awesome pick – especially with a young quarterback situation. They did wait and risked losing both of the tight ends, which is the only reason this is not an A+ grade

2.13 DE JT Tuimoloau of Ohio State (grade: B-) The Colts have drafted pass rushers in the top 3 rounds every year under Ballard, but have yet to really hit on a true stud, so this looks like yet another swing at getting the pressure. Ballard’s style has always been to grab guys with lots of starting experience, and he was a four-year starter for one of the real blue blood defenses in the nation. Tuimoloau is more of a power rusher than a speed rusher, so he is complementary in style to the guys already in the rotation. He is solid at corralling the run, so he might be more of an early-down rotational player, especially in his rookie season. There are three edge rushers on the roster that are in contract years, so this might be more of a long-term play as well. He is a good player and picked in the right place for this draft; the big problem with this pick is that the 2^nd round is a bit high for a rotational player when there were bigger needs on the roster and some impact starters available. I would have liked to see them snap up Michigan’s Will Johnson – a top ten overall talent who slid due to his 2024 injury – who was picked just a few slots later.

3.16 CB Justin Walley of Minnesota (grade: C) This pick was a bit of a reach. Walley is a bit of an undersized corner, although he has excellent skills, versatility and productivity in his career as a four-year starter. Ballard has tended to focus on longer corners, and Walley projects (and has implied that he might prefer playing) as a slot corner, and the Colts already have one of the best in veteran CB Kenny Moore. After signing two big money defensive backs this offseason, and having two more high-draft picks coming back from injury, this seems like a luxury pick and a overreach to acquire some depth. Although, to be fair, lack of secondary depth was a huge issue for the Colts in 2024 due to injuries. With big needs at O-line and linebacker, one would have liked to see a shot at one of those positions here, perhaps at one of the tackles drafted by the Raiders back-to-back later this round. But with only one guard and no linebackers taken in the rest of round three, it is safe to say that the value was not there in the eyes of many for the Colts’ neediest positions.

TRADE: (grade: B) The Colts traded back in round 4. The Rams wanted to move up 10 slots, and were willing to give us a 6^th round pick (#190 overall) to swap places in this round. Unless there was someone they were targeting, this could have been a great move since this draft is short on impact talent up front but loaded with depth.However…I think they swung and missed with what they did with the pick.

4.25 (from Rams) OT Jalen Travis of Iowa State, after 4 years at Princeton(grade: B-) This guy is massive at 6’8" and 339 pounds, but posted some of the best agility and athleticism numbers among linemen at the combine. What he lacks in natural pass blocking skills he makes up for in strength and quickness. If he shines in guarding the edge in camp, the team could mover veteran RT Braden Smith inside to guard smoothly and improve the overall line. If he proves to still needsome seasoning then he is a solid contingency plan for the aging Smith, but the pick does leave a hole remaining in the starting interior line. There are a handful of solid guards still available in the next round, so this is not a miss. The only other caveat: they might have missed out on one of the few remaining probable starting linebackers because Clemson’s Barrett Carter went right after their original draft slot. I also really like Ole Miss backer Chris Paul and Georgia’s speedy Smael Mondon (with 3^rd round grades), so this would be okay if one of them lasts one more round. Spoiler alert – they don’t.

5.14 RB DJ Giddens of Kansas State (grade: B-) While productive for the last two years at KSU, he is a bit of an anomaly as a runner. He is big and his combine stats show him to be explosively strong, but overall he does not run with a lot of power or strength. He is a bit of a long-strider and lacks top-end speed, but is a very effective interior runner who can break or evade tackles. A solid guy, and a semifinalist for the Doak Walker last year for the nation’s top runner. I don’t know if he is the type of backup to Taylor that I envisioned, but he will be at least a serviceable runner to give breathers to the workhorse. He actually has patience and vision like Taylor, and more escapes tackles than breaks them or avoids them. He can play on all three downs (but does need some work in pass protection), so the offense will not be limited or tipping the play if he is on the field. This was a solid pick, but may lack upside…and still does not address the team’s two biggest needs heading into the draft. To that end, local college Purdue’s Marcus Mbow was sitting there with a 3^rd round grade at guard and went a couple of slots after Indy picked. Could this be a miss if they don’t get a guard and a backer later?

6.13 QB Riley Leonard of Notre Dame (grade: F) The obvious question is…"why?" They have a ton of money tied up in TWO quarterbacks and already have a more-gritty-than-gifted guy in QB Sam Ehlinger if that is what they wanted for a 3^rd stringer. He will never be active on game day, if he even makes the 53 man roster. He is at best an average back-up caliber NFL passer, which doesn’t seem like a good use of a draft pick with two glaring needs yet unmet. Not a fan of this selection at all, and it seems like a wasted pick even before considering if he even makes the team. The only way this makes any sense is if they totally see him as at least the #2 for this team after this year AND they plan to move on from one of Jones/Richardson AND they can get him to the practice squad.

6.14 (from Falcons, via Rams) DT Tim Smith of Alabama (grade: C) You can never have enough solid O-line or D-line players, I suppose. Yet another pick that is likely meant to provide depth, at best, as he projects as no more than a backup or a rotational player as a pro. He did have five years in a blue blood program so you know he is talented, but while he started the last two seasons he was not overly productive stat-wise. He is very durable and intelligent on the field, so those are real plusses. He is a wide body that takes up space a la DT Grover Stewart, and may be seen as his eventual replacement. But this seems like a bit of an unnecessary spend of draft capital on a position of relative strength and depth.

7.16 SS Hunter Wohler of Wisconsin (grade: B+) While I am pleased top see another guy from my alma mater on the roster and he provides decent value in this spot, I can’t give it an A with the two biggest needs once again totally getting a pass here. Wohler twice led the Badgers in tackles and has a nose for the ball, and coaches through the draft process absolutely love the guy. He has good size but is a bit slow, although he makes up for his speed in hustle and awareness. He is sneakily athletic though, as he has had some success returning punts in college. This clearly a guy that should have a nice impact on the special teams unit as a young player, but with new high-dollar guys in the secondary he will only be a role player and insurance policy for the base defense. A solid value, but two decent guards were still on the board, as well as a possible starting linebacker.

OVERALL: (grade: C) I am not a big fan of this year’s draft when looked at as a whole. They came into the draft with a single hole on offense, and two gaping chasms opened up by free agency losses. They fixed the offensive hole as expected in round 1 when a great player fell to them in exactly the position they needed. But then they repeatedly ignored the rest of the positions they needed the most, even when some value picks were still on the board at those positions. Another thing that concerns me about the many defensive players drafted this week for depth is that most do not project to be valuable special teamers -- as one needs your young bench players to be. I give this draft a C, even if Warren has a Brock Bowers sort of rookie season.

UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS: Not a lot of guys that really excite me with potential, and not enough guards and linebackers to address the recurring theme of this report. They did sign a few punters and kickers, the latter of those being important since they released veteran PK Matt Gay two weeks before the draft. PK Maddux Trujillo of Temple was the kicker signed, and he is high on power and distance, but also erratic on shorter kicks. The consensus top free agent place kicker signed in Carolina, so I suspect the Colts will instead sign a veteran later. Two rookie punters were signed despite the solid play of P Rigoberto Sanchez, so these are probably just camp legs to ease his burden. The Colts have been one the best at finding gems in the UDFA class, and at one point went something like 25 straight years with at least one making the roster. In fact, they also have had many UDFAs become key contributors over the last couple of decades, so hopefully they can find one of those gems in this class. But at this point, I don’t see any obvious candidates for that – aside from the fact that the linebacking corps is so thin that the chances are better there.

That is all for now….

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