Cal Sports Report

Cal S Daniel Scott Taken by Colts in Fifth Round of NFL Draft

Scott becomes the fifth Golden Bears defensive back drafted in the last four years
Jake Curtis|
Cal S Daniel Scott Taken by Colts in Fifth Round of NFL Draft
Cal S Daniel Scott Taken by Colts in Fifth Round of NFL Draft

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Indianapolis Colts

Safety Daniel Scott became the fifth Cal defensive back to be drafted in the past four years when he was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round of the NFL draft on Saturday.

He was the 24th choice of the fifth round and the 158th pick overall. Scott was the 11th safety to be taken in the 2023 NFL draft. The Colts acquired that 158th pick by way of a trade with the Vikings.

"Once I got the phone call my heart dropped a little bit," Scott said. "You have all those years of extra hard work, and finally reaching that goal is just . . . your heart drops and all your thoughts kind of go away and it's just pure happiness."

Scott was planning a sump into the ocean to celebrate later Saturday.

According to Spotrac, a player taken in Scott's spot would be slotted to sign a four-year contract with a total value of $4.17 million, with a signing bonus of $307.835

This is the fourth consecutive year that a Cal defensive back has been taken in the NFL draft. Ashtyn Davis was taken by the Jets and Jaylinn Hawkins went to the Falcons in 2020, Camryn Bynum was drafted by the Vikings in 2021, and Elijah Hicks was selected by the Bears last year. All four were on the 2022 regular-season rosters of the teams that drafted them, all at the safety position. Scott hopes to make it five Cal safeties in the NFL.

Scott, who spent six years at Cal, was a college teammate of all four of those defensive backs currently in the pros and spoke with them about the draft process and the NFL. 

"They gave me the blueprint to be a processional," Scott said. "They were a big influence in my life.  I think I talked to at least one them before every event [leading up to the draft]."

Scott is the only Cal player expected to be drafted this year, but Cal has had at least one player drafted 35 of the past 37 years.

Scott could probably play either safety spot in the NFL, and the Colts are three-deep at both the free safety and strong safety positions.

Scott is already listed as the Colts' second-team free safety by ESPN, although that is a projection that involves some guesswork. The Colts' first-string free safety at the moment is Julian Blackmon, who has been a starter each of his three seasons in the NFL.  

Rodney Thomas II is currently listed as their starting strong safety, and he was a rookie in 2022 who was taken in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft.  So the Colts are willing to look at late-round picks to get significant playing time immediately.  Thomas started 10 of of Indianapolis' 17 games last season.

The Colts' official depth chart has no one listed as the first-team strong safety, and lists Blackmon as the first-team free safety, with Thomas as the second-team free safety. So perhaps Scott can slip into the depth chart at strong safety.

Scott said he spoke to the Colts' special teams coach (Brian Mason), their offensive coordinator (Jim Bob Cooter) and the defensive backfield coach (Ron Milus) after being drafted.

Interestingly, Scott, Thomas and Blackmon are all 24 years old.

When the 2022 season ended Scott was not expected to be drafted, but he performed well at the Senior Bowl and had impressive results at the NFL Combine, making him attractive to NFL teams. His time of 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Combine showed he was faster than pro scouts expected, and his strong performance in the other events at the Combine demonstrated he has the athleticism to play safety at the pro level.

Scott had three interceptions in 2022, and he also had three picks in 2021, when he led the team in tackles.

"I feel my knowledge of the game jumped up with Cal," Scott said.

The 6-foot-1, 208-pound Scott took trips to visit three teams since the Combine — Pittsburgh, Detroit and Arizona. Those visits did not involve workouts, just conversations with people within each organization.

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Cover photo of Daniel Scott by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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