Former K-State's DJ Giddens Vows To Improve In This Area As An Indianapolis Colt

Former Kansas State's DJ Giddens heard his name called by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. He is a runner with great field vision, can gain yards after contact, and is a good receiving option out of the backfield.

But one of the biggest questions about Giddens' game is his pass protection. NFL analyst Lance Zierlein listed it as one of Giddens' weaknesses in his analysis on NFL.com. After he was drafted, Giddens was asked how he plans to improve pass protection.

"Really just getting my confidence back, that's just the main thing," Giddens said. "Like I said the technique, I know the technique, you know it's just doing it now. Being confident that I am 100 percent, just hitting somebody, pressing the line, inside hands, you know using your own hands when you're blocking that's the main thing, so now I'm 100 percent, I'm healthy on that."

Giddens will head into his rookie season after recovering from injuries that affected his confidence.

"I am confident in my blocking, like 100 percent confident," Giddens said. "Ain't no excuses, I was just battling things throughout the season. It kind of hindered my confidence by a little bit, but I had surgery. So I know who to block, I can learn protections easily. Now it's just better technique and I know that's going to come for sure."

Giddens wasn't the only person asked about his pass protection after the Colts selected him. Colts general manager Chris Ballard also talked about Giddens' blocking ability now that he's healthy.

"I think any running back coming into our league, the hardest thing for them is pass protection," Ballard said. "All of them have to learn... they're just not asked to do it at the level we are asking our guys to do it. Especially with the size of the men they have to block that are coming at them. So, yeah, there's no question that that's something he's got to work on but he'll be good at it. I have a lot of faith in our staff, and this kid will work at it and be good at it."

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Seth Kunz is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at sethkunz988@gmail.com

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