Quick Hits: Chris Ballard, Frank Reich Discuss Colts 2021 NFL Draft Class
The Indianapolis Colts concluded the 2021 NFL Draft on Saturday with a well-rounded haul mixed with players with high potential and who fit many of their needs.
After trading back on Day 3 and acquiring an extra seventh-round pick, the Colts selected seven players that appeared to be classic Frank Reich and Chris Ballard selections.
- Round 1, Pick 21: Kwity Paye | DE | Michigan
- Round 2, Pick 54: Dayo Odeyingbo | DE | Vanderbilt
- Round 4, Pick 127: Kylen Granson | TE | SMU
- Round 5, Pick 165: Shawn Davis | S | Florida
- Round 6, Pick 218: Sam Ehlinger | QB | Texas
- Round 7, Pick 229: Mike Strachan | WR | Charleston (WV)
- Round 7, Pick 248: Will Fries | G | Penn State
The Colts needed help on the edge of the defensive line, they've expressed interest in acquiring a playmaking tight end, they acquired key depth and more.
Ballard and Reich spoke to reporters after the draft, giving a rundown on their approach and the decision-making process.
Here are the quick hits.
On Kylen Granson:
Ballard: That’s kind of what happened today. When we got into the fourth round and we took Kylen Granson, who we really like. He was at the Senior Bowl. He’s an athletic ‘F’ that can play some fullback. He adds a speed element in the room that I think is really going to help us offensively, especially on third down.
Reich: Yeah, like Chris said, we are very excited about Kylen and what he brings, the dimensions he brings. When you watch the tape, you see he is explosive. He has explosive speed, he has quickness, foot and body quickness. He’s also dynamic with the football in his hand as a tight end, which that can be a great element for our offense.
We like to think we know what we’re doing when we’re using that position, but I think he’ll complement the other guys well. Very versatile, we can put him in the backfield. This is a highly intelligent player. That room is a very productive room and they need to complement each other and I think he adds an important piece to our offense.
On Shawn Davis:
Ballard: Then we turn around and we take some depth at safety with Shawn Davis who plays the way we want to play. He is aggressive, he is tough, he has good ball skills.
On Sam Ehlinger:
Ballard: Then we flip and we take Sam Ehlinger. Sam will get a chance to compete to make the roster and he’ll compete with our two other young quarterbacks that we have. The one thing I will tell you about Sam, the guy just – whatever ‘it’ is he has it. He has been highly productive at Texas and he’s won a lot of games as the starting quarterback. He’s been a heck of a college football player and we think he has a good chance to be a good pro player.
Reich: First, just the character. More than anything, I think Sam is just a winner. I think he’s a winner, I think he has those intangible traits that it takes at this position to be a good decision-maker. I think he has the traits of what it takes to have poise under pressure. No moment is too big.
The other thing that really jumps off the tape when you watch him is his ability to extend plays. I think he is very dynamic in that regard. He doesn’t have – when you look at his 40 time or any of those numbers, you’re not going to be wowed, but when you watch the tape you see a guy who is very allusive, very good vision, very good balance when he is moving in the pocket and a real knack to make plays when he is moving, so I think that’s what sticks out more than anything....
I mean I think it will be – Jacob (Eason) is in that position right now (backup quarterback) but this is a prove-it league, right? I mean he’s in that role but there will be competition. We’ll split up the reps. I don’t know how it will be at this point, but everybody will get a chance and we’re excited about Jalen Morton getting a chance as well. We believe he has some talent, so those guys will all get an opportunity.
On Mike Strachan:
Ballard: We took a kid out of Charleston and Mike is a big target who needs some developmental work, but he has a really unique skillset at wideout.
On Will Fries:
Ballard: Then, I told y’all there was some depth at the draft at offensive line. We take Will Fries in the seventh round. Will started 40 games at Penn State. He has a lot of versatility. He can play guard and tackle, which is important.
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On taking the best player available rather than reaching for a need:
Ballard: I mean you can set your board up to fill your needs, but I’m just telling you, you end up taking a player that is not as good as the one you passed up. So, we want to always make sure we take it – we take good players even if we have other players at the position. It might be a year before they play but they will get on the field and they will be good players for us.
On the left tackle position as it currently stands:
Reich: I feel good. As you guys know, I go into the draft and I’m so excited because we’re going to add to what I think is an already really good football team with a bunch of good players. We’re excited about the guys that we have. We’ll continue to work and develop, figure out how we put our five best guys out there to start the season.
Like Chris has mentioned to you, the thought going in is try to leave guys where they are at, but we’re always open and working it day by day. Sam (Tevi) has played a lot of football, so we’re confident that we’re going to have five – a winning combination up there.
On how it developed that the Colts didn't select a left tackle in the draft:
Ballard: Anytime you have a player like Anthony Castonzo retire, it’s a need and we signed some guys who we think are pretty good football players. But saying that, it just didn’t match up at that point in the draft. I’d be honest, how many true left tackles were in the draft – I don’t have the number exactly but prototypically, some of these guys, maybe they end up playing left tackle. We’ll see if they end up staying there their whole careers. But if you’re going to draft a guy that high and you’re drafting him to play left tackle, you’d like to know that he’s going to be able to do it for his whole career.
On if the defensive line was a priority, or if taking one with each of their first two picks was how the board fell:
Ballard: I think it’s two-fold. One, we knew we wanted to add some more young talent there. Then, that’s just kind of how it fell. When we took with our first-round pick, Paye, he was the best player on the board at the time and fit us not only from an athletic and performance standpoint but from a character standpoint which I think you all know that’s a premium for us, who we bring in the building.
Then, I think you heard my words on Dayo last night. We thought he was first-round talent. It’s hard to pass up a guy that you have that high even with the circumstances with the injury, so it just kind of worked out that way.
On how much this class can contribute right away due to many of them seeming to be works in progress.
Ballard: Let me say this about the draft, every GM right now is up here talking to the media telling them we just hit a home run. So now let’s get to the real world – what I care about is what we think internally, our coaches and our staff, what they think internally about the players we drafted.
We have a plan for each and every one of them. I don’t think they are as raw as people are leading on. I think they are good players. They’ll come and they’ll compete. They’re not guaranteed starting jobs, they have to earn that. That’s the reality of who we are and what our league is about. I don’t care if you’re a first-round pick or you’re an undrafted free agent, if you perform, you’re going to play. So we don’t – look, do we expect these guys to come in and play pretty significant roles? Absolutely you do, but it doesn’t always work out that way. So, they’ll come in, they’ll work and they’ll earn their time.
Look, we have some other kids here who are pretty talented too now. It’s not like we had an empty cupboard like everybody made it out to be. I mean Tyquan Lewis is coming on, (Kemoko) Turay is very talented. (Al-Quadin) Muhammad has played a lot of football here. (Isaac) Rochell had played good football with the Chargers. (Ben) Banogu has a lot of talent. This is what you want, you want to create competition at positions for guys to play.
Like, I always laugh at this time of year because they’ll come out with draft grades and everybody will make all these assumptions of how it’s going to end up, but none of us know the story of how it’s going to go. Do we believe we’ve got good players? Absolutely, we do. I’d be stupid to (say) up here, ‘You know what? We screwed this up. That sucked.’ No, we think we did well and if we’re right they’ll come in and they’ll play, and I think we’ve been pretty good at doing this.
I think that’s where the character really matters. Like players that have the right makeup that we’re looking for, we know they are going to hit their ceilings at some point because they are going to work. They are going to fail at some point and they are going to be able to dig themselves out of the hole just because of their makeup. That’s what we look for. Those are the type of men that we look to bring into this organization.
On if the team is better now than when the 2020 season ended:
Ballard: Every year is a new year. Every year you have to prove it. Do I think we added some more talent defensively? Absolutely. I think I’ve said it numerous times here, it wasn’t going to be easy to replace Anthony Castonzo, he was a really good player. We think the world of Carson Wentz. So, we think we have a very good football team. Now we have to go prove it.
What I think doesn’t really matter because I could sit here and tell you we’re a no-doubt Super Bowl team but that’s not reality until you go out and practice and you play, and you get better and you lose a game that everybody thought you should win. You have to go through the process and then we judge it – always judge it at the end of the season, not in March, not in April, not in September. I judge it at the end of the season, so I guess we’ll see. I know that’s dancing around the question, but that’s kind of the world we live in.
On whether or not adding toughness and physicality was a priority:
Ballard: I think you can just look from the players we’ve taken throughout our tenure here that there is a certain athletic quality that they are all going to have. I know Paye is not a speed rusher. He only ran 4.57 and he just happens to have power too. Then Dayo can run also. Davis unfortunately pulled his hamstring running a 40 but we think he has good speed.
But look, to play defense you have to hit. It’s a physical freaking game and we think we added three more players that kind of fit how our other guys play on defense.
On whether or not rookie minicamp will happen soon and if it's still mandatory:
Ballard: We are going to have ours next weekend... Yes, rookies will be here.
How do you feel about the Colts' draft class? Drop your thoughts below in the comment section!
