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Film Room Dives Into the Game of Wide Receiver Ashton Dulin

While he has flown a bit under the radar in his Colts' tenure, wide receiver Ashton Dulin has been a valuable member of the team for years. Can this young wide out breakout in 2022?
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Indianapolis Colts' General Manager Chris Ballard loves to take some shots on wide receivers later in the draft. As a result, one of the craziest offseason traditions with this fanbase has been over-hyping whichever young receiver Ballard has opted to bring onto the roster.

With players like Deon Cain and Daurice Fountain fizzling out, and Dezmon Patmon and Michael Strachan struggling to find their footing, the most productive of these late round/UDFA players has been Ashton Dulin.

Dulin began his career with the Colts as an undrafted free agent back in 2019. He spent the first half of the year on the practice squad, but he was called up halfway through the year due to injuries. Since then, the young receiver has yet to relinquish his roster spot.

While known primarily for his special teams prowess over the past three years, Dulin has steadily grown as a receiver. He notched career high totals in catches (13), yards (173) and touchdowns (2) a year ago with the team. These numbers may not be much in general, but Dulin did also see his overall offense snap count increase to 326 last year (he only saw 114 offensive snaps in 2020).

With uncertainty surrounding the Colts' wide receiver group yet again this offseason, some have been pointing to Dulin as being a potential breakout candidate in the group. Today, I dive into his film to discuss what kind of player this young receiver is.

Schemed Touches

With Dulin being a regular gameday player, (for special teams) he was always bound to see a few snaps on offense, even when the team didn't think he was ready for full time work. These offensive snaps have led to a few schemed touches to get this talented kick returner the ball in the open field.

Dulin has seen five carries on reverse plays over the past two years, his biggest run being this 37-yard carry against the New England Patriots in week 15 of this past season.

While he isn't the most agile or quick player overall, Dulin does have a second gear in the open field that allows him to fly past defenders. Whenever he is on the field, opposing defenses do have to be wary of his ability in this regard.

Doing the Little Things

For a UDFA player to make an NFL roster, they have to be able to succeed at the little things. Dulin has been a phenomenal special teams player over the past few seasons, but he has also been an underrated contributor as a blocker.

I wouldn't put his ability on par with Zach Pascal or anything, but Dulin has grown quite a bit in this area of his game. He has clearly put in the work to earn extra snaps on designed run plays over the years.

(The second clip on the Jonathan Taylor touchdown was an outstanding block to reach his man)

Improvements at Wide Receiver

During his first two seasons with the team, Dulin looked more like an athlete lined up at receiver than a nuanced player at the position. That did start to change a little bit last year.

He still has some improvements to make (like refining his routes a tad more and making cleaner catches away from his frame), but I was extremely impressed with his overall growth.

His overall route running looked a lot crisper, and he hauled in some clutch catches late in the year. He truly looks to have grown from a player that was just a special teamer running an occasional route to a player that looked like he could handle some reserve snaps.

The Bottom Line

I have always been irrationally high on Ashton Dulin and his potential. While I never saw a player that could be a starter in the NFL, I did see an intriguing athlete that could handle reserve snaps with some development. That seems to be coming to fruition for the young receiver.

While I can't buy any statements on him being the second leading receiver in this offense or anything, I could definitely see him being a valuable fourth receiver for this team. His speed, and development as a route runner, could lead to even more snaps in 2022.

Overall, I like Dulin quite a bit as a player that could catch 25-30 passes (for maybe 300-350 yards) in 2022. While that wouldn't be a phenomenal season by any means, it would be a great next step for him to take in his career.


Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

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