The Colts have gotten notably little production from their last two draft classes and have had to resort to free agency heavily to plug roster holes. Ryan Grigson and the Colts will have a hard time surviving three straight barren draft hauls, making this a make-or-break class of sorts. So after watching all the FBS snaps a year ago, let’s take a look at how each can fit in and impact the Colts in 2015.
Round 1: Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami
Grade: D+
An explosive talent out of Miami, Dorsett isn’t likely to have the polish to break into a starting role for the Colts any time soon. He only caught 36 of 67 targets with one drop, but his 10 yards after catch per reception was second best in the class. Will need to refine his route tree as 60% of his targets came on deep routes (DeSean Jackson was at 37% last season for comparison) to see more playing time.
Depth Chart Fit: Only likely to see the field in 4-WR sets early on. Could also see him being utilized in two-receiver sets with T.Y. Hilton to stress the defense with speed.
Round 3: D’Joun Smith, CB, FAU
Grade: D
Of all the small school corners, we did not have Smith pegged as an early round pick. The corner faced just one power five school all season (Nebraska) and graded out negatively against both run and pass. Held his own against Old Dominion and Marshall, two of the most talented passing offenses outside of the power five. In those games Smith allowed 85 yards on 7-14 passing with two passes defended.
Depth Chart Fit: Will compete with Greg Toler for the starting cornerback job across from Vontae Davis. Only 26 slot snaps a season ago make it tough to project if he can overtake Darius Butler’s position there.
Round 3: Henry Anderson, DI, Stanford
Grade: A+
We haven’t been shy in our praise of Anderson who was simply the most productive defensive linemen in the NCAA last year. His performance at the combine did nothing to dissuade us that his production will translate to the NFL. Anderson was one of the most agile defensive linemen in Indianapolis and regularly beat linemen with quickness and power. Played almost exclusively on the left side for Stanford with just 13 of 694 snaps coming to the right of center.
Depth Chart Fit: Should immediately overtake Corey Redding’s role from a year ago and the Colts shouldn’t miss a beat.
Round 4: Clayton Geathers, S, UCF
Lined up as a deep safety on 83% of his snaps as a Senior with the rest of his snaps spent equally between box safety and slot corner. Was rarely used there, but Geathers has the size (6-foot-2, 218 pounds) and physical abilities that project to a box safety. A bit of an early selection given his poor performance in the Senior Bowl and against power five competition where he allowed over 100 yards against Penn State alone. Missed 17 tackles in 102 opportunities.
Depth Chart Fit: Should be given every chance in camp to take a starting safety job from Dwight Lowery. Immediate special teams contributor.
Round 5: David Parry, DT, Stanford
A bowling ball, Parry dominated the first seven weeks of the season before an injury against Arizona State limited his effectiveness down the stretch. A healthy Parry was back making quick work of linemen as the seconded highest graded defensive tackle in 24 snaps at the East-West Shrine Game. Parry played only 486 snaps on the season and had the 10th-best run stop percentage in the class at 8.3.
Depth Chart Fit: Could eat into Josh Chapman’s snaps by years end as Parry may prove more adept at rushing the passer than Chapman’s lone pressure from a year ago.
Round 6: Josh Robinson, RB, Mississippi State
Robinson is a tackle-breaking machine whose 94.2 elusive rating last season was second to only Todd Gurley in the class. He broke 48 tackles on 190 carries while averaging 3.5 yards after contact per attempt. Robinson has speed concerns(4.70 40 at combine) that dropped him this low, but he’s a compact runner that can run clean through arm tackles when given the chance.
Depth Chart Fit: Will compete for carries behind Frank Gore and could easily work his way into a backfield platoon.
Round 6: Amario Herrera, LB, Georgia
Dominated week one in a three sack performance against Clemson, but didn’t flash much the rest of the season at inside linebacker for the Bulldogs. Herrera’s 7.2 run stop percentage was below the class average and was considerably behind fellow Georgia inside linebacker Ramik Wilson (9.7) who out played him and was drafted in the fourth round.
Depth Chart Fit: Will struggle to find any playing time in Year 1, but should be a shoe-in to make the team and become a core special-teamer.
Round 7: Denzelle Good, OT, Mars Hill
Good has tackle size at 6-foot-6, 339 pounds, but he didn’t play a snap against an FBS team last season so we haven’t seen him play.
Depth Chart Fit: With not much talent at tackle beyond the starters, and no signed UDFAs, Goode has a strong chance of making the roster.
The Undrafted
Donald Celiscar, CB/S, Western Michigan: Extremely productive corner against the run and pass for Western Michigan. His 19 combined interceptions and pass breakups were the most in the draft.
Tyler Varga, RB, Yale: Another Ivy Leaguer, Varga had one of the highest-graded games we saw from a running back all season when he broke 14 tackles in Yale’s victory over Army. Showed positively again in the senior bowl with two touchdowns and a missed tackle on four carries.
Jean Sifrin, TE, Massachusetts: UMass tight end had a middling 8.7 drop rate, but his 2.62 yards per route run was fifth best in the class.
Quan Bray, WR, Auburn: Third highest-graded receiver for Auburn last season.
Terrell Hartsfield, ED, Cincinnati: 10 sacks for Cincinnati last season, but Hartsfield wasn’t a consistent pass rusher. Graded out negatively versus both run and pass.
Zack Hodges, ED, Harvard: The much talked about Harvard edge defender didn’t play an FBS team all year, but came away with a middling grade in 12 snaps at the Senior Bowl.
Ezell Ruffin, WR, San Diego State: Averaged 2.36 yards per route run in an injury shortened senior season for the San Diego State receiver.
Bryan Bennett, QB, Southeastern Louisiana: Missed throw after throw going 16-36 with one touchdown and two interceptions in his only FBS game against Tulane. The Southeastern Louisiana quarterback wasn’t much better at the Senior Bowl where he again threw two interceptions.
Junior Sylvestre, LB, Toledo: A problem with missed tackles, Sylvestre’s 4.8 tackling efficiency was one of the worst in the class. The Toledo linebacker has redeeming qualities as a blitzer though where he racked up the fourth highest grade in the class.
Robert Smith, S, Clemson: Clemson safety missed 18 tackles on 82 opportunities while grading negative versus both run and pass.
Al-Hajj Shabazz, CB, West Chester: The West Chester corner didn’t play a snap against FBS competition last year.
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