Ballard on draft picks

[JAFF]

Finding pass rushers beyond the first 16 picks in the NFL draft is one of the toughest things a general manager has to be able to do.

Chris Ballard knows it better than anybody.

The blue-chip guys, the Von Millers and Khalil Macks and anybody named Bosa, they don’t get out of the top 10. Even the freakishly gifted players who carry a little reason for doubt, the Aaron Donalds and J.J. Watts, don’t make it far into the double digits.

But Ballard is going to have to find pass rushers beyond that range in his tenure in Indianapolis. The Colts are built to be a playoff team, and playoff teams don’t pick in the top half of the first round.

Michigan's Kwity Paye against Penn State in 2020.
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The Colts think they found a pair of foundational pass rushers in the final days of April. Famous for trading down in his half a decade in Indianapolis, Ballard stayed put in the first two rounds and spent both of his picks on pass rushers, taking Michigan’s Kwity Paye at No. 21 and Vanderbilt’s Dayo Odeyingbo at No. 54.


With the tape of Paye and Odeyingbo playing behind him on Thursday, Ballard showed the reporters who regularly cover the Colts exactly why he bet big on those two pass rushers.

Ballard believes deeply in the two pass rushers the Colts selected.

“That’s what made the decision so easy on draft day,” Ballard said. “It’s harder to trade back, especially with the unknowns that we had this year. I know the analytics crowd (would say), and I’m big on it, that more picks is better, and my thinking will always go that way, but in the uncertainty of this year, and some of the lack of information, just trying to get the picks right, to me, was important, and with the lack of depth in some areas of the draft, we just thought staying put, taking a good football player was going to be the right avenue.”


Paye, the first-round pick, isn’t built exactly like the players the Colts have taken to play the right defensive end position before.

Typically, the Colts like a player with a little more length — Paye stands 6-2.5 and has 33-inch arms—but the Michigan defensive end makes up for his lack of length because he has something that’s hard to find in a speed rusher coming out of college.

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Paye already has the power to go with the speed. If a young defensive end doesn’t have power, offensive tackles learn to just let him fly around the outside, then push him harmlessly past the quarterback.

“The guy’s 268 pounds, and he’s got a short, compact build, but he’s got really quick feet, he’s got a very good get-off, and then he’s relentless,” Ballard said. “Those three things, and then you combine it with his power, say he’s going to be a really good pass rusher.”

On film, Ballard showed clips of Paye getting a step on a tackle with his feet, then using his power to push past, refusing to allow the tackle to knock him off his rush.

Paye has some work to do as a pass rusher.

The Colts know that.

“There’s times when he’s got to come to balance and finish better, and that’ll help. We think we can help him do that,” Ballard said. ““The one thing that I know we’ve got to develop is a second. Right now, the power and speed off the edge. He’s got to develop some other type of rush, which I’m telling you, most guys do. Most guys have to. Most guys are not refined pass rushers when they come in our league, and they’ve got to learn how to counter.”

Minutes after the Colts selected Paye — a decision cemented by a 10 p.m. medical report the night before that cleared up concerns about the level of troponin in his heart — the rookie defensive end was already talking about working on developing that rush.


The Colts, with Brian Baker on staff and Robert Mathis a short drive away, are confident they can help a pass rusher play to his athletic potential.

And athletic potential is bursting out of both Paye and Odeyingbo, a player Ballard has trouble containing his excitement about picking. If Odeyingbo hadn’t torn his Achilles in January — the Colts think the rookie will be able to play at some point in 2021 — Indianapolis believes he’d have been a first-round pick, and the clips Ballard shows are hard to deny.

Odeyingbo is remarkably explosive for a man who weighs almost 300 pounds, impossibly long in his arms, agile enough to put a swim move on a blocker to the inside, quick enough to pull off a spin move in the middle of interior offensive line traffic.

Dayo Odeyingbo (10) defends against Missouri.
Put simply, Odeyingbo jumps off the tape.

“Every time you talked to people around the league, in the SEC, this is the guy that kept coming up,” Ballard said. “He’s still young, but he has got a really unique skill set with his length, his athletic ability, his body control. He’s got some real special in him.”

When Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown scouted Odeyingbo, he saw Justin Tuck, the former Giants pass rusher who would’ve fit perfectly in the Denico Autry role the Colts think Odeyingbo fits like a glove.

Indianapolis thinks a healthy Odeyingbo has a chance to be special, and even if he doesn’t play all over the line at the start, the Colts think he’ll be able to help this year — after he finishes recovering from a torn Achilles tendon that still has an uncertain timeline.


“Let’s put him at left end, let’s let him play left end, let’s let him be good at left end and let him develop,” Ballard said. “Do I feel 100 percent you’re going to see the real guy this year? No. We’re willing to wait. We think the rewards will be great.”

If there were concerns about the tape of both players, it’s that neither player had big sack numbers. Paye had 11.5 in 28 college games; Odeyingbo posted eight in 41.

But it’s getting harder and harder to get sacks at the college level, where just about every offense is designed to minimize the impact of the pass rush. College passing games are full of bubble screens and quick throws, played at a breakneck pace designed to keep defensive linemen on the field and suck the air out of their lungs.

What Ballard sees on the film is pure, raw ability.

Paye’s combination of power and speed. Odeyingbo’s combination of length, size and explosiveness, a combination so unique it’s hard to find an NFL comparison for his game.

“I have no reservations about Kwity,” Ballard said.

Safe to say the Achilles tendon is the only thing that might qualify as a reservation on Odeyingbo.

And if Ballard’s right about both of the defensive ends he picked two weeks ago, there will be plenty of highlights of Paye and Odeyingbo rushing the passer as Colts in the years to come.

[Dam8610]

I'd been searching for a good comp for Odeyingbo. Justin Tuck is a fantastic one. Hopefully he can be that good, but also hopefully over a longer period of time. If he can be 2007-2010 Justin Tuck for 8-10 years, that's a huge steal.

I appreciate Ballard confirming he was drafting the ceiling with Paye. I like that he has faith in his coaching staff to develop him. I hope it pays off, and if you can't root for the man and the story that is Kwity Paye, you need to deal with your unhealthy levels of cynicism.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

I'd been searching for a good comp for Odeyingbo. Justin Tuck is a fantastic one. Hopefully he can be that good, but also hopefully over a longer period of time. If he can be 2007-2010 Justin Tuck for 8-10 years, that's a huge steal.

I appreciate Ballard confirming he was drafting the ceiling with Paye. I like that he has faith in his coaching staff to develop him. I hope it pays off, and if you can't root for the man and the story that is Kwity Paye, you need to deal with your unhealthy levels of cynicism.

I’d say more like chandler jones or Aldon smith taller guys with long arms

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by apballin

I’d say more like chandler jones or Aldon smith taller guys with long arms

Jones and Smith were leaner and faster/more agile than Odeyingbo. They have length in common, but Odeyingbo fits more of that Justin Tuck 43 base end that slides inside on passing downs mold.

[JAFF]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

Jones and Smith were leaner and faster/more agile than Odeyingbo. They have length in common, but Odeyingbo fits more of that Justin Tuck 43 base end that slides inside on passing downs mold.

So having justin tuck 2.0 is ok with you?

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

Jones and Smith were leaner and faster/more agile than Odeyingbo. They have length in common, but Odeyingbo fits more of that Justin Tuck 43 base end that slides inside on passing downs mold.

Paye is closer to Tuck

Dayo is definitely a slender long arm guy, Tuck was neither of those

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by apballin

Paye is closer to Tuck

Dayo is definitely a slender long arm guy, Tuck was neither of those

To me Paye is similar to Freeney, just a little taller.

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by JAFF

So having justin tuck 2.0 is ok with you?

https://youtu.be/AKSZWme3Bpc

Originally Posted by apballin

Paye is closer to Tuck

Dayo is definitely a slender long arm guy, Tuck was neither of those

Tuck was 6'5" 268 with 33" arms Odeyingbo is 6'5" 276 with 35" arms. Sounds pretty similar to me.

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

To me Paye is similar to Freeney, just a little taller.

Paye is slightly taller, slightly slower, potentially more agile, and WAY more raw than Freeney was coming out of Syracuse.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

https://youtu.be/AKSZWme3Bpc



Tuck was 6'5" 268 with 33" arms Odeyingbo is 6'5" 276 with 35" arms. Sounds pretty similar to me.



Paye is slightly taller, slightly slower, potentially more agile, and WAY more raw than Freeney was coming out of Syracuse.

Exactly look at Payes measurables 6-2 260 33inch arms they are almost exactly the same as Tuck

Dayo has longer arms and didn’t have a pro day but from what I’ve seen he’s not built anything like Tuck, Tuck looked like a body builder

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by apballin

Exactly look at Payes measurables 6-2 260 33inch arms they are almost exactly the same as Tuck

Dayo has longer arms and didn’t have a pro day but from what I’ve seen he’s not built anything like Tuck, Tuck looked like a body builder

6'2" is not similar to 6'5", especially for DEs. Also, Odeyingbo is 8 pounds heavier than Tuck was coming into the NFL and the same height, so the statement about Odeyingbo being slender while Tuck was not doesn't make much sense.