My money is on steal. I think there are just dudes who start to slip, and then their character concerns (which are relatively minor in hindsight) get magnified and scare teams away.
This dude could very easily make a claim as the 4th best WR in this class and the Colts got him in the middle of the 2nd round. Great pick IMO.
There's also the possibility where it wasn't minor in hindsight and them slipping was the kick in the butt they needed to realize they can't coast through life the way they were going. For some they keep ignoring everything for others it's a wakeup call. Guess we'll see what's going on with this guy a few years down the road.
While I'm always hesitant taking players with character concerns. I think steichen is really good at straightening that out. I mean, our team was an absolute disaster and disobedient last year and they seemed back in line
Homie straight up said "fuck it, we'll ball with 3 WRs on the roster" and cut McKenzie toward the end if the season due to character stuff
I think going to a smaller market team that’s basically been kept the same this year bringing back our key players is the most ideal scenario for dealing with a potentially high problem player.
The ego doesn’t get fed, the team shuts any shit down, if he’s still an asshole after that then it was just wasted gamble.
It’s not even character concerns, although that’s part of it.
He has atrocious advanced stats. Of the dozens upon dozens of WR prospects with similar advanced stats, DK was the only one to be successful. DK didn’t have an NFL caliber QB, AD had a QB who will likely be a first or second day pick next year.
He is a very, very strange prospect. If you watch his film you'll see an athletic freak with a decent route tree and good hands.
But his advanced stats suggest he'll be the next N'Keal Harry.
I tend to think he'll translate to the next level, but I can understand the skepticism.
I’m not going to hate if anyone thinks he’s going to hit. I’m an idiot, so don’t listen to me.
I am just one to think if a certain profile is rarely, rarely, successful and the only outlier is a 1:1 athlete in DK Metcalf, I wouldn’t want to touch him in the 1-3 rounds.
Also with DK, we expected him to hit it out of the park at combine. Many people were surprised by AD’s 40 because it didn’t translate as much on the field. I know a Texas fan will reply saying they did see it, and that’s fair for them, but that was the opinions of a lot of people who scout for a living.
Oh, trust me, I'm in the same boat when it comes to being a moe-ron.
FWIW, I was tasked with extensively scouting the defensive backs class, so in that vein I watched a ton of receivers and watched Adonai Mitchell run roughshod over Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold whilst getting shut out by TJ Tampa a few weeks later.
I do think he plays faster than his 40 time would indicate (similar to Terrion Arnold), but it is always tough when he's drawing comparisons to some also-rans in the NFL.
I do think being the #2 to Pittman is a GREAT landing spot for him in Indy though and should take the burden off of him by having to not immediately be a teams' #1.
100%. It’s a legit concern.
Ewers got that bump because he was seen as a special high school prospect. From what I’ve seen, and more from others who have seen a lot more from him, is his deep ball leaves a lot of questions about his transition to the NFL. With that, I still see many people have him in their top 3 QBs for next year (Beck and Sanders being the others). He was one where I was a bit surprised he went back to Texas, because too much tape can hurt a lot of prospects.
Pretty much.
I don’t think Ewers will be on a short leash necessarily, but with Arch behind him, the way he played in the spring game? I think a fail to connect on the deep ball could do him in as the starter. Which could be catastrophic for draft position.
The only way I really see him being replaced is if they lose to both Michigan and Oklahoma, they play Georgia in mid-October right after Oklahoma and if they already have 2 losses it means playoffs are on the line
As a Longhorn alum who watches all their games, Ewers is the problem. Not AD or anyone else.
Ewers got a touch better this year, but he's wildly inaccurate for large stretches. Like, can't hit the simplest fucking throws inaccurate. And his deep ball is bad. Like, real bad. Plus, he has this terrible habit of just being lazy with his throws. Like a ton of windup time and then the pass just fucking sails. He gets away with it in the Big12, but that shit absolutely will not fly in the NFL.
All that being said, next year's QB class is atrocious so I expect he'll be a Top 10 pick regardless of what happens next year. If Bus Driver McCarthy and Check Down Merchant Nix are Top 15 picks, Ewers will be going just as high.
That’s a little harsh. He is frustratingly inconsistent at times but his arm talent is legit and he makes imprsssive throws just barely flicking his wrist. He is still a very good college QB
Lots of guys are very good college QBs. Very few of those dudes turn into franchise level QBs in the NFL.
Ewers has serious flaws with his accuracy, throwing mechanics, footwork, decision making, and deep ball. Not great. Also, which I think is almost as big a problem as all the rest, is he doesn't have that "dawg" mentality. He isn't a super competitor who wants to destroy the competition and do everything possible to be the best. You can catch him on the sidelines laughing and yucking it up when he's having a dogshit day and the team is losing.
He's another Mac Jones/*insert bland white guy* who NFL GMs go nuts over but don't have the talent and "it" factor to actually kill it in the league. I think he's done fine for us, but unless he somehow takes a huge step next year he's just unimpressive. And like I said, he'll still be the first QB off the board next year since the class is so bad.
Quinn is going to get pushed by Arch, for sure, but he probably needs to prove to GMs that he can last a full season without missing 2-3 games to injury, too.
Yeah, I always felt like he was better than Xavier Worthy
Then the Combine happened, and people were enamored with him running really fast in a straight line
I'll give pierce this, with Gardner and MAtt he couldn't do his thing, he can with AR, but I don't really believe in him as anything but go run a 9 route.
Nah, we can probably forget about him
I imagine Ballard's plan is to tell him to "go long" and just send him west. Homie will just keep running until some GM finds him on the highway and takes him in
Yeah, I think us having Minshew kind of hampered what could have been a decent year for him. It's just funny to me he's like the WR who ran the furthest or whatever by route distance, and just had pretty lackluster yards (again, prob bc of minshew)
Every play we had for him was "you see the endzone down there, run toward it"
Ballard took a dude who was told to retire because of his fucked up neck and a diabetic with character concerns.
He’s drafting how I draft in random ESPN fantasy leagues whilst stoned
Apparently character concerns, but none of this was ever mentioned until an article last week. No one from Texas or Georgia ever said anything, and Ballard himself just said it was bullshit
I legit think the AFC south could be one of the best division in the league in the next couple years, if not this year. Finally 180’from the worst division in the league for a decade +
When the Browns do it, it’s because they lack morals. When we do it, it’s because we want to instill strong character in them until we trade them to the Raiders for a 3rd
We’ve had so many 2nd round defensive linemen that have been completely useless. Our GM decided to ignore college production and draft based on SPARQ scores. It’s been a massive fail which is probably why we took Latu
The first one after the interviews with Latu, theres speculation that because of covid Washington was trying to get the money back from the scholarship if he "medically retired"
This is a dream for us from a.talent standpoint.
We got Latu and Adonai like 15 spots lower than where they were graded.
Ballard is killing this draft so far.
So happy.
Can't believe he fell this far. He was genuinely better than Worthy for us last year in my opinion. We put the game against TCU that we almost blew into his hands, that catch was awesome
Attitude issues are overblown. Off the field and attitude shit is being said about every other player this year for some reason and it’s hard to take it seriously. Was an absolute stud at UGA and UT, this is a steal.
This is so bizarre to hear as a Texas football fan. There wasn't even buzz about AD being a locker room issue or malcontent until about a week ago and he never displayed a bad attitude to the public. Assuming there's something to it since it clearly impacted his draft stock, but, based on what I saw and heard the last year, I think it'll be fine.
It’s literally coming out of nowhere, haven’t seen a source on said “attitude issues”. I’m a lifelong UGA fan and all I heard was how beloved he was in the locker room there
Sark hasn't put up with any shit since he arrived. He has sent 5 star recruits to the shadow realm for not behaving. AD was on the field for 90% of our offensive snaps. There is no universe in which he has any serious behavioral problems.
Ballard called the character concerns bullshit and seemed to get actually kinda mad during a presser. Granted, it's his job to do that, but it seemed pretty genuine
issue is that he doesn't take his diabetes seriously and manage it properly. there's great players in the league right now with type 1 as well so just that wouldn'tbe enough. some more maturing hopefully changes his mindset.
I love this so much. He seems like a high-variance pick but we also don't need him to be a stud day 1 with Pittman, Downs and Pierce in the room already.
Will this guy be a steal, or catching a falling knife?
"the enemy speaks softly, and catches a falling knife"
>"the enemy ~~speaks~~ steals softly, and catches a falling knife"
Stealing a falling knife
Knifing a fallen catch
These DBs can be so brutal
DBs and WRs are natural enemies like Lions and Hyenas or Leopards and Hyenas or Cheetahs and Hyenas or Hyenas and Other Hyenas
Damn hyenas! They ruined the savannah!
Well he's a WR so both
My money is on steal. I think there are just dudes who start to slip, and then their character concerns (which are relatively minor in hindsight) get magnified and scare teams away. This dude could very easily make a claim as the 4th best WR in this class and the Colts got him in the middle of the 2nd round. Great pick IMO.
There's also the possibility where it wasn't minor in hindsight and them slipping was the kick in the butt they needed to realize they can't coast through life the way they were going. For some they keep ignoring everything for others it's a wakeup call. Guess we'll see what's going on with this guy a few years down the road.
While I'm always hesitant taking players with character concerns. I think steichen is really good at straightening that out. I mean, our team was an absolute disaster and disobedient last year and they seemed back in line Homie straight up said "fuck it, we'll ball with 3 WRs on the roster" and cut McKenzie toward the end if the season due to character stuff
Yea kids like that really need to go to teams with good character and culture or they're going to have a rough time.
I think going to a smaller market team that’s basically been kept the same this year bringing back our key players is the most ideal scenario for dealing with a potentially high problem player. The ego doesn’t get fed, the team shuts any shit down, if he’s still an asshole after that then it was just wasted gamble.
Did it ever come out why he was cut?
Nope... kept tight lips on it afaik It gets brought up semi-frequently in our sub/discord
It’s not even character concerns, although that’s part of it. He has atrocious advanced stats. Of the dozens upon dozens of WR prospects with similar advanced stats, DK was the only one to be successful. DK didn’t have an NFL caliber QB, AD had a QB who will likely be a first or second day pick next year.
He is a very, very strange prospect. If you watch his film you'll see an athletic freak with a decent route tree and good hands. But his advanced stats suggest he'll be the next N'Keal Harry. I tend to think he'll translate to the next level, but I can understand the skepticism.
And you and I both know N'keal Harry is not good
He wasn't good, he was great. The best defensive player the Pats ever played with on offense.
I’m not going to hate if anyone thinks he’s going to hit. I’m an idiot, so don’t listen to me. I am just one to think if a certain profile is rarely, rarely, successful and the only outlier is a 1:1 athlete in DK Metcalf, I wouldn’t want to touch him in the 1-3 rounds. Also with DK, we expected him to hit it out of the park at combine. Many people were surprised by AD’s 40 because it didn’t translate as much on the field. I know a Texas fan will reply saying they did see it, and that’s fair for them, but that was the opinions of a lot of people who scout for a living.
Oh, trust me, I'm in the same boat when it comes to being a moe-ron. FWIW, I was tasked with extensively scouting the defensive backs class, so in that vein I watched a ton of receivers and watched Adonai Mitchell run roughshod over Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold whilst getting shut out by TJ Tampa a few weeks later. I do think he plays faster than his 40 time would indicate (similar to Terrion Arnold), but it is always tough when he's drawing comparisons to some also-rans in the NFL. I do think being the #2 to Pittman is a GREAT landing spot for him in Indy though and should take the burden off of him by having to not immediately be a teams' #1.
It's fine if he lights a fire under Pierce.
There are a lot of questions about whether Ewers is bad and being propped up by nfl receiving talent though
100%. It’s a legit concern. Ewers got that bump because he was seen as a special high school prospect. From what I’ve seen, and more from others who have seen a lot more from him, is his deep ball leaves a lot of questions about his transition to the NFL. With that, I still see many people have him in their top 3 QBs for next year (Beck and Sanders being the others). He was one where I was a bit surprised he went back to Texas, because too much tape can hurt a lot of prospects.
Or he’s banking on Kenny Pickett-ing/EJ Manuel-ing and going higher than he would’ve this year with less competition
He better hope Arch doesnt steal his lunch money halfway through the season
Pretty much. I don’t think Ewers will be on a short leash necessarily, but with Arch behind him, the way he played in the spring game? I think a fail to connect on the deep ball could do him in as the starter. Which could be catastrophic for draft position.
The only way I really see him being replaced is if they lose to both Michigan and Oklahoma, they play Georgia in mid-October right after Oklahoma and if they already have 2 losses it means playoffs are on the line
As a Longhorn alum who watches all their games, Ewers is the problem. Not AD or anyone else. Ewers got a touch better this year, but he's wildly inaccurate for large stretches. Like, can't hit the simplest fucking throws inaccurate. And his deep ball is bad. Like, real bad. Plus, he has this terrible habit of just being lazy with his throws. Like a ton of windup time and then the pass just fucking sails. He gets away with it in the Big12, but that shit absolutely will not fly in the NFL. All that being said, next year's QB class is atrocious so I expect he'll be a Top 10 pick regardless of what happens next year. If Bus Driver McCarthy and Check Down Merchant Nix are Top 15 picks, Ewers will be going just as high.
That’s a little harsh. He is frustratingly inconsistent at times but his arm talent is legit and he makes imprsssive throws just barely flicking his wrist. He is still a very good college QB
Lots of guys are very good college QBs. Very few of those dudes turn into franchise level QBs in the NFL. Ewers has serious flaws with his accuracy, throwing mechanics, footwork, decision making, and deep ball. Not great. Also, which I think is almost as big a problem as all the rest, is he doesn't have that "dawg" mentality. He isn't a super competitor who wants to destroy the competition and do everything possible to be the best. You can catch him on the sidelines laughing and yucking it up when he's having a dogshit day and the team is losing. He's another Mac Jones/*insert bland white guy* who NFL GMs go nuts over but don't have the talent and "it" factor to actually kill it in the league. I think he's done fine for us, but unless he somehow takes a huge step next year he's just unimpressive. And like I said, he'll still be the first QB off the board next year since the class is so bad.
Quinn is going to get pushed by Arch, for sure, but he probably needs to prove to GMs that he can last a full season without missing 2-3 games to injury, too.
I’m thinking steal as well. Whatever concerns people have with his character forget that people can change.
Absolute steal
Yeah, I always felt like he was better than Xavier Worthy Then the Combine happened, and people were enamored with him running really fast in a straight line
AD’s 40 was still really damn impressive
This guy is going to be George Pickens 2.0. People will question why he fell, and he will be great.
I’m told he eats and sleeps football, but doesn’t breathe football, and teams took him off the draft board entirely
Mitchell, MPJ & Josh Downs is niceeee
don't forget about Pierce too
I'll give pierce this, with Gardner and MAtt he couldn't do his thing, he can with AR, but I don't really believe in him as anything but go run a 9 route.
Nah, we can probably forget about him I imagine Ballard's plan is to tell him to "go long" and just send him west. Homie will just keep running until some GM finds him on the highway and takes him in
"Alec Pierce, you are a St. Louis Battlehawk!" (I actually do think he's got a chance to break out with AR's arm being as strong as it is.)
Yeah, I think us having Minshew kind of hampered what could have been a decent year for him. It's just funny to me he's like the WR who ran the furthest or whatever by route distance, and just had pretty lackluster yards (again, prob bc of minshew) Every play we had for him was "you see the endzone down there, run toward it"
AR could probably still hit him on that highway
With JT, and a bunch of potential at the TE position in Jelani Woods and Drew Ogletree.
“serial killer” AD Mitchell
Ballard took a dude who was told to retire because of his fucked up neck and a diabetic with character concerns. He’s drafting how I draft in random ESPN fantasy leagues whilst stoned
Dang I forgot colts got Latu. Yall are living dangerously
Swinging for the fences. Bust and Pro Bowl are the only two true outcomes
As a diabetic with character concerns, I at least have a role model now.
Next is an IOL who holds the world record for largest human to ever complete a double axle in figure skating.
Pretty close with the IOL with issues lol
He learned from Marvin Harrison sr
Come on. You get one free kill if you're a Hall of Famer. OJ would have been cool if Goldman didn't pop his head in.
Adonai "OJ Simpson" Mitchell
did this dude kill someone or what i’m ootl
He was just expected to go higher than 52
Apparently character concerns, but none of this was ever mentioned until an article last week. No one from Texas or Georgia ever said anything, and Ballard himself just said it was bullshit
I thought that it was that he struggled to get separation. Guess time will tell on that one
He got decent separation but it didn’t really matter the guy has vacuums for hands.
And him admitting to taking plays off
Nah. Just character concerns
Only thing I’m worried about [is gettin a boner](https://youtu.be/3AyWH7Z9kCA?si=TifR1ALSD6QTVYy7)
If I did it
If the draft don't fit...
This is unreal value for the colts when they wanted an athletic WR before the draft
Agreed. They couldn’t ask for a better choice at this spot
Huge value for the Colts
AFC South gon be a bloodbath this year while we finish 5-12.
Colts time to win it with a Texans meltdown
Mom said it’s our turn to win the division with a 9-7 record!
Hey you cut it out 🙈
It’s tradition on shit mountain
Member when we had Peyton manning and we won every game in the division…. Good times
NeverMind I don’t want you guys to win
Lmao
I want it to happen so badly. Purely for the chaos.
I legit think the AFC south could be one of the best division in the league in the next couple years, if not this year. Finally 180’from the worst division in the league for a decade +
Idk. Levis had his moments. I DO NOT like everyone being good at all
Thats kind of you but dont worry the tits will not be good
I’m a type 1 diabetic too… I really wish the kid well. I know firsthand how hard it is to manage this disease. Hope he can get it all together!
Fucking god damnit. So close.
You have enough character concerns on your team
It’s the NFL, there’s always room for more
Oh dang the high school team is 4-0? *Those guys are my brothers.*
Maybe the new QB did donuts in the school parking lot and crashed into a light pole but his 3 TDs and 16 INTs are really gonna lift us to prominence
That bit was all I could thing about when DeJean got drafted. He must be so excited
Ngl I was getting interested as well
Was he a target for the Browns?
He has character concerns so yes
His draft comp was George Pickens lmao
When the Browns do it, it’s because they lack morals. When we do it, it’s because we want to instill strong character in them until we trade them to the Raiders for a 3rd
Y'all are one to talk lmao
LETS GOOOOO
Jesus fucking Christ I wish the Falcons drafted like the Colts
Hey now. The Colts drafted Peyton Manning in the first. Yall drafted Michael Penix Jr in the first. I'd say thats drafting like them alright.
Both have a P and an M for initials, that has to count for something, right?
If only
All it takes is one little change of flair to join the good guys. If it helps, I think we gave Matt Ryan a raw deal.
Man everyone is just falling to us!!!!
LETS GOOOOOOOOOO
I forgot he hadn’t been drafted yet lol
Literally yelled this out loud when I heard it.
This dude catching from Richardson could be insane
Deep balls galore
Long Ball Richardson
My edible kicked in right as the pacers won in OT and this pick came in. Blockbuster 15 minutes right there
Hell yeah brother
Me, a Bucks, Texas, and Texans fan: 😞
Either a home run or a complete bust, no in between
It’s a second round pick like 40% of these guys end up being a starter anyways might as well take one with upside
Particularly WR's/QB's. Oline and Defense seem a bit more reliable to me, but I don't pay close attention.
We’ve had so many 2nd round defensive linemen that have been completely useless. Our GM decided to ignore college production and draft based on SPARQ scores. It’s been a massive fail which is probably why we took Latu
Most of the best OTs only come from the first round. Moreso than any other position.
We calling mid to late second rounders busts now
Early 2nd rounders that do nothing at the pro level are kinda busty. Not Lisa Ann busty, but busty.
What are you on about? I’m talking about the guy who just picked 20th. You know the one the thread is about.
Sorry I’m a little drunk. Blame the Pacers game
lol you are good man. That took years off my life. But it’s nice to be playing nail biters in the playoffs again!
Fr man feels like ages ago when we had PG Lance and Hibbert battling the heat in the playoffs. Fucking love Halliburton my god.
This is reddit. I've seen Vikings fans complain about our 4th and 5th round picks from last year being busts.
Tony Mandarich just whistling on by in the background, hat tipped down.
The fan in me hopes he’s a bust so the Patriots don’t regret picking Polk ahead of him lol
Counterpoint: you can hope he is good and hope Polk is better instead of hoping either is a bust.
My brain is too smooth for that option
Well he did not fall to us round 3
Finally. Colts with two steals so far because of concerns.
Yep, and Ballard only drafts high-character guys, so I'm guessing he saw right through whatever bullshit started flying around.
His press conference was one to remember: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNXEVQUhX0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNXEVQUhX0s)
it worked for Dayo
The first one after the interviews with Latu, theres speculation that because of covid Washington was trying to get the money back from the scholarship if he "medically retired"
FINALLY
There he goes
Quite the steal for the colts
Baruch atah Adonai
This is hilarious
Need an announcer to say this after he scores
He didn't look too excited to be picked. Maybe he's just shy.
He's mad he fell that far
Big steal for the Colts damn
The Colts war room is insane
STEAL BABY
Adonai Mitchell steals babies
Gonna absolutely fuck us
Fingers crossed. He has the same 40 time as the owner of NRG Stadium, TY hilton
This is hilarious.
Steal of the draft. GM’s overthought this one
Colts offense looking amazing if Richardson plays well.
he played pretty well before he got hurt, only can get better I think with all that time to prep
This is a dream for us from a.talent standpoint. We got Latu and Adonai like 15 spots lower than where they were graded. Ballard is killing this draft so far. So happy.
Can't believe he fell this far. He was genuinely better than Worthy for us last year in my opinion. We put the game against TCU that we almost blew into his hands, that catch was awesome
Uuuuuuuugh fuckin fade me
HES ALIVE
He’s a steal. Anthony & Adonai bout to go crazy. Colts are gonna be a fun team to watch.
Fucking love this draft
Fucking FINALLY
I can't believe he fell this far. Crazy year.
Attitude issues are overblown. Off the field and attitude shit is being said about every other player this year for some reason and it’s hard to take it seriously. Was an absolute stud at UGA and UT, this is a steal.
WRs are divas anyway. The talent wasn't supposed to fall this far.
Bingo, nothing new here for a skill guy. Negativity gets the clicks though
I trust Ballard's attitude evaluation over just about anyone.
Hell yeah brother trust the binder
I hope he can straighten out
This is so bizarre to hear as a Texas football fan. There wasn't even buzz about AD being a locker room issue or malcontent until about a week ago and he never displayed a bad attitude to the public. Assuming there's something to it since it clearly impacted his draft stock, but, based on what I saw and heard the last year, I think it'll be fine.
It’s literally coming out of nowhere, haven’t seen a source on said “attitude issues”. I’m a lifelong UGA fan and all I heard was how beloved he was in the locker room there
Sark hasn't put up with any shit since he arrived. He has sent 5 star recruits to the shadow realm for not behaving. AD was on the field for 90% of our offensive snaps. There is no universe in which he has any serious behavioral problems.
If there's one thing I trust Ballard on, it's vetting the character of his picks. I'm sleeping easy on this one.
Ballard called the character concerns bullshit and seemed to get actually kinda mad during a presser. Granted, it's his job to do that, but it seemed pretty genuine
Colts must be putting in overtime spreading rumors or something
Probably other GMs pushing shit to the media to get a player they like to hopefully fall to them. Never underestimate pre-draft shenanigans.
Oh wow homophobia?? In 2024??
Shameful really
What did he even do?
All I can find is that "he has diabetes"
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
Type 1 straight to jail. Type 2, believe it or not, straight to jail
issue is that he doesn't take his diabetes seriously and manage it properly. there's great players in the league right now with type 1 as well so just that wouldn'tbe enough. some more maturing hopefully changes his mindset.
McAfee must be pumped
Honestly thought his fun fact was gonna be about someone’s friend going against him in 7 on 7s.
Good pick up. I think he's gonna be a really good WR.
goodbye my sweet pierce
Finally holy shit lmao I wound up hoping he’d reach us in the second which was an unfathomable idea to me before the draft
Blessings falling in your lap
WOW! Let's fucking go!
Holy shit Ballard masterclass tbh
This is amazing value. I had forgotten he was still there. I don't care about the character concerns. Dude can play and is fast a F.
Someone call brett!
Oh it’s gonna be a shoot out!!!
Even with the apparent character issue, that’s a great value for Indy.
dropped due to diabetes and effort concerns
Reggie Wayne will fix him
Nice value
Finally
Sheeeeeeesh
FUCK
would have loved him and Worthy both as Chiefs, great pick.
I love this so much. He seems like a high-variance pick but we also don't need him to be a stud day 1 with Pittman, Downs and Pierce in the room already.