Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis Colts draft grades: What Mel Kiper Jr. thinks of the Colts’ picks in 2025
The Indianapolis Colts came away from the 2025 NFL Draft with eight picks, one more than their original allotment. They made just one trade, moving down in the fourth round and gaining an extra pick in the sixth.
Every team loves their picks on draft weekend, though no one truly knows whether a team succeeded for three years. But that doesn’t stop the flood of instant grades, and here’s what national experts think of the Colts’ haul.
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Round 1, 14th overall: Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
Round 2, 45th: J.T. Tuimoloau, edge, Ohio State
Round 3, 80th: Justin Walley, CB, Minnesota
Round 4, 127th: Jalen Travis, T, Iowa State
Round 5, 151st: D.J. Giddens, RB, Kansas State
Round 6, 189th: Riley Leonard, QB, Notre Dame
Round 6, 190th: Tim Smith, DT, Alabama
Round 7, 232nd: Hunter Wohler, S, Wisconsin
Indianapolis Colts draft grades: What Mel Kiper Jr. thinks of the Colts’ picks
Warren: Tyler Warren is everything NFL offenses look for at tight end: a do-it-all player with day-one impact in the run and pass games. The Penn State standout earned an impressive 93.4 PFF receiving grade this past season with incredible efficiency, having averaged 2.78 yards per route run (97th percentile). Anthony Richardson now has a full complement of playmakers to roll with into the 2025 campaign.
Tuimoloau: After losing Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency, the Colts had a void to fill off the edge. Tuimoloau profiles as a high-floor defender with strong leg drive and a fearless approach to playing the run. His 87.3 PFF run-defense grade will fit in well with a Colts defense that produced the third-highest team run-defense grade (75.8) in the NFL last season.
Walley: Walley brings good experience and profiles best as a zone-coverage cornerback. He forced 10 incompletions in 2024 and posted a 71.3 PFF coverage grade. He also allowed just one touchdown and a 57.8 passer rating when targeted.
Travis: Travis is a huge offensive tackle at 6-foot-8 and 339 pounds. He was the starting left tackle for Iowa State last season after transferring from Princeton. He was excellent in pass protection, never allowing three or more pressures, but he earned only a 58.5 run-blocking grade. He will compete for the backup spot behind established veterans Bernhard Raimann and Braden Smith.
Giddens: Giddens was the No. 96-ranked player on the PFF Big Board. He posted a PFF rushing grade of 84.0 or higher in each of the past two seasons and a grade above 80.0 on both zone and gap runs in 2024. He will look to carve out a role behind Jonathan Taylor in the Colts’ backfield.
Leonard: Leonard will need to improve his throw-to-throw consistency to develop into an NFL starter, but he does provide value as a dual threat and earned a 91.6 deep PFF passing grade in 2024.
Smith: Smith will provide depth and versatility for the Colts’ defensive line. His lack of explosion suggests he won’t be a plus pass rusher, as his pass-rush win rate was never above 8.0% in a season.
Wohler: Wohler boasted an elite 90.0 coverage grade over the past two seasons. He is a sound tackler, with three straight seasons of 77.0-plus PFF tackling grades. Wohler also logged 452 career special teams snaps.
Warren and Tuimoloau were two of my favorite picks early in the draft. Their combination of strength and playmaking ability will help the franchise on both sides of the ball. Walley should provide depth in the secondary.
Travis is a powerful blocker who could step up, with both starters (Bernhard Raimann and Braden Smith) entering a contract year. Giddens was the reserve back they needed behind Jonathan Taylor. I projected Leonard as a Day 3 Colts pick because he’s a gamer who looks to improve his consistency as a passer.
I wasn’t as enamored with Tyler Warren as the masses, although I do acknowledge he could become the focal point of the offense in Indy like he was at Penn State.
Tuimoloau raises the floor of the defensive end position, and Travis has All-Pro upside at tackle. He’s enormous, athletic and balanced. Giddens will be a fun complement to Jonathan Taylor because of his lateral cutting skill. Those were my favorite picks from the Colts.
Walley went early for my liking, and I didn’t see an NFL future for Riley Leonard, although the quarterback spot is far from secured on this team. The middle of this class was better than the beginning and the end.
The Colts had to be thrilled in the first round when Warren fell to them at No. 14. Coming out of Penn State, he gives Indianapolis someone who caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards last season, and slots in as an immediate weapon alongside receivers Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce. In the second round, Tuimoloau is a nice value as well, as some thought he was a first-round talent entering the 2024 campaign. He should get plenty of snaps opposite last year’s first-rounder in Laiatu Latu.
The Colts have to figure out if Anthony Richardson (or even Daniel Jones) is their true franchise quarterback this season. But it’s really hard to do that if the quarterback’s supporting cast isn’t up to snuff.
Step 1 is getting playmakers. Tight end Tyler Warren will move all over this offense and dominate no matter where offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter puts him. Penn State used him as a traditional in-line tight end, an H-back, a fullback, out of the slot and lined up out wide. The Colts’ tight end room, led by Kylen Granson, managed 39 catches (last) for 467 yards (second to last) and two TDs (tied for second to last) in 2024. But drafting Warren should change everything there. He had 700 receiving yards after the catch last season.
Suddenly, Richardson has a reliable outlet who can haul in anything and stretch the seams, and Indy didn’t have to move up to get my No. 7 prospect. It was really the best-case scenario for GM Chris Ballard on Thursday.
Step 2 is addressing the protection. Remember, the Colts lost Will Fries and Ryan Kelly in free agency. They were 25th in pass block win rate last season (56.4%), and Richardson was one of the worst QBs in the NFL when pressured (20.2 QBR, 24th in the league). I think they fell a little short here. They waited until Day 3 and reached a bit even at that point in the draft, taking offensive tackle Jalen Travis at No. 127. I would have loved guard Marcus Mbow in that spot.
Two more picks to call out. JT Tuimoloau had 12 sacks last season, and the Colts ranked 31st in the NFL with a 26.2% pressure rate in 2024. He has a lot of upside as a second-rounder. And running back DJ Giddens will be a good backup to Jonathan Taylor. Giddens broke 1,200 rushing yards in each of the past two seasons.
The Indianapolis Colts have a full quarterback room for the foreseeable future after Anthony Richardson Sr.’s time spent on the trade block failed to land any suitors during the 2026 NFL Draft.
While Richardson has since returned to the team and just wrapped up OTAs, his trade request has not yet been rescinded, so there’s technically a chance he could be traded for anytime before the mid-season trade deadline.
Richardson and second-year quarterback and 2025 sixth-round pick Riley Leonard will continue battling it out for the backup role under starter Daniel Jones, who is working back from his Achilles rehab.
With Jones out for the majority of team work (i.e., 11-on-11 periods) for the summer, with a fully healthy projection scheduled for training camp, valuable reps will be provided to Richardson and Leonard as they work on their respective professional trajectories.
Richardson is entering the final year of his rookie contract, a pricey $10.8M cap hit for a backup, whereas Leonard is entering the second year of his. While the two are in incredibly different situations entering 2026, both have reasons to earn the QB2 role directly under Daniel Jones.
Leonard is viewed as the better fit for this version of head coach Shane Steichen’s offense with Jones at the helm, and the subsequent backup of the future, whereas Richardson remains the unrefined, oft-injured project that could be fun to fix.
Ranking Anthony Richardson Sr. Among Backup QBs
Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano recently dropped his ranking of backup quarterbacks across the league, and ultimately put Richardson in his top 10 (at No. 10).
“Yes, Richardson has struggled throughout his career and has been unable to stay available. He had a golden opportunity last year when Daniel Jones ruptured his Achilles, but he wasn’t around due to a freak accident with an elastic exercise band,” Manzano wrote.
“Still, I can’t get over how dominant Richardson was in the first month of his rookie season in 2023. There were shades of Cam Newton and Josh Allen with his arm strength and massive 6’4″, 244-pound frame. In a spot start or in relief, Richardson’s game could give teams plenty of fits—that’s if he’s available. There’s also a possibility that the Colts trade or cut Richardson, who has 15 career starts, before the end of training camp.”
Anthony Richardson has 2,400 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, and 13 interceptions on an abysmal 50.6% completion rate through three years in the league so far. Couple that uninspired statline with his plethora of injuries sustained, major or minor, and it’s hard to see why someone would continue betting on him, but as Manzano mentions, the potential is hard to quit.
So yes, while Riley Leonard has the inside track to winning the QB2 role due to his fit, durability, and loyalty (i.e., not requesting a trade), Richardson still has enough on his resume to warrant keeping around.
Most have jumped off the Richardson train by this point, but there are still plenty of people, Colts general manager Chris Ballard included, who believe he can rebound from this brutal start to his career. Furthermore, the Colts would greatly benefit from having two viable backups in Richardson and Leonard, given that Daniel Jones is just as prone to injury at this point in his career.
The Colts may be taking on nearly $11M in cap to keep Richardson around, and there’s certainly a chance he reinjures himself whilst not playing a snap (circa 2025), but this regime is in a make or break year, so having as many viable options at the sport’s most important position seems like a fair tradeoff.
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St. Paul’s five-game winning streak came to a close Friday night as Indianapolis defeated the Saints 8-3 at CHS Field.
It was the first win in three tries so far for the Indians, who had fallen to St. Paul in the first two matchups of their six-game series.
Indianapolis never trailed in the game, holding a 1-0 lead after the first inning and a 4-1 advantage after two off of Saints starter Ricky Castro. Castro (0-1) lasted just 2 2/3 innings and saw his ERA balloon from 4.32 to 6.55 after allowing four earned runs on seven hits while striking out six.
St. Paul scored all of its runs off solo homers as part of its eight-hit night. Two of the blasts came from Kyler Fedko, one apiece in the second and seventh innings, before Kaelen Culpepper launched his round-tripper in the eighth.
The Saints fell to 32-28 with the loss, while the Indians improved to 25-36 with their initial victory of the week.
The two teams return to the diamond on Saturday, with St. Paul sending Aaron Rozek to the mound for a 6:37 p.m. start.
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis firefighter dies unexpectedly while participating in military training
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Fire Department and the Indiana National Guard are mourning the passing of one of their own.
Sgt. Nathaniel J. Thomas, 34, died unexpectedly on Thursday while on orders at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Thomas served as an infantryman in the National Guard while also serving as a firefighter private for IFD.
At the time of his passing, Thomas was on military leave from his firefighter role to fulfill training obligations for the military.
The Indianapolis Fire Department said Thomas joined the department on Feb. 22, 2021. He was assigned to Engine 9 A shift.
IFD said Thomas was “a trusted brother at the firehouse, dedicating his civilian life to protecting the community from emergencies and hazards.”
Thomas leaves behind his wife, Morgan, and their five children.
Both the National Guard and IFD encourage their members to use available peer support and behavioral health resources as they grieve this unexpected loss.
The family requests privacy at this time.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said the following in a statement:
“Maureen and I are heartbroken by the sudden loss of Sgt. Nathaniel Thomas, a dedicated Indiana National Guard soldier and Indianapolis firefighter who lived a life of service to others. Our prayers are with his wife, Morgan, their five children, and all who knew and loved him. Indiana will remember his service, honor his sacrifice, and carry forward the example he set for others.”
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