After bullishly spending a first-round pick on wide receiver Phillip Dorsett in last year’s draft, the Indianapolis Colts must buckle down and aggressively upgrade on defense this year, or draft a top offensive linemen, such as Jack Conklin or Taylor Decker.
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In the later rounds, however, other positions should be fair game for a team that will look to load up on talent, and if the Indianapolis Colts feel like adding one more explosive toy for Andrew Luck (they did, of course, lose tight end Coby Fleener to the New Orleans Saints, though it’s not like they wanted to keep him over Dwayne Allen anyway), then they have room for a pass-catching back.
Alabama product Kenyan Drake is making the rounds, and ESPN NFL Nation’s Vaughn McClure, via this update from colleague Mike Wells, and the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and Colts all met with him.
All four of those teams could use Drake, but the Colts are the most intriguing option. They already have a true workhorse back in Frank Gore, and while he is getting older, he actually played well last season and would have produced better numbers with a legit offense around him. It’s kind of hard to put up big numbers behind subpar blocking with the severely limited Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback.
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At his age, though, Gore is no longer an explosive home-run threat, and that’s the type of dimension the Colts could look to if they draft Drake. He is no workhorse back, and Pro Football Focus’s John Breitenbach astutely pointed out that his lack of successful runs in between the tackles could make for a difficult translation to the NFL as a rusher.
However, since Drake profiles as an ideal change-of-pace back who can come in and spell someone like Gore on third downs, this concern isn’t a deal-breaker. Drake is rated by CBS Sports as a third or fourth round prospect, and these types of running backs can have a weakness like that, as long as they have desirable traits that can allow them to thrive in a specific, useful role.
With 4.45s wheels and excellent broad jump and 20-yard shuttle numbers at the Combine, Drake showed that he has the speed, quickness, and athletic ability to be a game-changer with the ball in his hands. More importantly, he showed this consistently in college for ‘Bama, because he is a ludicrously quick and agile back who could be a Shane Vereen-type player at the next level in the sense that he’s versatile enough to line up- and succeed- as a receiver in the slot.
At 6’1″, 210 pounds, Drake isn’t some slightly-built back either, so he can certainly provide value at a mid-round draft slot, such as the spot CBS has him projected at.
That’s the type of player the Colts could use, and Andrew Luck could have plenty of fun with Drake in his #RevengeSeason. He can turn on the jets once he gets the ball, and a committee role is a nice gig for him with the potential to efficiently chip in a few carries for the offense.
I don’t think Drake is some can’t-miss, underrated running back prospect, and he isn’t as natural of a pass-catcher or as steady of a pass blocker as a third-round RB should be. But because he can run the ball effectively, he doesn’t need to be the polished product as a pass-catcher initially.
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There are red flags with Drake, such as his injury history in college, but as a complementary piece in the NFL, he could be the explosive weapon that a team like Indianapolis covets. The Colts simply cannot afford to draft a skill position player high, so Drake could be consolation prize at an area that Indy actually needs upgrading. Backup RB is not a luxury position for the Colts right now, since Gore is aging, even if he’s still competent, and neither Robert Turbin nor Jordan Todman are dynamic or especially trustworthy.