Source: Ed Zurga / Getty
INDIANAPOLIS – It took until the 5th round of the draft before the Colts took their first defensive back…or not.
With the 151st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Colts took Missouri linebacker Jaylon Carlies in Round Five.
Here are 3 takeaways on Carlies:
1. Big Testing Athlete
The Colts went back to their normal drafting thought under Chris Ballard with a big and fast athlete in Jaylon Carlies. At Missouri, Carlies was initially a high school wideout, then urned cornerback, before settling in at safety. Carlies (6-2, 227) started 40 games in his career at Missouri, and was initially recruited to be a defender by now Purdue head coach Ryan Walters, who was Missouri’s defensive coordinator back then. Carlies has a good amount of special teams history, which will be a must early on. Some inconsistent tackling questions are there for Carlies. At the Combine, Carlies ran 4.50 in the 40-yard dash.
2. Safety Turned Linebacker
The Colts have made it clear where Carlies will initially get a crack, and that is linebacker. After the selection in Round 5, the college safety found a ‘LB’ label when the Colts announced the pick. This sort of position switch is something the Colts have explored before, as recent as last year with Ronnie Harrison Jr. And, honestly, today’s NFL is adopting more of this look as teams try to get more defensive speed on the field. If Carlies can be a tight end defender, that would be a massive chess piece option for Gus Bradley.
3. Linebacker Depth?
If Carlies is indeed going to play linebacker, this is a position that needed some depth attention in the draft. There’s no position Chris Ballard has drafted better than linebacker. No matter the round, Ballard has routinely hit at this position. And it’s a need in 2024 with the depth behind Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed (free agent in 2025) up in the air. So Carlies walks into a position group, albeit a switch from college, where depth reps are very much up in the air.
