Caden Curry Trying To Prove Wingspan Truthers Wrong
Caden Curry Trying To Prove Wingspan Truthers Wrong
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s not often an NFL general manager drafts a player he watched in-person at a state finals high school game a handful of years earlier.
But that’s the case when it comes to Caden Curry heading to the Colts.
In the 2021 Indiana High School State Finals, with Ballard rooting for the Westfield Shamrocks, he watched Curry’s Center Grover Trojans wreck the GM’s fandom.
With another future NFL-er in Austin Booker (future 5th round pick of the Bears) opposite Curry, the Shamrocks had quite a lot to handle in the future NFL defensive ends.
And Curry’s duties that night inside of Lucas Oil Stadium included him moving the chains as a running back.
“They put him on offense and we couldn’t tackle him,” Ballard says looking back nearly 5 years later, with the “we” referencing his son’s Shamrocks squad.
“It was like they’d have 10 guys (trying to tackle) and he’d be dragging them.”
Winning at the highest of levels for Curry carried him to Ohio State where he patiently waited his turn.
Curry then delivered in his final season for the Buckeyes, finishing with 11 sacks (2nd most in the Big Ten).
“His first three years, he was a role player and really good on teams,” Ballard says. “Like, really good. And then, Ohio State, I mean, they’re recruiting guys behind him. It’s not like the cupboards are bare at Ohio State. They’re bringing other (elite defensive ends) in.
“(Ohio State defensive end coach) Larry Johnson texted me and said, ‘He’s one of the better football players I’ve been around.’”
A lack of a wingspan that historically translates best to the NFL is one of the main reasons why Curry, despite being one of the best sack men in an elite conference, fell all the way to No. 214 of the draft.
“Sometimes the physical measurements, people will knock you down, but we’ll see how he does,” Ballard said after drafting Curry. “I think he’ll do well. I do.”
Even the Colts took another rusher (George Gumbs Jr.) the round before Curry, despite the Greenwood native having far more the collegiate production.
Some five years after Ballard witnessed Curry wreak havoc inside of the Colts stadium, the GM is hoping to see the same thing, with both now on the same team.
