INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL Draft is less than two weeks away, and we feel an obligation to remind everyone of an undeniable reality as disinformation continues to spew.
If a league “insider’’ insists Team A has targeted Player A in round 1 of the April 24 draft and cites a source from Team A, there’s a good chance he/she is being loose with the truth or, at the very least, being manipulated.
Trust sourced reports on social media at your own peril. Too often, that source might be an agent attempting to boost the stock of a client.
That in mind, several sites, most notably CBS Sports and Walter Football, have compiled lists of top-30 visits by prospects. Each team is permitted 30 on-site visits with individuals leading up to the draft.
Official pre-draft visits allow a team one last opportunity to check off any remaining boxes through interviews and medical evaluations.
The Indianapolis Colts don’t confirm which players they bring in for top-30 visits, but it’s been reported they’ve met with at least 15.
Their level of interest in those players is anyone’s guess, but occasionally, the visits are to gauge the progress of a player rehabbing an injury.
That’s the case with at least two players who reportedly visited the Indiana Farm Bureau Football center. Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons missed the final 10 games last season with a torn left patellar tendon, while East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. is on the mend after tearing his left ACL last season.
Each could be selected in the first or second rounds of the draft.
No one should dismiss the value of a team having one last interview with a prospect. A few years ago, the Colts brought in a talented wideout but quickly soured on him because of his attitude. That wideout was drafted in round 2.
The list of reported top-30 visits with the Colts:
*OT Josh Simmons, Ohio State.
*CB Shavon Revel Jr., East Carolina.
*QB Quinn Ewers, Texas.
*QB Tyler Shough, Louisville.
*DE James Pearce, Tennessee.
*DE Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M.
*DT Shemar Turner, Texas A&M.
*OL Myles Hinton, Michigan.
*TE Caleb Lohmer, Utah.
*G Bryce Cabeldue, Kansas.
*DE Alfred Cooper, Oklahoma.
*CB B.J. Mayes, Texas A&M.
*Elijah Ponder, Cal Poly.
*G Jackson Slater, Sacramento State.
*OT Dalton Cooper, Oklahoma State.
Again, General Manager Chris Ballard and his scouting staff are simply doing their final evaluations leading up to the draft.
One name that jumps out from a historical perspective is Hinton. The 6-7, 323-pounder is the son of former Colts standout and Ring of Honor inductee Chris Hinton. Myles Hinton started 10 games at left tackle last season for the Wolverines.
Two names that can’t be ignored are Ewers and Shough.
The Colts will have an open quarterback competition between incumbent Anthony Richardson and free-agent acquisition Daniel Jones but might add a developmental QB at some point during the draft. Jason Bean is on the roster, but Sam Ehlinger, another former Longhorn QB who was drafted in round 6 in 2021, signed a free-agent deal with Denver.
It’s possible Shough, who passed for 3,195 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions at Louisville last season, is taken at the bottom of round 1 or early in round 2. One of his negatives is that he turns 26 in September.
But there’s every chance Ewers will be available in the later rounds. He passed for at least 3,400 yards in his last two seasons at Texas, but his draft stock dropped last year after his completion percentage dipped from 69.0% to 65.8% and he suffered 12 interceptions.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.