Nearly 10 months out from the 2025 NFL draft taking place, accurately predicting what the Indianapolis Colts are going to do is an impossible task and one that can be difficult even the day before the actual draft takes place.
This time of the year, mock drafts provide us with some names to watch during the upcoming college football season, which is now on the horizon.
In a mock draft from Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports, he has the Colts taking Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant with the 14th overall selection. Trapasso noted that Grant would provide the Colts with a “long-term solution on the inside.”
Listed at 6-3 – 339 pounds, Grant earned a spot on Bruce Feldman’s ‘Freaks List’ for his athletic ability, running a sub-5.0-second 40-yard dash as a 360-pound freshman in 2022.
Down 20 pounds this past year, Grant took on a much larger role during the 2023 season in the middle of the Michigan defense, with the majority of his snaps coming in the B-gap, according to PFF, along with 110 in the A-gap.
Grant was a sound tackler, making 29 of his 31 attempts, and was efficient against both the run and the pass. Grant would total 23 pressures last season and rank 26th in PFF’s pass-rush productivity metric. He also ranked 27th in run-stop rate as well.
Grant would go on to earn second-team All-Big Ten honors this past season.
“Grant profiles as one of the best natural nose tackle prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft,” wrote Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network, “and there’s an extremely appealing physical combination to work with on Grant’s tape. At a massive 6’3″, 339 pounds, he’s explosive, energetic, powerful, and incredibly strong.
“Grant’s motor commands attention when he’s on the field. In spite of his size, he has legitimate pursuit speed and range when chasing down runners — and although his stamina and snap count are separate issues, his effort is not a concern.”
Kenneth Grant😳👀
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 9, 2024
Come next offseason, the Colts will still have the trio of DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, and Raekwon Davis under contract for the 2025 season. So adding to the defensive tackle position, especially early on, likely won’t be a must. However, with how highly GM Chris Ballard values building the defense through the trenches, adding to the defensive line always seems to be in play to some degree.
Between the defensive tackle and defensive end positions, the Colts have built a hockey-like rotation along the defensive front, as assistant GM Ed Dodds called it recently, with eight or nine defenders they can rely on. This then allows defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to keep the defenders fresh by rotating them often and better allows him to play matchups by mixing and matching.
However, even going into this season, the fourth spot in that defensive tackle rotation is up for grabs and potentially could be a position the Colts want to upgrade in 2025.
In addition to that, the draft is about planning ahead, and the 2025 season will be the final of Davis’ current deal, while Buckner and Stewart are under contract through the 2026 season.
