NFL Draft 2015 Prospect Profile: Defensive Lineman Arik Armstead

The 2015 NFL Draft will be held on April 30 through May 2 in Chicago, and it is a time where the 32 NFL teams will look to add some pieces to improve both this year and in future years.  The Indianapolis Colts currently have nine picks in the Draft, including at least one in each round, and therefore they should be active on Draft day.  Who might they target?  We're taking a look at a number of different prospects, and today we take a look at Oregon defensive lineman Arik Armstead.

Background

Armstead, a 6-7, 292 pound defensive end, played in 39 games over three seasons for Oregon, recording 87 tackles (10 tackles for loss), four sacks, one forced fumble, two fumbles recovered, and two passes defensed.  He was formerly a member of Oregon's basketball team before quitting to focus on football, and he steadily improved during his time with the football team.

Pros

His potential clearly jumps out at you when watching Armstead play.  He has great size and great athleticism that makes him a very intriguing and good prospect for a number of teams.  He's already a solid player but perhaps the best part about Armstead is that he has a ton of room left to improve and has a very high ceiling.

Cons

While his potential is very great, he's not there yet.  He's still raw in a number of areas and needs to work on many of the techniques that many of the top players at the position have mastered.  Whenever there is a prospect like Armstead whose biggest strength when it comes to impressing teams is his potential, there should be reason to pause and be careful.

Big Board Rankings

NFL.com (Mike Mayock) - number 2 interior defensive lineman

CBSSports.com - 22nd overall, number 3 defensive tackle

Mocking the Draft - 25th overall, number 5 defensive end

Mock Draft Predictions

Stephen Reed's most recent mock draft:  selected by Philadelphia Eagles, 20th overall

Josh Wilson's most recent mock draft: selected by San Francisco 49ers, 15th overall

How Would He Help the Colts?

The Colts' defensive line is still a little bit of a question mark at this point.  They have Arthur Jones returning and signed Kendall Langford, while Josh Chapman looks to currently be slotted as the nose tackle again.  Beyond that, guys like Montori Hughes and Zach Kerr figure to have bigger roles.  Simply put, the defensive line could still use some help, though it's not a position where it's crucial that the Colts add an immediate starter.

For those reasons, Arik Armstead would make a lot of sense for them at pick number 29.  He's a guy who still needs some work and is raw, but his athleticism is impossible to ignore.  He could likely help the Colts some this year purely based on his natural talent and the techniques that he does have while at the same time working on his game and improving in order to hopefully be a long-term solution along the defensive lineman for the Colts.

Armstead doesn't address the nose tackle position (which is the team's biggest need along the defensive line), but he does provide a nice piece to the line and brings with him a very high ceiling.  Again, when selecting a prospect based largely on him reaching the potential that you see, there should be reason to tread carefully, but if Armstead happens to slide to the 29th pick, the Colts should consider taking him.