Colts met with Michigan State defensive lineman Joel Heath

The Indianapolis Colts were well-represented at Michigan State's pro day yesterday, as general manager Ryan Grigson, offensive line coach Joe Philbin, and defensive line coach Gary Emanuel were all in attendance.  Though the most notable examples of players the team might be interested in are on the offensive line, it's possible that they are interested in defensive linemen as well, especially since Emanuel was there too.

That theory is further confirmed by the fact that Michigan State defensive lineman Joel Heath said that he has met with the Colts already, according to ESPN's Michael Rothstein.  Heath has also met with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will meet with the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans later this month.

Heath (6-6, 293 pounds) played in 39 games at Michigan State, starting 24 of them as he was the Spartans' starting defensive tackle for the past two seasons.  During his career, he has recorded 60 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacs, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two passes defensed.  CBS Sports projects him to be a seventh round pick or an undrafted free agent, so this seems to be the case of the Colts looking into later-round options that still could help them.

The Colts have a solid group of defensive linemen already, as they have Henry Anderson, Kendall Langford, David Parry, and Arthur Jones, as well as depth guys like Zach Kerr, so it's not among the biggest needs.  With that said, however, they still could greatly benefit by drafting one, and this year's draft class is considered to be a very deep one when it comes to the defensive line.  So if the Colts choose not to add a defensive lineman early in the draft, they very well could consider someone like Joel Heath in a later round, which is exactly why they met with him during the draft process.