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On Thursday, the Indianapolis Colts held their annual local pro day ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. It is an opportunity for local draft prospects to get another shot at working out in front of NFL personnel.
The primary criteria for players to be invited to the event is that they attended an area college or are from a local town. Because of that, it means that you get draft prospects with all sorts of draft stock range, from early-round picks to guys who are just hoping to get phone calls to become an undrafted free agent.
Just because a player may be from a small school or will go undrafted doesn’t mean it’s the end, though. Current Colts players Deyshawn Bond and Krishawn Hogan both participated in the Colts’ local pro day last year. Bond signed with the Colts right after the draft as an undrafted free agent and actually became the Colts’ starting center for four weeks while starter Ryan Kelly was out. Bond’s season ended with a torn quad muscle, unfortunately. Hogan signed onto the Colts’ practice squad last September after being waived by the Arizona Cardinals. He played in two games before his season also ended prematurely to a torn ACL.
Andrew Walker of Colts.com caught up with Colts general manager Chris Ballard to get his thoughts on how Thursday’s workout went:
“I thought it was really good,” he said. “We’ve got some talented kids here — I think a few that will get drafted — and that was a good thing for us and our staff, coaches, to be able to get their eyes on ‘em, work ‘em out, see how they respond to coaching. And you never know. I mean, anytime you get a look at a guy, the more looks you get, the more comfortable you feel with him. So we’re encouraged by what we saw today by this group of players we had in.”
Below is who participated in the Colts’ local pro day:
Colts 2018 Local Pro Day Participants
| Position | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | School |
| QB | Nicholas Ferrer | Saint Francis (IND) |
| QB | Richard Lagow | Indiana |
| RB | Kendrick Foster | Illinois |
| FB | Raymond Epps | SMU |
| WR | Deontez Alexander | Franklin |
| WR | Simmie Cobbs | Indiana |
| WR | Anthony Mahoungou | Purdue |
| WR | Gregory Phillips | Purdue |
| WR | Malik Turner | Illinois |
| TE | Austin Roberts | UCLA |
| TE | Ian Thomas | Indiana |
| TE | Nathaniel Wozniak | Minnesota |
| OL | Christian Dilauro | Illinois |
| OL | Ruben Holcomb | Indianapolis |
| OL | David Steinmetz | Purdue |
| ED | James Crawford | Illinois |
| ED | Gregory Gooch | Indiana |
| ED | Robert McCray | Indiana |
| ED | Antoine Miles | Purdue |
| ED | Anthony Winbush | Ball State |
| DL | Gelen Robinson | Purdue |
| DL | Kevin Willis | Ball State |
| DL | Eddy Wilson | Purdue |
| LB | Jason Beck | Eastern Michigan |
| LB | Ja'Whaun Bentley | Purdue |
| LB | Danny Ezechukwa | Purdue |
| LB | Garrett Hudson | Purdue |
| LB | Travis McCollum | Purdue |
| LB | Tegray Scales | Indiana |
| LB | Josh Willis | Butler |
| CB | Jaylen Dunlap | Illinois |
| CB | Rashard Fant | Indiana |
| CB | Da'Wan Hunte | Purdue |
| CB | Joshua Okonye | Purdue |
| S | John Cook | Purdue |
| S | Chase Dutra | Indiana |
| S | Antonio Fields | Indiana |
| K | Griffin Oakes | Indiana |
Among those players in attendance, there are a handful who stand a pretty decent shot at being drafted while others will hit the pool of free agents.
IU wide receiver Simmie Cobbs Jr., tight end Ian Thomas and linebacker Tegray Scales are all likely to go anywhere from the third-to-fifth rounds. Ball State edge defender Anthony Winbush, Purdue defensive tackle Eddy Wilson and IU cornerback Rashard Fant could be taken in the sixth or seventh round.