Colts Ink Deals With 5 Rookie Draft Picks

Chris Ballard has been busy this offseason, and the work isn’t over yet. After deftly moving around in the draft to get the guys he wanted, Ballard has set to work getting those picks signed.

Five players have already been signed to contracts with the team, including linebacker Ben Banogu, tackle Jackson Barton, defensive end Gerri Green, center Javon Patterson, and Linebacker E.J. Speed. That is some pretty fast movement to get these guys signed, and while it isn’t a big deal, getting those deals done is one less distraction and allows everyone to be focused moving forward.

Given the CBA, these deals don’t often drag on long, however in recent years we have seen some contract disputes take slightly longer to settle. Just last year we saw Darius Leonard’s contract situation stretch into late July before he signed. Hopefully the remaining picks can be signed as smoothly.

Ben Banogu, the 6-3, 249lb linebacker, was the 49^th overall pick in this year’s draft. He started in 40 games between his time at TCU and Louisiana-Monroe, finishing with 17 sacks in 17 games with TCU, and 106 tackles.

Jackson Barton, the 6-7, 308lb offensive tackle from Utah was the Colts’ 240^th pick in the 2019 draft. He started in 29 games there, and was First-Team All-Pac-12 in 2018.

Gerri Green, the 6-4 255lb linebacker/defensive end out of Mississippi State was the Colts 199^th pick in the draft and had 27 starts in his time there, notching 161 tackles, 20.5 for a loss, and 8.5 sacks. He was named to the All-SEC Freshman team in 2015.

Javon Patterson, the 6-3, 307lb center out of Mississippi was the 246^th pick for the Colts in this year’s draft. He started 42 games, spending time at both guard positions and at center.

E.J. Speed, the 6-3, 224lb linebacker from Tarleton State was the Colts 164^th pick in this year’s draft. Speed played 35 games at Tarleton State and racked up 231 tackles, 11.5 sacks, and 10 passes defended in his time there.

Still unsigned: CB Rock Ya-Sin, WR Parris Campbell, LB, Bobby Okereke, S Khari Willis, and CB Marvell Tell III.