Indy added four and waived four following rookie minicamp.
The Indianapolis Colts signed four undrafted rookie free agents and waived another four players following the team’s rookie minicamp, the team announced Monday.
Among the new players being brought in following a tryout at rookie minicamp include wide receiver Kody Case (Illinois), wide receiver Tyler Adams (Butler), defensive tackle Jamal Woods (Illinois) and offensive tackle Matthew Vnderslice (Northern Iowa).
In corresponding moves, the Colts waived wide receiver Cody Chrest, cornerback Tyler Richardson, running back Titus Swen and wide receiver Braxton Westfield.
The Mountain West has a number of running backs who figure to be right on the cusp as potential selections in this year’s NFL Draft, but none may be a bigger mystery at present than Titus Swen.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Swen first got his feet wet in Laramie as a true freshman in 2019, appearing in eight games while making one start. He opted out of the COVID-shortened 2020 season but made sure that people remembered who he was with a dynamic 2021. That year, he served as the primary backup to Xazavian Valladay but ran for 785 yards, including a program-record 98-yard touchdown scamper, and a team-high seven scores.
When Valladay transferred to Arizona State ahead of 2022, Swen answered the bell yet again by topping 1,000 rushing yards. However, his tenure with the Cowboys ended on a sour note when he was abruptly dismissed from the team in late November. After a brief dalliance with the transfer portal, Swen chose to declare for the draft instead.
There’s no doubt he can be productive in the right offensive system, but could NFL front offices see enough red flags to warrant passing on him?
Height – 5′ and 9 3/8″ Weight – 204 pounds 40-yard time – 4.64 seconds 10-yard split time – 1.44 seconds Arm length – 31″ Hand size – 9 7/8″ Wingspan – 73 7/8″ Vertical jump – 36″ Broad jump – 10′ and 5″ (or 125″) Shuttle time – 4.32 seconds 3-cone drill time – 7.26 seconds Bench press – 13 reps
Highlights
Strengths
Fans of throwbacks will almost certainly be a fan of Swen’s if he lands on their team. He possesses enough patience to wait for his gap to open and the burst and toughness to maximize yardage when it does, which explains why The Draft Network’s Damian Parson is a fan of his “play strength and contact balance”. According to Pro Football Focus, only Boise State’s George Holani forced more than Swen’s 55 missed tackles among Mountain West running backs in 2022.
Better yet, Swen demonstrated the explosiveness to create big plays on the ground, often putting the Cowboys offense on his back in the process: Last season, he and Fresno State’s Jordan Mims tied for the conference lead with 29 rushing plays of ten or more yards.
Weaknesses
The late off-field drama may cause some war rooms to take a dim view of Swen, but the colder reality is that he may not have the top gear teams want in a running back. Using Football Outsiders’ Speed Score metric, Swen’s 4.64 40-yard time would equate to 88.0 and that would have been the second-lowest score among those invites to the NFL Combine earlier this year.
The jury is also out on whether he’ll be able to contribute in the passing game: He had 25 targets last season and had six drops in that small sample, meaning that he’ll need to work to prove he can be a three-down back in the pros.
NFL Comparison
Jeff Wilson
Draft Prediction
You get the sense that Swen would’ve been considered a stronger prospect a decade ago, when the NFL wasn’t so pass-happy, but there is still room for a one-cut back who can punish would-be tacklers and fight for yards after contact. Despite his unexpected dismissal from Craig Bohl’s Cowboys, I’m optimistic that someone will take a late-round flyer, so while Swen will likely have to wait a while, I do think someone takes a chance in the seventh round.
It’s always tricky to guess which Falcons might be enticed to chase the NFL dream after their time at the Academy, but running back Brad Roberts might consider it if he can duplicate his 2021 season. It isn’t often that a fullback leads Air Force in rushing, let alone the entire Mountain West, but that’s what Roberts did in piling up 1,357 yards and 13 touchdowns on a conference-high 297 carries. He’s a bruiser with enough acceleration to warrant a look as a short-yardage back in the NFL, if nothing else.
In the mix: Zion Kelly, CB; Kyle Patterson, TE; Vince Sanford, LB
Boise State
Pass catchers beware when Broncos safety JL Skinner is in the vicinity. At 6-4 and 220 pounds, he’s earned a reputation as a hard hitter with the range to make plays just about everywhere on the field. In 2021, he collected 92 total tackles, seven tackles for loss and two interceptions, so another big year patrolling the defensive backfield is all but guaranteed to put him on a few big boards by this time next year.
Finally, now that JL Skinner is officially coming back, I’ll just leave this here.
In the mix: Hank Bachmeier, QB; Stefan Cobbs, WR; George Holani, RB; Shane Irwin, DL; Scott Matlock, DL; John Ojukwu, OT
Colorado State
Wide receiver Dante Wright wasn’t always at 100% during the 2021 season, but he remained one of the Rams’ most reliable targets and could be the primary beneficiary of Jay Norvell’s Air Raid offense. The former freshman All-American hasn’t lost any of his potency — he caught at least four passes in every game he played last year and has done so in all but two career games — and could very easily be 2022’s Deven Thompkins if everything breaks right.
In the mix: Cam’ron Carter, LB; Dequan Jackson, LB; Melquan Stovall, WR
Fresno State
Most college football fans remember Jake Haener‘s late-game exploits against UCLA last September, but the Bulldogs quarterback built a strong case throughout all of last year as the best signal-caller in the Mountain West. In throwing the ball nearly 38 times a game, Haener completed 67.1% of his passes for 4,096 yards and 33 touchdowns, also managing a reasonable 1.8% interception rate. While he may not fit the typical NFL quarterback mold (6-1, 195 pounds), his moxie and arm should give scouts plenty to keep an eye on.
In the mix: Dontae Bull, OT; Jalen Cropper, WR; David Perales, DE; Evan Williams, S
Hawaii
Since breaking into the starting lineup as a true freshman back in 2018, defensive tackle Blessman Ta’ala has been a quiet force in the trenches for the Warriors defense, earning a pair of all-Mountain West honorable mentions in 2019 and 2020 and, according to Pro Football Focus, posting a career-best 75.3 grade last season. His ability to eat up space is something not just anyone can be taught, so he might be an example of how the stat sheet doesn’t tell you the whole story.
In the mix: Ilm Manning, OT; Dedrick Parson, RB; Solo Vaipulu, G; Micah Vanterpool, OL
Nevada
Defensive tackle Dom Petersondidn’t have to rejoin the Wolf Pack for one last season, but you can bet fans will be glad he did. Perhaps the best interior defender anywhere in the Mountain West, Peterson has now made 40 starts for Nevada and picked up 22 sacks and 41.5 tackles for loss. Not only could another dominant year put him in the conversation as the program’s best defensive lineman ever, it could entrench him as a prospect to watch.
In the mix: Aaron Frost, OL; Toa Taua, RB; Tyson Williams, S
New Mexico
After leading the Mountain West with four interceptions in 2020, Lobos safety Jerrick Reed II put together another solid campaign last fall and led the team with 92 tackles. He also tied for the team lead with seven pass breakups, moving around the defense to do whatever it took to make stops and bolstering his bonafides as a sure tackler with reliable hands.
