The Indianapolis Colts continued to upgrade their defensive line with drafting defensive end Bjoern Werner from Florida State with the 24th pick in the NFL Draft. The Colts had him in their top three guys on their board as Werner and fellow defensive end Datone Jones along with corner Xavier Rhodes were available for them to pick.
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The Colts chose to go with Werner who was a safe pick there.
On the first day of free agency Indianapolis chose to pick up cornerback Greg Toler from the Arizona Cardinals. They felt he could be the corner to replace Jerraud Powers who they chose not to resign and start opposite of Vontae Davis. The team also brought back Cassius Vaughn and Darius Butler so they had four corners entering tonight’s first round.
That left the decision down to Werner or Jones.
Werner is a very physical athlete and quick to explode out of his stance. He’s agile enough to get low and bend below blocks and explode to get in the backfield. He brings quickness to his 6-4, 266-pound size and is able to eat up running backs. He’s showed to be able to get a bunch of tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Another thing Werner brings is a J.J. Watt type approach.
He’s very good in timing passes and knocking them down before they get passed the line of scrimmage. He’s also very comfortable in coverage as he has 18 career passes deflected when defending a receiver.
Don’t expect Werner to start immediately but he could get tons of playing time and only adds depth to the once weak line. Indianapolis has Cory Redding and Fili Moala coming back to go along with Drake Nevis coming back from an injury. The Colts also signed Ricky-Jean Francois this offseason who can play both end and tackle.
Werner will be a solid contributor to this team for the future and showed they made a solid pick.
For more information on Bjoern Werner check out his 2013 NFL Draft Profile here!
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