Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Indianapolis Colts used their first pick of the 2013 NFL Draft Thursday night on DE Bjoern Werner out of Florida State. Many thought Werner would be used in the defensive end spot that he played at for the Seminoles all three years in Tallahassee, Fla.
Instead, the Colts coaching staff said in their media availability Werner would be used as an outside linebacker.
Werner is used to playing with his hand on the ground and was very explosive off his stance. He had great moves and the athleticism to get lower than the blockers and use his lower body strength to explode once he was past. Indianapolis liked that and thought he could thrive even more with a running start as an outside linebacker.
With the film that I’ve seen of Werner he could be a J.J. Watt type player for Indianapolis. He’s tall at 6-4 and has the jumping ability to deflect passes. He’s got a knack for when the football will be released and loves to get his hands on the ball. He batted down countless balls at the line of scrimmage in college and that would be a nice asset for the Colts.
Werner is also very good at getting in the backfield and stopping the rush. He had 35 tackles for a loss in three years as a Seminole.
By his strength of getting in the backfield he’s obviously good at sacking the quarterback. He had 13 of his 23.5-career sacks last season and despite his 4.8-40 yard dash time he’s deceptively quick.
With all this being said, will Werner see playing time with Robert Mathis and newly acquired Erik Walden starting in both outside linebacker spots? Only time will tell on that but having a guy like Watt coming in for reserve roles doesn’t hurt. It only adds depth for the linebacker spot as Indianapolis also signed Lawrence Sidbury and brings back Jerry Hughes.
Indianapolis also could add another outside linebacker in the draft and will be set for a while with this group.
