Colts' Draft Magic: Late-Round Gems

0:00On April 20, Indianapolis Colts fans, it's NFL Draft Week, and after that brutal 2025 season, where they started 8 and 2 then, drop 7 straight, hope is in the air. The teams eyeing late-round gyms like they always have, turning overlook picks into stars that save seasons and built legacies. Tegzaiier Franklin, snagged in the 7th round, pick 235 out of Syracuse back in 2018. He grinded on special teams early, then exploded in 2022, with 167 tackles, hitting Pro Bowl status and leading the. League with 173 stops in 2024 before that trade to Green Bay. Meanwhile, Will Freeze, another 7th rounder from Penn State in 2021, stepped up big on the old line, pairing deadly with Quentin Nelson until a tibia fracture sidelined him. He signed with Minnesota this year, but proved 7th rounders can anchor the trenches. Going back further, Anzwan Batea, out of powered in the 6th round of 2006,

1:02became a secondary beast over 8 years, racking up over 8. Hundred tackles, 14 picks, and two probals. And don't sleep on Robert Mathis, 5th round steel from Alabama, in 2003, who piled up 123 sacks, led the league. Once, and might hit the hall with his record-force fumbles, Pierre Garcon rounded out the magic in the 6th round of 2008, catching 188 balls for over 2,000 yards in four. Years, bridging the gap after Marvin Harrison retired. These stories remind us, drafts our lotteries, but cold scouts got that golden touch, now watching this year's class, to spark another turnaround.