Observations From Colts Rookie Minicamp Practice

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INDIANAPOLIS – Rookies, welcome to the NFL.

On Friday afternoon, the Colts held their first rookie minicamp practice, with another one coming Saturday before the youngsters join the vets next week for the rest of the offseason program.

Here are some takeaways from the Colts rookies getting on an NFL field for the first time:

• Rocking No. 97, Laiatu Latu looked like a first-round pick opposite a tryout left tackle during the limited 11-on-11 work Friday. Latu is going to have to wait until OTAs to get anything close to real NFL competition. But you noticed the innate rush ability Latu brings and saw his high motor on display. The Colts are big fans of the balance of Latu as a rusher.

• AD Mitchell stands out on a practice field, with his size, smooth running and his natural catch ability. Timing with quarterbacks in a rookie minicamp setting is always going to be off, but Mitchell had a nice day catching it outside of a few bobbles. Shane Steichen noticed that explosivity of Mitchell and the head coach is very pleased with his hands. Head here for Mitchell’s reason on wearing No. 10. Mitchell and undrafted quarterback Kedon Slovis hung around post-practice for some on-field work, the final rookies leaving the field on Friday.

• For Day 1, third-round pick Matt Goncalves was getting his initial NFL look at right tackle. Again, the Colts exited the draft a bit up in the air on the exact pro position fit for Goncalvez. He really only played tackle in college, at 6-6 and 317 pounds, with his final season at Pittsburgh lasting just 3 games due to a foot injury.

• And for fellow offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini it was center on Day 1. Down the road, Bortolini is viewed as a long-term center whenever the Ryan Kelly/Colts era comes to an end. It’ll be interesting to see if Bortolini and Goncalvez get any looks at guard as their first offseason moves along.

• Speaking of other positional questions for the rookies: 5 ^th round pick Jaylin Simpson first was working at cornerback (with safety history), undrafted quarterback/wide receiver Jason Bean was a QB, but also took some special teams reps (not something you see for QBs). You saw Bean’s speed on a quarterback run at one point in practice.

• Friday brought the official start to the NFL position switch for Jaylon Carlies. The Missouri safety is going to be a Colts linebacker, and have a real shot to compete for that 3 ^rd linebacker spot behind Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed.

• If you missed it, the Colts have a 7-person undrafted free agent class in 2024 . That’s an incredibly small number for the Colts. But that’s what happens when you have the amount of roster retention the Colts have done in 2024. Do any of these guys have a great shot at making the team? Probably not. But Trent Pennix at running back is intriguing? How about Indiana native Craig Young at linebacker? Kedon Slovis is had quite the interesting college career at quarterback.

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