Chris Ballard didn’t hide how he feels about Caden Curry, and Colts fans should take notice.
The Indianapolis general manager went out of his way ahead of training camp to single out the 2026 sixth-round pick, a Center Grove product who stayed close to home after starring at Ohio State. Curry didn’t fully come into his own until last year, but Ballard sounded convinced the rookie can keep climbing once the real football starts.
"I'm excited to watch Curry and (fellow 2026 pick George Gumbs Jr.) get after it in camp with pads on. Curry's a freaking football player, man.
When I'm around him, now he's gotta go do it with the pads on, but that guy's a football player. I think he's gonna have a pretty good career."
That kind of praise matters, even if it comes from the man who drafted him. Ballard didn’t need to spotlight Curry that strongly, which makes the optimism feel a little more grounded than routine draft talk. What he saw in OTAs and minicamp may have been enough to convince him that Curry has something that doesn’t always show up in testing or workouts.
That’s the bet here: some players don’t look special until the pads come on and the action gets messy. Ballard’s “football player” line sounds like exactly that kind of evaluation.
And the Colts could use it. The edge-rush group heading into 2026 doesn’t look dramatically upgraded.
Laiatu Latu is still there and trending up, but the rest of the room - including free agent addition Arden Key - looks only a little better than average. If Curry can become a real contributor, that changes the conversation fast.
He doesn’t need to arrive as a star. Even something modest, like four sacks, would help take pressure off Latu and give the defense another usable piece.
Key’s career-high in sacks is 6.5, so nobody is expecting a sudden explosion from him. The Colts need someone else to raise the floor.
Curry at Ohio State put up 11 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss in 2025, and while that exact kind of production may not translate immediately in Indianapolis, any meaningful impact would be welcome. The bigger picture is even more intriguing: a local kid with a built-in fan base, a chance to carve out a long NFL career, and the kind of profile that could make him one of the faces of the franchise.
For now, though, it starts with the basics. Put the pads on.
Win a roster spot. Earn the reps.
The Colts need Caden Curry to be more than a hometown story.
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