Colts Express Interest in Clemson CB Mackensie Alexander at Pro Day

According NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread, the Indianapolis Colts were among the NFL teams that expressed significant interest in Clemson cornerback Mackensie Alexander during his university’s pro day on Thursday.

Head coach Chuck Pagano was reportedly even in attendance:

"“Four NFL head coaches — the Bills’ Rex Ryan, the Colts’ Chuck Pagano, the Bengals’ Marvin Lewis and the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin — were in attendance for the workout. Pagano reportedly spent extensive time speaking with Alexander, and Tomlin also got in a word with the Tigers’ brash cover man, who insisted he is the best cornerback in the draft at the combine. A good impression on those two coaches could be particularly valuable for Alexander — CB is a top need for both the Steelers and Colts.”"

ESPN’s Mike Wells reported that Pagano had a lengthy conversation with the talented Clemson cornerback prospect:

While Alexander didn’t participate in many drills at the NFL Combine, he measured out quite favorably at his pro day:

Currently, Alexander is projected to be an early 1st round pick, as Alexander is regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in this year’s draft class–coming in at #3 on NFL Network’s Mike Mayock’s cornerback positional rankings behind Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey and Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves respectively.

While his ball skills have been questioned–having 0 interceptions in 2 seasons starting for Clemson, his effectiveness cannot:

With free agent cornerback Greg Toler highly unlikely to be re-signed, the Colts could clearly use another starting cornerback to pair on the other side of standout Vontae Davis.

The Colts do have Darius Butler, but he’s best suited in the inside–covering the slot. While the jury is still out on last year’s 3rd round pick D’Joun Smith, who missed the majority of this past season with a knee injury.

Therefore, Alexander could make quite a deal of sense for the Colts at pick #18 early on.