Colts add Malik Hooker to bolster secondary in draft
By Evan Reller
The Indianapolis Colts used the 15th pick in the 2017 NFL draft on Ohio State safety Malik Hooker. The pick fills a clear defensive need and gives them a playmaker in the secondary.
The Colts were granted a mighty gift in the first round of the draft with an early run on offensive players leaving them with a dearth of defensive talent at 15. The Colts didn’t get cute and took a player that fills a big need.
Malik Hooker will give them someone who can come away with turnovers and gives them the sort of range in the secondary they haven’t had since Antoine Bethea.This pick doesn’t happen if Ryan Grigson is still the GM. There was an awful lot of comparisons to Ed Reed on draft night after the pick.
"NFL COMPARISON: Ed Reed — When it comes to range and ballhawking instincts at the safety position, Reed is the supreme prototype. And while high praise to mention such a young player in the same breath as the futuere Hall of Famer, Hooker’s skill-set is very similar with his athleticism, anticipation in coverage and ballskills. The comparison doesn’t mean that Hooker is destined to have the same career as Reed, but the talent is very comparable."
Hooker had seven interceptions last season and has a deep instinct for finding the ball when it’s in the air. Not only does Hooker come away with the interception, but he’s also a threat to score anytime he touches the ball. He also broke up four passes last season.
The knocks on Hooker are his lack of experience (just one year) and his struggles against the run (he’s not a great tackler). Luckily, Clayton Geathers covers the need for an in-the-box safety. He has good instincts and recognizes plays quickly, but had a lot of missed tackles last year.
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There are some injury concerns and it sounds like Hooker will miss minicamp and OTAs. Coach Chuck Pagano sounded confident that he’d be good to go by training camp at the end of July.
Hooker is the kind of player who can actually make Chuck Pagano’s defense work. Remember what Pagano did with the Ravens when he had a ball-hawking safety (and yes, we just said something moderately positive about Pagano). Pagano has a bit of a history developing secondary talent, and specifically safeties.
While his all-around game needs work, there is no denying his ball skills and abilities against the pass. He’s a project, but half of his game is already at a very good NFL level. The pick gives the Colts much more flexibility on defense and allows them to scheme to take away the ball from opponents.
Hooker will be ideal as a single-high safety which is where he excelled with the Buckeyes. With his ability to break on the ball, he can bait opposing quarterbacks into a game changing mistake (not unlike Reed did in his career).
Right now, the Colts have four safeties vying for the two starting spots. Hooker, Geathers, T.J. Green, and Darius Butler. This has been a theme with Chris Ballard who is pushing for competition all across the roster, but especially on defense.
This is a great start to the Colts 2017 draft and they have plenty of picks left to fill out the other holes on the roster this weekend.