Ryan Grigson, the Colts General Manager from 2012 to 2016, was at the head of the front office for five NFL drafts and selected 38 players total in those drafts. While some of his selections were or still are key players for the Colts, some of them have had little to no impact on the team at all and made the Ryan Grigson era mostly a failure.
Grigson was fired in January of 2017 after Indianapolis missed the playoffs for the second straight season. It was the first time the team had done so in consecutive seasons since 1997 and 1998.
He has since been replaced with Chris Ballard, and only time will tell if Ballard’s stint with the Colts will be any more or less successful than Grigson’s.
Here is a look back at all of Ryan Grigson’s draft picks and how they have panned out.
In the 2012 Draft, Grigson had ten picks at his disposal, including the first overall pick which was used on Andrew Luck. Below are the ten picks he made.
- Quarterback Andrew Luck (1st overall)
- Tight end Coby Fleener (34th overall)
- Tight end Dwayne Allen (64th overall)
- Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (92nd overall)
- Defensive tackle Josh Chapman (136th overall)
- Running back Vick Ballard (170th overall)
- Wide receiver LaVon Brazill (206th overall)
- Guard Justin Anderson (208th overall)
- Defensive end Tim Fugger (214th overall)
- Quarterback Chandler Harnish (253rd overall)
While the first four picks, Luck, Fleener, Allen, and Hilton, have all been at least solid NFL players, none of the late round picks made by Grigson had any NFL success.
Chapman flamed out of the NFL after making 29 appearances with the Colts, Ballard struggled with injuries after his rookie season, Brazil showed some flashes of greatness before being suspended twice for violating the substance policy, and Anderson, Fugger, and Harnish never made an appearance for the Colts.
Luck and Hilton are the two main pieces of the Colts’ offense to this day, and were definitely great picks by Grigson. Grigson drafted two solid tight ends in Fleener and Allen, but it was a bit of a head scratcher to draft two tight ends so early in the draft. This was arguably Grigson’s best draft as the general manager of the Colts, yet only two of the players are still on the Colts, and only four of the players are still in the NFL.
In the 2013 draft, Grigson had seven picks total, but instead of having the first overall pick, the Colts had the 24th overall pick. Below are the seven picks he made.
- Defensive end Björn Werner (24th overall)
- Guard Hugh Thornton (86th overall)
- Center Khaled Holmes (121st overall)
- Defensive tackle Montori Hughes (139th overall)
- Safety John Boyett (192nd overall)
- Running back Kerwynn Williams (230th overall)
- Tight end Justice Cunningham (254th overall)
Succinctly said, none of these players made a significant impact for the Colts.
Werner played 38 games with the Colts over 3 seasons and totaled 6.5 sacks. Thornton and Hughes both got some playing time on the Colts’ offensive line, but neither could adequately protect Andrew Luck, and the rest of the list never played significant game time with the Colts.
Williams has been a back up running back on the Arizona Cardinals for the past few seasons.
In the 2014 draft Grigson only had five picks, and did not have a first round selection. That first round pick was traded for Trent Richardson, which did not end up being as good of a move as it seemed at the time. Below are his five selections.
- Guard Jack Mewhort (59th overall)
- Wide receiver Donte Moncrief (90th overall)
- Defensive end Jonathan Newsome (155th overall)
- Linebacker Andrew Jackson (203rd overall)
- Guard Ulrick John (232nd overall)
The Colts just recently re-signed Mewhort to shore up the offensive line. Moncrief did not end his Colts career well, but did total 18 receiving touchdowns in his four seasons with the team.
Newsome, Jackson, and John are no longer with the team, and were unimportant players in their brief stints with the team.
This was not a particularly strong draft by Grigson, especially considering the fact that he traded a first round pick for Trent Richardson.
In the 2015 draft Grigson had eight picks, with none coming in the second round, and two coming in the third and sixth rounds. Below are his selections.
- Wide receiver Phillip Dorsett (29th overall)
- Cornerback D’Joun Smith (65th overall)
- Defensive end Henry Anderson (93rd overall)
- Safety Clayton Geathers (109th overall)
- Defensive tackle David Parry (151st overall)
- Running back Josh Robinson (205th overall)
- Linebacker Amarlo Herrera (207th overall)
- Offensive tackle Denzelle Good (255th overall)
Dorsett and Parry both made some appearances with Indianapolis, but now play for the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints respectively.
Related Story: A History of Colts Running Backs Drafted in the First Round
Smith, Robinson and Herrera no longer play in the NFL.
Anderson, Geathers, and Good are all members of the Colts still, and while none of them are star players all three have proven to be capable members of the team when healthy.
In what ended up being his last draft with the Colts, Grigson had eight selections.
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- Center Ryan Kelly (18th overall)
- Safety T.J. Green (57th overall)
- Offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark (82nd overall)
- Defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway (116th overall)
- Linebacker Antonio Morrison (125th overall)
- Offensive tackle Joe Haeg (155th overall)
- Linebacker Trevor Bates (239th overall)
- Center Austin Blythe (248th overall)
Kelly has been a solid center so far for the Colts, and the team should be hopeful that he can bounce back from his season ending injury in 2017.
Clark and Haeg have both gotten some playing time on the offensive line and have looked unspectacular at best while doing so. Green and Morrison have both played a fair amount defensively, but they are both replacement-level players.
Ridgeway has been a rotational player on the defensive line and has also been uninspiring. Bates and Blythe rounded out this draft and are no longer with the Colts.
Even though this draft was so recent, it seems likely that Kelly will be the only player who will have a significant long term career with the Colts.
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