Colts take OLB Ben Banogu with 49th pick

The Colts again defied taking a receiver with their second pick in the second round and took an outside linebacker instead.

The Colts took Ben Banogu with the 49th overall pick after trading down for the second time in the draft. Banogu is an outside linebacker out of TCU. While linebacker isn’t their biggest need, they decided to make the pick anyway. His stats are impressive though.

Banogu recorded 8.5 sacks his last two years at TCU, which is impressive. The Big 12 is noted for not having very good defenses, but Banogu was able to get pressure on the quarterback. He also had 18 tackles for loss as a senior and 16.5 tackles for loss as a junior.

Clearly this pick is used to enhance their pass rush. Banogu doesn’t do too much in coverage, as he did not record a single interception in his entire college career. He only had three passes defended as well. His main skill is to get the quarterback on the ground.

He is pretty good at stopping the run as well, which is a valuable skill for a linebacker. This pick is super interesting because they once again neglected their need at wide receiver for a defensive guy. They must have a lot of faith in what they’ve seen from Deon Cain.

Of course, there always is a chance they can take a receiver with their final second round pick. But right now, the Colts clearly are addressing their defense, which was above average last season. They obviously want to jump that unit into an upper-echelon one.