What is happening with the Indianapolis Colts front seven this offseason is anyone's guess, but a makeover needs to happen. After the 2026 Scouting Combine, though, what is clear is that Indy should not look to take Michigan's Jaishawn Barham.
Indy reportedly met with Barham at the combine, which obviously means there is some interest from the team. The Michigan product played a lot of off-ball linebacker in college, but many have him projected to move full-time to edge rusher in the NFL. How general manager Chris Ballard views him is unknown.
Ballard recently said that the future of veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin is unknown. Franklin is under contract for two more seasons, but the GM said last week he didn't know what the plans for the player were moving forward. Indianapolis might also be ready to move on from free agent inside linebacker Germain Pratt.
Indianapolis Colts need to pass on potentially taking Jaishawn Barham in the 2026 NFL draft
In other words, as well as needing an edge rusher, the team might need to find two new starters at inside linebacker. Barham should fill none of those needs.
Barham wasn't productive in college. He began college at Maryland, where he played for two years. His freshman season implied he was going to be extremely good as he had six tackles for loss and four sacks. He then dipped in production in each of the next two seasons. In 2025, playing a lot more at edge rusher, he had four sacks again and 10 tackles for loss.
Those numbers are solid, but not massively impressive. Perhaps Ballard is hoping Barham falls to the later rounds and Indy can choose him in round four or after. The team shouldn't.
What may hurt Barham's draft stock the most is his underwhelming combine performance. He is 6'3 1/2" and 240 pounds, but his 40-yard dash time was 4.64 (which is fine), and his vertical jump was only 33 inches. Oddly, he didn't choose to show what he could do on the bench press, and proving his strength would only elevate his draft ranking.
His combine numbers ranked 31st overall out of the edge rusher group, so not exactly where a player wants to be if they want to be chosen in the first three rounds. Moreover, his relative lack of athleticism indicates that his not-great college statistics are going to suddenly improve in the NFL.
He can play the run well as long as the play is developing directly in front of him, but Chris Ballard said he understood that the front seven of the Indianapolis Colts defense needed to get faster and more athletic. Choosing Jaishawn Barham is going to help with neither of those aspects.