When the Indianapolis Colts drafted Minnesota cornerback Justin Walley in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft, it was hard to imagine that they thought this was where they'd be standing through nine weeks of the NFL season.
After sending two first-round picks for star Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, all of a sudden, the Indianapolis Colts have gone from one of the sparsest (while still talented) cornerback groups in the league to one of the deeper rooms, and definitely one of the premier starting lineups.
When Charvarius Ward is healthy, this will be a secondary that features Sauce Gardner, Ward himself, and Kenny Moore in the starting cornerback room. That is two legitimate CB1 caliber players and one of the more impactful nickel corners in the league.
Unfortunately for Walley, who tore his ACL before this magical season even started, it's going to be an uphill battle to find playing time once he's back next year.
The blockbuster Sauce Gardner trade may leave Justin Walley as the odd man out for the Indianapolis Colts
Justin Walley, from all reports at the time, was having a fairly strong camp for the Indianapolis Colts before his season-ending injury. Still, back then, the bar for what a cornerback would have to do to get playing time on the Colts was a lot lower than it seems to be now with the addition of a marquee player like Sauce Gardner.
It's certain that at this point, Walley is not a better option than Ward or Gardner, and even behind those two have been solid performers like Mekhi Blackmon and Jaylon Jones. What seemed at the start of the season to be one of the thinner secondaries in the entire league is now arguably the biggest strength of this Colts defense when Ward returns from IR.
Obviously, with an ACL tear, Justin Walley is not coming back at any point for this 2025 season. A lot can change between now and when Walley is going to be ready to return to play. It's almost impossible to predict where this Colts team will be by then. Hopefully, by that time, Chris Ballard's all-in gamble will have worked and Indy will have hoisted the Lombardi, but we'll have to wait to see.
It's unfortunate for Justin Walley that there is now so much competition ahead of him, but it's a great problem to have for the Indianapolis Colts.
If any Colts fan before the season was told that one of the biggest concerns with the cornerback group halfway through the year was whether their third-round pick would see the field because there were too many good players ahead of him, they'd be pretty happy.
In reality, the trade for Sauce Gardner is a move that signifies that Indy really believes that 2025 is their year to truly compete. Is the price steep? Yes. But if they win the Super Bowl because of it, is anyone going to be complaining?
The answer to that question is no. It's unfortunate for a young player like Justin Walley that the room has become so crowded, but that same fact is a great thing for the future of the Indianapolis Colts.