The Indianapolis Colts have certainly made some questionable decisions this offseason. The most important thing was to name quarterback Daniel Jones as the starter in Week 1, even though he had not been demonstrably better than three-year Colt Anthony Richardson. Maybe that will pay off.
One sneaky good move by general manager Chris Ballard, though, was made in the NFL draft. Running backs, for the most part, tend to be an undervalued group in free agency and the draft. The main reason is that they take a huge beating and tend to have shorter careers because of that.
Why take a player in the first or second round, for instance, if that player is unlikely to be helping the team in four years? That means that finding a good running back in the later rounds is a must, but still tricky. Ballard was able to pull off some magic by taking Kansas State back DJ Giddens in the fifth round.
DJ Giddens might be the Indianapolis Colts best move of the 2025 offseason
Giddens has very good size and good speed. He is 6-feet and nearly 215 pounds and ran a 4.43 40 before the draft. Even better, he has proven in training camp and the preseason that he has the shiftiness to avoid would-be tacklers.
He isn't going to be the Colts' starting tailback. Indy has the elite Jonathan Taylor for that. Taylor is one of the best backs of his generation, and he should have several years left to play. But expecting him to stay fully healthy is probably asking too much. Taylor has already had a few injuries in his career.
While Giddens has not yet shown consistent explosiveness, as he averaged 3.7 yards per rush in the preseason, he does make defenders miss. He led the Colts among all ball-carriers (including wide receivers) with forcing four missed tackles, and he dragged defenders for five first downs, too.
Taylor is great in any situation, but DJ Giddens might be his equal as far as picking up the dirty yards. Giddens' size and strength are going to be put to use by the Indianapolis Colts in that way this season. If head coach Shane Steichen gets creative with his offensive sets, he will have Taylor and Giddens on the field on third-and-short.
Giddens probably also gives the Colts their best backup to Jonathan Taylor in recent years, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. But as running backs often get hurt, the expectation should be that Giddens plays a lot for Indy in 2025, and when he does, he will be very good.