NFL Trade Rumors
The Colts drafted CB Justin Walley in the third round of the draft after he displayed toughness when he participated in the Combine with a cast on his broken wrist, which has since healed. His actions drew praise from Colts GM Chris Ballard and were likely part of the team’s decision to draft him.
Walley has history with the Colts already, as his cousin WR Donte Moncrie****f, played for the team and was also selected by them in the third round back in 2014.
“He’s freaking good,” Ballard said, via the team website. “He is really good. Let me tell you this, he’s got a wrist (injury) right now. He broke his wrist. In a time when people don’t want to work out, I mean, we have guys ducking it. He does everything with a wrist and runs 4.37, with a cast on his wrist. He does everything, every drill, and it shows up on tape.”
“If you count how many times I heard ‘It’s so good to be playing football again’ out there, you would be surprised,” Walley said after the first day of rookie minicamp. “Like man, we’re really in the NFL. Our whole life, we’ve been kind of hoping for this, and now it’s actually coming true. It’s just a blessing…The vibe around the whole building is we’re here to win games, and that’s why I love to be here. I want to win some football games.”
The Jaguars signed players like CB Jourdan Lewis, S Eric Murray, G Patrick Mekari, C Robert Hainsey and WR Dyami Brown in free agency. Jacksonville HC Liam Coen said they were looking to “raise the floor of the organization” and feels things are going well this offseason.
“I think at the end of the day what we looked to do was try to continue to raise the floor of the organization,” Coen said, via John Shipley of SI. “How do we continue to get better? Consistency, good, sound football players that love to play the game. Really, that’s all we were trying to do, and I think that ultimately, they’ll come in and mesh really well with some of the players that we already have in our locker room. Guys want to get better. We’ve felt that. We’ve felt that throughout this offseason. Guys are eager to get in the building as we are as coaches. It’s happening fast. Really excited about the collaboration we’ve had with some of the Draft, some of the free agency and our current roster. Things are going well so far.”
Coen elaborated on their free agent moves, saying the additions of Mekari, Edoga, Hainsey, and OL Fred Johnson will help implement their system, while Brown helps stretch the field alongside WR Brian Thomas.
*“I think if you look with the four OL, those guys at the end of the day with [OL Patrick] Mekari, [OL] Chuma Edoga, [OL] Robert Hainsey and obviously [OL Fred] Johnson, these guys love to play...
