Grading the Colts’ 2024 rookie class after first NFL season

The 2024 NFL draft class for the Indianapolis Colts looks like a mixed bag of good and bad selections after their first season. The franchise didn’t see a major impact from this group in Year 1 but several players can end up being in a starting role in the 2025 season with a couple of them being key contributors. 

As far as the negative, the first two picks left you wanting to see more production out of them and the final three picks ended the year on a different team. Overall, this class can end up looking better than what it does at the moment in a couple of years.

Grading the Colts’ 2024 rookie class:

DE Laiatu Latu (First round, No. 15 overall)

In his first season for the Colts, Latu registered one start but appeared in all 17 games while only playing 54% of the defensive stats. He finished the season with 32 tackles (16 solo), five TFLs, a pass defense, a fumble recovery, and forced three fumbles. 

Regarding his main objective as a pass rusher, Latu tallied four sacks, 12 QB hits, 11 hurries, eight QB knockdowns, and 23 pressures. His rookie season wasn’t as impactful as projected but it wasn’t a failure and he showed the flashes to develop into one of the better edge rushers in the league. 

Grade: B+

WR Adonai Mitchell (Second Round, No. 52 overall)

For a second-round selection, Mitchell had lofty expectations that he would help elevate the Colts’ passing attack. His rookie season ended disappointingly after dealing with some crucial drops and never finding his place in the offense. 

Mitchell started in seven games and appeared in all 17 games but played just 35% of the offensive snaps. His Year 1 with 23 catches for 312 yards. 

Despite being a letdown from a production standpoint, the positive perspective should be that young receivers typically need a season or two before developing into the player they can become, a la Alec Pierce’s start to his career.

Grade: C-

OT Matt Goncalves (Third Round, No. 79 overall)

There were low expectations for Goncalves to be a contributor in his rookie season but due to injuries and Braden Smith not finishing the season due to personal reasons, he ended up playing much more than expected. He started eight games and was active for every game this past season.

Per PFF, he registered 230 snaps at left tackle and 333 snaps at right tackle. He gave up three sacks, four QB hits, 22 pressures, and had a 95.5 pass-blocking efficiency. 

Goncalves showed promise towards the end of his Year 1 as he got more comfortable in the right tackle spot. Indianapolis may have found their tackle tandem of the future with Goncalves and Bernhard Raimann. 

Grade: B+

IOL Tanor Bortolini (Fourth Round, No. 117 overall)

Similar to his draft classmate Matt Goncalves, there wasn’t much expected out of Bortolini in his first season. He was active for 12 games and ended up starting in five of them due to Ryan Kelly being sidelined with injuries. 

Per PFF, he registered 348 snaps at center. He gave up no sacks but two QB hits, five hurries, and seven pressures, and had a 98.2 pass-blocking efficiency. 

With Kelly set to test free agency, that should lead to Borotlini taking over as the starting center for the Colts. If he continues to improve and develops into a quality starter then he will be a great find in the fourth round. 

Grade: B

WR Anthony Gould (Fifth Round, No. 142 overall)

With the top five slots in the receiving corps accounted for, Gould’s impact as a rookie was going to come as a returner on special teams. He was active for just eight games this season with three coming in the first three weeks before a demotion. 

Gould eventually would regain his status as the team’s returner in Week 13 and was active to finish out his Year 1. He only caught 1 ball for 23 yards but as a returner, he finished 95 punt return yards and 206 kick return yards. 

Gould showed some potential as a returner to end the year, which should bode well for his chances to make a bigger impact in his sophomore season.

Grade: C

LB Jaylon Carlies (Fifth Round, No. 151 overall)

The former college safety turned into a linebacker ended up playing more than what was expected from the Day 3 selection. Due to an injury, Carlies was active for 10 games but started in six of them. He played in 36% of the defensive snaps. 

He finished his rookie season with 36 tackles (24 solo), two TFLs, a QB hit, a sack, and a pass defense. 

Carlies showed some potential as a coverage linebacker towards the end of the year after he returned from injury. He gives the Colts an option if they wish to move on from E.J. Speed this offseason.

Grade: B

CB Jaylin Simpson (Fifth Round, No. 164 overall)

The rookie defensive back didn’t make the 53-man roster but was signed to the practice squad. He spent most of his Year 1 there before the New York Jets signed him to their active roster. Simpson is no longer with the franchise but the positive is he has latched onto an NFL roster. 

Grade: D

CB Micah Abraham (Sixth Round, No. 201 overall)

Abraham is another Day 3 selection for the Colts who didn’t make the final roster but unlike Simpson, he wasn’t signed to the practice squad. He would eventually sign on to the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad and signed a reserve/future contract with the team after the season. 

Grade: D-

DT Jonah Laulu (Seventh Round, No. 234 overall) 

Seventh-round selections have an outside chance of making the team, which was the case for Laulu. But we don’t have an answer on whether Indianapolis had plans to sign him to the practice squad because he was claimed off the waivers by the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Laulu ended up starting in seven of 17 games for the Raiders where he finished with 35 tackles (15 solo), three TFLs, two QB hits, a sack, and three pass defenses. 

The Colts can’t claim this as a win but the fact that he ended up starting seven games as a late Day 3 pick is a good sign that he was a good pick in that moment. 

Grade: D+

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