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Shane Steichen with high praise for 3 second-year Colts' players
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- Shane Steichen with high praise for 3 second-year Colts' players
Tyler Warren made an immediate impact during his rookie season, but there are three other members of that 2025 Indianapolis Colts draft class that head coach Shane Steichen is excited to see in Year 2.
Unfortunately, the rookie seasons for cornerback Justin Walley and safety Hunter Wohler were ended very early due to season-ending injuries in training camp.
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However, before that, both players had caught Steichen's attention with their play.
"I'm very excited about both those guys," Steichen said at the NFL combine . "They were having tremendous training camps. Obviously, unfortunate circumstances with the injuries there. But Walley, he's a guy that can play inside, play outside for us. Fiesty, sticky in coverage.
"And then same thing, Hunter on the back end playing safety, the ball just found him in training camp. He had a great sense, a great feel playing the coverages that we were playing, but he was always in the right spot at the right time. He had a hell of a camp."
Walley appeared to be on his way to earning meaningful playing time at cornerback before the knee injury, and even in a very talented Colts ' cornerback room in 2026, Lou Anarumo may work to find ways to get him on the field.
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Wohler could find himself competing for the starting strong safety role with Nick Cross set to be a free agent.
"To get those guys back, get them healthy, will be huge for us," Steichen added.
Steichen would also speak highly of offensive tackle Jalen Travis , who took over at right tackle late in the year after Braden Smith was placed on injured reserve.
When called upon, Travis held his own, allowing one sack and 12 pressures over 175 pass-blocking snaps. He also graded out well as a run-blocker by PFF's metrics.
"I think there's huge upside with Jalen," Steichen said. "Obviously, he did some good things for us. A big human. I think Tony does a great job with those guys up front, getting them prepared each and every week. Very smart player. Picked it up pretty fast, so excited about what the future holds for him."
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With Smith a free agent, the Colts could turn to Travis to be their full-time starting right tackle in 2026 and beyond.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Three 2025 Colts' draft picks Shane Steichen is excited about
