The NFL draft begins tomorrow at 8 pm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, the Indianapolis Colts will be looking ahead to Friday, when they have their first selection in the second round at 47th overall.
While the Colts have multiple roster holes to fill, linebacker is undoubtedly one of them. However, Alex Ballentine at Bleacher Report believes Indianapolis must stay away from one linebacker in particular: Cincinnati’s Jake Golday.
Here’s Ballentine’s argument.
“The problem is that Golday’s draft stock is based a little too much on projection at this point.
Those instincts are something that might come with playing time. They are also hard to develop on the fly at the highest level. Some teams have a situation where they can draft Golday, develop him and unleash him in 2027.
The Colts are not one of those teams.”
Cincinnati Bearcats linebacker Jake Golday (11) smiles during the Cincinnati Bearcats football spring practice at Nippert Stadium on Saturday, April 12, 2025. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Ballentine’s argument has it’s moments.
Golday started his college career at Central Arkansas as a defensive end, playing at the position for the 2021 and 2022 seasons before transitioning to linebacker.
Following 2023, Golday transferred to the Cincinnati Bearcats and tore it up for the defense.
While Ballentine makes a good point that Golday has limited experience at linebacker and that it could limit his ability to make an immediate impact, the numbers from his time with the Bearcats are hard to overlook.
Golday’s first season was a bit of an adjustment. He logged 58 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two fumbles forced.
Once he got his legs underneath him in FBS, Golday took off like a rocket during the 2025 campaign. He’d put up 105 tackles, six tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and three pass breakups.
Golday also displayed fantastic run defense, posting a Pro Football Focus grade of 90.6, which led the entire Bearcats defense. He was also capable in coverage and had a missed tackle rate of nine percent.
Even during his first year with the Bearcats, Golday was efficient in coverage and run defense. He’d improve this after just one year with the team to become one of the premier defenders.
Lastly, we all know how much Colts GM Chris Ballard loves his athletic prospects. Well, Golday checks every box in that regard, which could make him all the more intriguing to Indianapolis on Day 2.
Jake Golday is a LB prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.85 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 53 out of 3480 LB from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/GrTg6rNpV7 pic.twitter.com/TyLdbbVF6I
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 20, 2026
Indy’s linebacker room isn’t the most intriguing on paper. Currently, the top two names on the depth chart are Akeem Davis-Gaither and Jaylon Carlies.
Davis-Gaither is a new addition from the Arizona Cardinals who had a career season, but played his most efficient football during his days with the Cincinnati Bengals under Lou Anarumo.
As for Carlies, he hardly saw the field last year due to sustaining an ankle injury, which required surgery. Despite this, Carlies is a great coverage linebacker who showed flashes of greatness during his rookie year.
Ballard is also on record stating that he could be an effective inside linebacker.
#Colts GM Chris Ballard on the current outlook at linebacker:
“We’ve got some young guys in the locker room…There are still a couple of free agents we’ll consider.”
“We’d really like to see Jaylon Carlies. He’s gotta stay healthy but we think he has the skill set for ILB.” pic.twitter.com/HC2N7EUWDt
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) March 31, 2026
Here’s the thing: even if Golday isn’t ready to be tossed into the starting role Week 1, he doesn’t necessarily need to be. Even if Indy were to take a more enticing prospect like Jacob Rodriguez, it’s still a rookie starting for Anarumo’s defense who would need time to adjust.
If the Colts take Golday and he needs to develop as a rotational piece, then it’s a valuable depth piece for Indianapolis in an already thin linebacker room. He may also turn into that starter-level defender during the regular season.
Golday may or may not be high on Indy’s radar, but he’s a great prospect with excellent upside. And for all Ballentine knows, perhaps he’ll hit the ground running quicker than expected on an NFL field.
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