Indianapolis Colts Draft Countdown: Making the Case for Marcus Peters

There are plenty of potential prospects that the Indianapolis Colts will consider at pick No. 29.

Recently, the discussion has centered around offensive linemen and safeties, where the Colts could draft a tackle, center or safety. Landon Collins, for example, is a popular mock draft choice to Indianapolis because of the team's annual need at safety. Offensive linemen are an annual mock for the Colts as well, as they haven't had a top offensive line in a decade.

If I were to pick an ideal area for the Colts to invest in, however, it would be a defensive playmaker. That could be safety (Collins), linebacker (Eric Kendricks), edge-rusher (Bud Dupree) or defensive line (Eddie Goldman, Malcom Brown, Arik Armstead). All of those players mentioned would fill needs, especially in the Colts' desire to stop the run more effectively than they did in a horrendous AFC Championship Game performance.

But cornerback is an important need as well, and the Colts could use their first-round pick on a top corner if he drops to the bottom of the first round.

This is my ideal scenario for Indianapolis, which I laid out on Wednesday. This is something that many Colts fans don't necessarily agree with, whether it's because of the perceived greater need at other positions, Peters' off-field issues or something else.

If he's available, however, the Colts can't afford to pass Peters by without deep consideration. There is always a need for studs, and Peters has the potential, production and prototypical size to be a bona fide star.

The Need: An Understated Hole

The biggest pushback that I've seen on taking Peters or another cornerback is its perceived ranking among positional needs. 

It makes sense to some extent. At the beginning of the offseason, few were looking at cornerback as a top need. Josh Wilson of Stampede Blue didn't even list cornerback as one of the Colts' biggest needs, nor did national writers like Marc Sessler of NFL.com.

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

There are a couple of reasons cornerback deserves to be on the list, and as high up as any other need.

On one hand, early offseason needs, for many analysts, are often heavily influenced by a team's most recent game. For the Colts, this was the bludgeoning in the AFC Championship Game, where the Colts' failure to stop the run, failure to run the ball and inability to pass the ball when T.Y. Hilton was bottled up were the glaring weaknesses.

Now, those are all weaknesses that certainly need to be addressed, but they were also exaggerated because of recency bias. Forgotten was the game in the weeks prior, when the Colts run defense was stellar, Boom Herron ran the ball well and the Colts were efficient offensively.

Then there is the fact that free agency has largely addressed all of those needs, although not necessarily solved them.

Andre Johnson and Frank Gore were the perfect fits offensively, while Todd Herremans and Kendall Langford give the team big, powerful bodies in the trenches to compete for starting jobs. Trent Cole gives the Colts a much-needed pass-rushing presence, while Nate Irving and Jerrell Freeman's tender solidified inside linebacker, for now. At safety, the Colts re-signed Mike Adams and brought in former Atlanta starter Dwight Lowery.

Did any of those moves solve the needs completely at the respective positions? Of course not. But they certainly took away from the immediacy.

But a real need from the beginning that has not been addressed is the long-term future in the secondary. The Colts have nonexistent depth behind the starters at safety and cornerback, and the starters are very upgradable, whether it's because of age (Adams) or performance (Lowery, Greg Toler).

This is where cornerback comes in. Safety is a part of this need in the secondary, but cornerback is just as important.

Tim Sharp/Associated Press

Toler finished 2014 as the Colts' second-lowest graded defensive player by Pro Football Focus' measure, with his minus-15.0 coverage grade ranking as the sixth-worst among 108 qualifying cornerbacks—and that was when Toler was healthy. The 15 games played in 2015 marked a career high for Toler, and the first time since 2010 that he started in 10 or more games.

When Toler or Vontae Davis get injured, the Colts defense breaks down.

Remember the Colts' 51-34 loss to Pittsburgh in October, when the Colts got destroyed by the Steelers passing game after Davis left with an injury? Remember last year's defensive collapse in the second half of the 2013 season after Toler was injured, forcing Josh Gordy into a significant role?

You can never have enough cornerbacks in today's pass-heavy NFL. That's especially true when there's no depth after your top two outside corners, one of which is prone to inconsistencies and will be a free agent after this season.

The Talent: The Right Traits

If it weren't for his off-field issues, Peters could be a top-five overall talent in this draft, according to analysts like Robert Klemko of SI.com.

When you look at Peters, he just physically looks like a press cornerback. That's something that coaching can't alter, and it's one of the reasons why he's such a highly touted prospect. Now, that doesn't mean he has eye-popping athletic traits in any area, but he is well-rounded and well-proportioned to his frame.

Peters' size (6'0", 197 pounds) is above average, and he uses his size well in press coverage to push wide receivers to the boundary. His arms are about average length at 31.5", but he is active, timely and physical with his arms, making them seem longer than they really are at times. Couple that with an above-average vertical jump of 37.5" and you get a cornerback that can fill a lot of space quickly.

Now, Peters isn't eye-popping in his change-of-direction skills, with a below-average three-cone drill but fast short and long shuttle times and a decent 40-yard dash time. But his long arms and understanding of route running give him a good chance at recovering when he is beat on a receiver's break.

Again, it's not about having top-end athleticism for Peters, but about the whole package. He has the right combination of a long, strong body, and he knows how to use it.

In coverage, Peters is extremely physical, using his hands to frustrate receivers and get under their skin, not unlike Richard Sherman tends to do in Seattle. As Chris Burke of SI.com puts it, he works very hard to make receivers work to beat him in press coverage. That fighting mentality is exactly what you want from a press cornerback, although it's also aggression that has gotten him in trouble off the field (we'll talk more about that in a minute).

But on the positive end, Peters' attack mode coupled with impressive instincts give him a sizable advantage in man coverage, as NEPatriotsDraft.com articulates:

"

When he plays in press man he shows a good backpedal and an ability to stay low, which gives him great change of direction. He also has aggressive hands to jam the receiver at the line of scrimmage. Peters has fluid hips and does not lose any speed when coming out of his backpedal.Because of his aggressive nature, he plays much bigger than his size and uses his body well to cut off routes or force the WR out of route. Sometimes it even looks as though he is running the route better than the WR.

"

But what really separates Peters from many press corners are his ball skills. Where somebody like Vontae Davis is faster and a bit quicker than Peters, Peters locates the ball in the air much better and has the body control to get his hands on it.

Peters is not unlike Greg Toler in his playing style, which is a good thing for Indianapolis. While Toler is very upgradeable, his style is exactly the fit the Colts want opposite Davis, which is why they signed Toler at roughly $5 million a year in 2013.

Peters isn't the cleanest of prospects from a technique standpoint, but that's part of why he's such an impressive prospect. If he can play as well as he does now, with inconsistent technique, what can he be with the same defensive back coaching that turned Vontae Davis into a Pro Bowler and turned Darius Butler's career around?

The Mind: Concerning Maturity?

Now, the real question for Peters isn't his talent, but his mind.

Can Peters put his ego in check long enough to serve a team in the right manner? Cornerbacks should be brash, with enough confidence to forget about the last play in the blink of an eye, but there's a line where confidence (even acceptable arrogance) gets in the way of a player's coachability.

This is the reason why Peters might be around at pick No. 29, despite his talent.

After former coach Steve Sarkisian left Washington for USC, Peters struggled to adapt to authority under the new coaching staff. Peters was close to Sarkisian, and called his leaving "heartbreaking," per Tom Pelissero of USA Today.

Peters was suspended for the first quarter of the Fight Hunger Bowl game at the end of the 2013 season after turning a school project in late, and he then got a bit too brash as the 2014 season began. A sideline tantrum resulted in a one-game suspension by head coach Chris Petersen early in the season.

On the bright side, it's something that he now seems to have perspective on, per Pelissero:

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I was just immature with it, man. My name's getting talked about. A lot more people know who I am. I'm dealing with a lot of family, friends back home. I just didn't take it right. I got big-headed with it. I didn't focus and didn't see it clearly of how I can do things, and it caused me to bump my head. ... I just embarrassed the whole University of Washington program on live television – me throwing, as my mama would say, a hissy fit. I threw a hissy fit, man. I embarrassed my teammates, the coaching staff, the program, man. I wouldn't have let me back on after that.

"

Peters was suspended later in the season, something he describes as the culmination of his issues, denying the report by an anonymous NFL scout that he had choked an assistant coach.

A physical altercation is also something the University of Washington staff and Peters have both denied, with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski calling the report "bull****," according to Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. Defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake also denied the report.

Still, there's no question that Peters had run-ins with the coaching staff, and it has the potential to impact his playing career in the NFL. Peters did impress coaches with his honesty and openness in interviews at the combine, according to Doug Kyed of NESN.com.

Much of Peters' development revolves around him landing in the right place, and Indianapolis could be a place that fits. While the team has had its fair share of problems with off-field substance abuse issues, the Colts have done a good job of handling players with maturity issues in the team setting, with Vontae Davis being the poster child.

The NFL Draft: Long-Term Talent Over Short-Term Needs

In the end, my calling for Peters revolves around my belief that he has the best chance of being a long-term impact player. So often in NFL draft analysis, we get caught up in immediate needs, trying to find guys who can have immediate impact and start from Day 1.

But the NFL draft's value comes from what players provide long-term, not just their rookie season. Cornerback might not be the most pressing of needs on opening day given the team's starters, but if an injury occurs, it will be. After Toler's contract is up, it will be. Cornerback is such a key position in today's NFL, if you can get a star, you go out and get them.

Really, the Colts' situation at corner makes it an even more ideal place for Peters. He won't be forced into a full-time role right away and can get acclimated to the NFL at the right pace, cleaning up both his technique and his act while playing the dime cornerback role for Indianapolis.

With Davis already locked up for another three seasons, the Colts could have a top-end cornerback group in place for the franchise's next stage with Peters thrown in. If he's still on the board at No. 29, that potential is too good to pass up.