Film Room: BoPete Keyes Brings Intriguing Depth to Colts' CB Room

Keyes is an interesting young player with elite traits at cornerback. (Video via Indianapolis Colts YouTube)

The Indianapolis Colts made two waiver claims at cornerback on Wednesday, claiming Kansas City Chiefs' 2020 7th round pick BoPete Keyes and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2021 7th round pick Chris Wilcox.

While there is little film out there on Wilcox, Keyes did see some action last season with the Chiefs. He played 80 snaps on defense as a rookie, starting the final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers.

In today's film room, I dive into a few of his snaps from last season and discuss why Keyes has sky high potential in this league.

LENGTH and Athleticism

Before we get into some film from his NFL career, I'm going to link an article that breaks down Keyes' college film really well. My good friend Kent Swanson did a great breakdown on Keyes' Tulane film last year with Arrowhead Pride. I highly recommend checking out the article at this link here.

Jumping into Keyes' NFL film and those same traits pop off of the screen. He is still a work in progress, but his combination of length and athleticism is rare. On this play below, he gets beat off of the line of scrimmage and allows quick separation to the receiver.

Keyes is able to recover well though, and he uses his recovery speed to close the gap and take away the vertical option down the field. This is not a perfect rep by any means but it does showcase his athleticism and recovery speed.

This next clip is a much better example of his ability in press coverage. With 32.625 inch arms, Keyes has the ability to be physical at the line of scrimmage and disrupt routes with relative ease.

The receiver in this clip doesn't put up too much of a fight, but I like this aggressive jam by Keyes. The Colts typically don't have their cornerbacks use their hands too much in press coverage, but Keyes' ability may change that. This is a big area where he can win in his game.

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As a cornerback, there is still a lot of things to work on with Keyes. He has a lot of false steps in his movements and does get beat through contact a bit too easily for a player with his size and traits.

The upside here is huge, though. If the Colts can get him some field experience this year while also allowing him to play in more comfortable positions (press-man coverage, underneath zone), then I think he could develop into a quality depth player over time.

The Colts claimed Keyes primarily for his potential as a cornerback but he did have a couple nice plays on special teams a year ago. With the Colts, the bottom of the roster players have to be able to play special teams in order to dress on gameday.

Keyes won't be a primary special teams player and likely won't play a key spot on the team (such as gunner). He can do just enough though to warrant being dressed on gameday, which is great for his chances of playing each week.

Final Thoughts

I am still a bit shocked that the Chiefs exposed Keyes to waivers after final cut downs this week. He has a ways to go before being a legit contributor in the NFL, but he has sky high potential that shouldn't be undersold.

When it comes to the Colts' cornerback depth now, the top four are firmly in place with Xavier Rhodes, Kenny Moore II, Rock Ya-Sin, and T.J. Carrie. After that though, it will be an interesting battle for snaps. Personally, I'd have Isaiah Rodgers as the fifth guy, but the Colts do typically like to keep their top special teams players from playing defense.

If the Colts end up limiting Rodgers' defensive snaps due to his special teams ability, then Keyes should be the front-runner for the fifth cornerback spot. It may not be a huge role on the defense, but it is one that could see some playing time this season. Either way, I'm excited for Keyes' potential in Indy.

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Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

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