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Much like his snap explosion off the ball and the 40-yard dash time he blazed at the 2022 combine, Thomas Booker of Stanford has been on the fast track to league-wide attention with the 2022 NFL draft just one week away.
The 6-foot-3, 301-pounder has impressed teams from his personality in the meeting room, to his rapid-fire movement once the ball is snapped all the way to his positional versatility regardless if he was facing centers, guards or aligned over blindside tackles during his years in Palo Alto, California.
He’s commanded a significant number of NFL attention as teams prepare to fill their rookie classes. But the Cardinal standout tells Heavy some telling details involving his interactions with the Indianapolis Colts.
Booker Details Conversation With Colts
Booker first met the Colts’ brass when he set foot inside their venue during the first week of March. But communication has been constant between him and Indy.
“I think the Colts really like me,” Booker told Heavy. “They really like what I can afford for that defensive line with my athleticism, my explosiveness, my ability to change direction and my lateral agility, for sure. I’ve definitely been talking to them a good amount.”
When Booker was inside the Colts’ home, this happened:
Booker became one of the few interior defenders who ran the 40-yard dash in under five seconds. But he also turned heads in the other combine drills.
And the Colts’ interest began when he visited their homeland along with the bevy of other aspiring NFL prospects.
“They were (one of the teams I spoke to at the combine). It’s kind of a lot of things going on at Indy because they basically sit you in a room and teams call you out. But they were one of the teams that I talked to,” Booker told Heavy.
How Booker Can Blend in With the Colts
In examining the Colts’ draft needs, taking an interior defensive lineman isn’t considered a high necessity for Indy.
107.5 FM The Fan doesn’t list defensive linemen among the Colts’ seven draft needs in their April 14 mock draft. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Colts reporter Stephen Holder doesn’t list defensive line help anywhere in his draft guide updated on Thursday, April 21.
The Colts also have this working for them in the trenches: Two-time Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner leading the interior side, Kwity Paye entering his second season and Yannick Ngakoue — who has produced eight sacks or more in every season he’s been in the league since 2016 — coming on board via trade with the Las Vegas Raiders.
However, the Colts lost their second and third leading pass rushers in Al-Quadin Muhammad and Kemoko Turay to the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers, respectively. Nose tackle Antwuan Woods also remains a free agent.
That’s where Booker comes in as a strong possibility in the later rounds for the Colts. Any Colt fan who pulls up game film on Booker will see that Stanford didn’t place him in one central area. He was their go-to guy in creating line of scrimmage mismatches on Saturdays.
“I think a lot of teams really like my scheme versatility,” Booker told Heavy. “At Stanford, I lined up everywhere from zero technique to nose in our nickel fronts to the five technique on some of our pass rush downs and some of our run downs as well. So I think they like the fact that I’ve got a lot of tape playing those types of positions.”
Not only did Booker put his versatility to use in the Bay Area that led to All Pac-12 Conference accolades between 2019 to 2021, he also gave NFL scouts at the Shrine Bowl samples of his willingness to line up elsewhere. Eric Galko, director of football operations and player personnel of the all-star game, believes Booker can fit any defense.
Does Booker have a preference when his Sunday career happens?
“In the NFL, I think my biggest fits are going to be in a 4-3 defense playing defensive tackle/three-technique or a 2I (interior). And in a 3-4 defense, playing defensive end as a four-technique or five-technique, wherever they need me,” Booker told Heavy. “It’s like being able to have one person do two jobs. I think a lot of teams like that versatility.”
The Colts are one of those teams, Booker says. He concluded by sharing his confidence level in playing under new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and playing “for the shoe.”
“I would be a great fit there,” Booker said.
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