Caden Curry: Hometown Hero Or Caesar Rayford 2.0?

Center Grove High School alum Caden Curry made an enormous impact in his first appearance donning his hometown Indianapolis Colts’ horseshoe on an NFL field last Thursday. Appearing in the 2nd half of the opening preseason game against the New England Patriots, perhaps it was a childhood hatred of the rival Patriots from the Tom Brady era that fueled his performance? Or could it be the pride in getting to suit up for his childhood team?

Whether it was love or hate that provided the spark for his 6 Tackles (3 solo), 2 Tackles For Loss, 3 QB Hits, 1 Sack, 2 Pass Deflection night; Colts fans certainly can’t complain about his debut game.

Caden was able to stuff his stat sheet like a famous Hoosier pork tenderloin sandwich, spread out wider than you’d expect. He played along the line, inside as a 3 Technique (think DeForest Buckner’s spot) and outside as a Defensive End. He won as a pass rusher consistently, he won as a run stopper, and he even helped out in coverage by swatting 2 throws at the line of scrimmage.

About as strong of a first look as you can find for a player. It certainly left an impression on Colts fans and media.

As touted as his performance was, is the hype train worthy of getting on to at this point? Myself and many others want to believe Curry is legit and will be a strong producer for the Colts. But there are some factors to consider before fully buying in this soon.

Strength of opposing assignments

Curry was being blocked by an Offensive Line consisting of James Hudson III, Mekhi Butler, JonDarius Morgan, Jacob Rizy, Dametrious Crownover by the time he entered the game. It isn’t crazy to say Curry faced better Offensive Linemen on a fair amount of assignments in the BIG10, as none of those players on the Patriots line were able to secure solid draft investment and the BIG10 is filled with powerhouse Offensive Line schools that regularly produce early round talent. With the scarcity of quality linemen in the NFL, the talent tiers between the best and worst linemen (and other tiers in the middle) can be stark.

This dominance parallels the rise of another 1st year Edge Rusher from Colts history who dominated the preseason: Caesar Rayford in 2013.

Rayford dominated the preseason, showcasing his 6’7 size and length along with nice burst to dominate the backup and practice squad offensive linemen of the NFL. The former Utah Blaze star for the Arena Football League generated a ton of hype from Colts media in this time. But then Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson traded him to the Cowboys around the time of roster cutdowns for a conditional pick. He racked up 5 tackles in 2013 but got injured and bounced around a few practice squads before leaving the NFL entirely in August 2015.

Rayford should serve as a cautionary tale for fans to get too many expectations of late game heroics in preseason games.

We already know Caden Curry can dominate against Linemen of a similar (if not better) talent and skill level than the Patriots 3rd string front based on Curry’s 2025 tape, which made him the highest graded DE in the Big10 last year.

What we still don’t know, is how Curry would do consistently against the starting caliber linemen he will be asked to face in the NFL on a regular basis if he moves up the depth chart. Hopefully getting to play earlier in preseason games going forward will help answer that question.

Low on the Colts Depth Chart

With Caden Curry entering the game in the 2nd half and playing until the final snap of the game, it signaled that he still has a ways to go to rise up the Colts Defensive Line totem pole. Laiatu Latu, DeForest Buckner, and Grover Stewart are entrenched as 2026 starters. Arden Key, Jaylahn Tuimoloau, and Michael Clemons were in early on in the game, showing they will most likely make up the core group of Colts DE rotation at this point. Fellow rookie George Gumbs Jr also got snaps early on too, potentially indicating he could make the starting roster too.

Curry did rotate to play 13 snaps inside at Defensive Tackle against the Patriots, but the DT room looks even more deep and tougher competition than the Edge spot. Behind the pair of 30+ year old starters, Adetomiwa Adebawore has shown growth as a situational pass rusher and gap shooter to warrant a strong rotational role. Colby Wooden arriving via the Zaire Franklin trade from Green Bay was miscast as a block eating Nose Tackle but proved to be a strong run defender in his time with the Packers. He is set to have a good role as well. The Colts still have Tim Smith and added former 1st Round pick Jerry Tillery, and longtime Chiefs starting Nose Tackle Derrick Nnadi to the room.

Again, playing earlier in a preseason game could show that Curry has the potential to crack a rotational role in 2026, but after a quiet camp it is clear he was entering the game behind quite a few linemen and stayed in to play alongside players typically that are at the end of the roster or enter the Practice Squads on teams.

Proportional Problems

Caden Curry is a historic outlier among Defensive Ends with his short arms being in the 0 percentile historically at the position in the NFL level. For context, one of the top DE prospects this past year: Reuben Bain Jr, fell down draft boards almost exclusively due to his 30.875” arms that are 1st percentile historically. Caden Curry’s arms measure at 30.125”.

He’s been able to overcome this lack of length with strong effort, powerful hands, relentless pursuit, and polished technique in his collegiate career and this past Thursday. Some of his best plays were from attacking the interior of the Pats line.

But are those other traits and skills able to continue to succeed against the longest, most polished, and most physically dominant linemen that populate the starting lines of the NFL?

Some speculated before the draft that Curry’s best position could be inside as a Defensive Tackle in the NFL, where linemen tend to have shorter arms than their Tackle counterparts on the outside. But then another issue arises where Caden Curry’s proportions are a historic outlier: Curry’s weight. The lightest Defensive Tackle in the Mockdraftable.com database is Kerry Wynn, a 266 lbs. prospect from the 2014 draft weighing 266 lbs. Caden Curry’s weight is 257-260 lbs. But at least with this measurement Curry can change the number. One can’t stretch their arms longer like Mr. Fantastic, but Curry could put on weight if he desires to make a position switch. It would just need to be 20-25 lbs. to fit the typical minimum for an interior Defensive Line player in the current NFL.

Why is Jay Robins being a wet blanket about Caden?

Simple. It’s still too soon to make bold proclamations about any player who performs well in the preseason, especially late in games.

I want Caden Curry to work out and become a staple of the Colts defensive front. For Colts fans, he is one of us, and is getting a shot to live the dream of every football fan from Indy to play for his favorite team. Who wouldn’t want to root for him?

But until he begins to rise up the depth chart, beat legitimate starting level NFL linemen, and answer his questions of his physical proportions against said competition, some healthy skepticism is warranted. It’s just simply too early to hop on the train, but when it’s time to board I will sprint through the sliding doors before the conductor even gets a chance to announce “All Aboard!”.

Good news is Curry did exactly what a Defensive Lineman who is worth a healthy amount of snaps in the NFL should do against poor competition, absolutely dominate. Test Number 1 is emphatically passed. I would hope the Colts coaching staff seeing how well Curry did will give him a better shot against better competition in the remaining 2 preseason games.

If so, the next test begins.