Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
**INDIANAPOLIS** **–** These are the boots on the ground identifiers of the draft talent and the character.
It’s time for our annual summer series where we look back on the Colts draft picks in 2025, via the scouts.
Here are the Colts scouts on 5th round pick D.J. Giddens:
There’s a lot to be intrigued by with the college resume of Colts running back D.J. Giddens.
\-A pair of 1,000-yard seasons in the Big-12.
\-Size (6-0 and 212 pounds) and speed (4.43 in the 40-yard dash) check the running back box.
\-Giddens produced 23 rushing touchdowns in his 3 seasons at Kansas State, to go along with an impressive 11.7 yards per catch.
But when the Colts talk about their 5th round pick, they enjoy pointing to how he’s wired.
“He probably thinks he’s a better back than some of the guys taken before him,” Colts area scouts Tyler Hughes says. “He’s all-business. He’s got the right mindset.
“I think he’s going to come in with a chip on his shoulder.”
Most of the questions surrounding Giddens at the next level is focused on his ability to play on third down.
In 2025, **[the Colts have a definite need for finding more of a passing presence in one of their running backs](https://1075thefan.com/559642/colts-round-5-pick-151-recap-kansas-state-running-back-d-j-giddens/)**.
Some might view it as nitpicking a pick on the 151st selection of the draft, but Hughes gave his thoughts on a growth area for Giddens.
“He’s got to improve a little bit in the pass pro, but he’s only 21 years old,” Hughes explains. “He played through that wrist injury this year, so you can give him a slight advantage where it’s going to get better, but he’s tough enough, he’s strong enough and he knows the game well enough where you see his character come into effect there.
“He’s going to hit his ceiling in the passing game. He’s shown enough on tape, as far as a receiver, where he can make guys miss in the open field and run some routes and catch the ball reliably.”
When analyzing Giddens, there appears to be less questions about his natural running back ability, looking like a guy who could impact early on 1st or 2nd down.
That primary focus though is, understandably, for Jonathan Taylor.
It’s why so much of the early Giddens outlook is centered on pass protection, which is never a sure thing in projecting college running backs to the next level.
“They’ve got to be smart enough and they’ve got to be tough enough,” Hughes says.
“That’s what this kid is. He played banged-up this whole season for the most part, he’s not a guy who goes down on first contact, he can run through people.”