During OTAs and minicamp, which Indianapolis Colts player surprised the most?

Over at ESPN, each reporter made that selection for their respective team. When it came to the Colts, Stephen Holder selected rookie cornerback Justin Walley.

“Walley has been turning heads throughout the offseason with his aggressive coverage and impressive instincts, and it’s now clear he has a chance to have a significant role in the defense as a rookie,” wrote Holder.

Holder would also add that with the Colts utilizing a greater variety of coverages under defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, one way that Walley could carve out a role is in dime packages.

The Colts picked Walley in the third round of the draft. A bit undersized at 5-10 – 190 pounds, Walley went a lot earlier than what the consensus big boards had projected, but from the jump, the Colts have been very bullish on him and his fit within this new-look defense.

Walley’s 4.4 speed can help overcome his lack of size, and it allows him to be sticky in man coverage, which we will see a lot more of this season.

The Colts also view Walley as a versatile defender, someone who can be moved around and handle different roles as needed. This ability plays well within Anarumo’s disguise-heavy defensive system.

“He’s shown me he can be a dog,” Charvarius Ward said of Walley. “He can cover real well. He has some rookie mistakes, obviously he’s a young guy, but he’s been competing with all the big dogs on offense. I think he got that it factor in him. He confident in himself. He not scared. He don’t act like a rookie all the time, he playing like a vet, got his head on straight. I’ve been proud of him so far, for sure.”

Along with potentially carving out a role as the sixth defensive back when in dime alignments, Walley could find himself competing with Jaylon Jones and JuJu Brents for that starting spot opposite of Charvarius Ward.

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: NFL offseason: Colts CB Justin Walley named team’s ‘biggest surprise’