We made note of it last week, but former Michigan State captain and new Indianapolis Colts safety Khari Willis is already breaking out in the NFL. A fourth-round pick who has looked more like a five-year veteran, the media is already starting to take notice, along with his teammates. Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star recently had a feature on Willis, collecting some quotes from his teammates and exploring his past. I recommend reading the whole piece (which you can find here), but the Colts organization had a lot of great things to say about Khari which we’ll cover here.
After Willis was second on the team in tackles in week two against the Titans, including a trio of big plays in the fourth quarter, teammate Malik Hooker told Erickson, “He’s not a rookie.”
“We don’t look at him as a rookie,” Hooker said. “He’s getting in there, he’s filling big shoes.”
His head coach, Frank Reich, also had glowing remarks for Willis:
“Every indication we have from Khari is this guy is a ballplayer, and he is ready for this opportunity,” Reich said.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was largely impressed by his versatility, which was at odds with a lot of pre-draft analysts saying Willis is just a box safety:
“His ability to do different things at different spots is really good,” Eberflus said. “His instincts are also very good. We’ve seen those things on tape this year so far, and he’s continuing to grow.”
At this point in the season, Willis has already established himself as one of the steals of the draft class, but he might just end up establishing himself as one of the best defensive players in the league someday, a ceiling every Michigan State fan knew was possible out of the former captain, but most analysts couldn’t figure out before the draft.
